UFV participates in innovative project to increase access to Canadian documentary heritage.

From the CRKN website (www.crkn.ca/home)
Ottawa, June 14, 2013 - In collaboration with Canadiana.org, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) has signed an agreement to digitize the Heritage Collection and make available online some of Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) most popular microfilm collections from the mid-1700s to mid-1900s.  

Forty-five of CRKN's members, including UFV, have committed to this opportunity and raised $1.74 million to get the project underway. 

Collections include colonial government documents, land grants, church records, papers and letters of prominent Canadians, immigration and ships lists, First Nations and military records, to name a few. Material being digitized is cultural heritage material with value for both anglophone and francophone institutions.

Each year during the 10 year project, another 10% of the collections will be released as they are digitized in open access mode using a Creative Commons License. Canadiana.org will create metadata, transcribe handwritten pages and provide search tools to increase the value of the collections to both academic researchers and to members of the public. Meanwhile, LAC will continue to offer physical access to its microfilm collection in its reading rooms free of charge, throughout the 10-year agreement, while Canadiana.org will provide access to electronic content through Canadiana.org as it is digitized. Read the Canadiana.org FAQ.

The CRKN participating members are listed below:

Acadia University
Dalhousie University
Mount Allison University
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Saint Mary's University
St. Francis Xavier University
Université Sainte-Anne
University of New Brunswick
University of Prince Edward Island
Concordia University
McGill University
Université du Québec à Rimouski
Université du Québec à Trois Rivières
Université Laval
Lakehead University
Laurentian University
McMaster University
Queen's University
Ryerson University
Trent University
University of Guelph
University of Ottawa
University of Toronto
University of Waterloo
University of Western Ontario
University of Windsor
Wilfrid Laurier University
York University
Athabasca University
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Mount Royal University
Simon Fraser University
Thompson Rivers University
University of Alberta
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of Lethbridge
University of Manitoba
University of Northern British Columbia
University of Regina
University of Saskatchewan
University of the Fraser Valley
University of Victoria
University of Winnipeg
Vancouver Island University