digital collections

The University of Alberta Library subscribes to numerous databases that are core for certain disciplines, but also really deserving of wider attention. Whether for class or for a bit of break, check out a selection of our most popular streaming services. Criterion-on-Demand is a collection of more than 20,000 titles, available in both English and French, from Studios, for entertainment and educational purposes. This streaming database offers professors, researchers and students access…

The Henderson’s Directories of Canadian cities are among the most popular resources scanned and maintained by the University of Alberta Library. However, the historical background for the directories is difficult to find online – and as the team maintaining the digital copies, we are hoping to shed some light on this previously-obscure context. Published starting around 1880, the Henderson’s Directories covered many major cities of Canada, especially in the prairie region. The…

Happy World Digital Preservation Day! On the first Thursday of November, the international community of digital archivists, librarians, curators, creators, users, and everyone interested in or responsible for the preservation of digital records celebrates World Digital Preservation Day (#WDPD). The 2024 theme is Preserving Our Digital Content: Celebrating Communities. The WDPD is the initiative of the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC). It allows us to connect with colleagues and like-minded people and “celebrate…

Stories of immigration and settlement, homesteading and going to school in the countryside, church life and traditional remedies, folk songs and recipes of old fashioned doughnuts – these are some of the topics covered in the interviews in the University of Alberta Archives’ (UAA) Héritage Franco-Albertain fonds. The fonds consists of 15.4 m of textual records as well as numerous audio recordings generated by the “Projet Héritage Franco-Albertain.” This fonds was acquired…

Histoires d’immigration, vie à la ferme, remèdes traditionnels, chansons folkloriques et recettes de beignets à l’ancienne, tels sont quelques-uns des sujets abordés dans les interviews des fonds Héritage Franco-Albertain des Archives de l’Université de l’Alberta (UAA). Les fonds comprennent 15,4 m de documents textuels ainsi que de nombreux enregistrements audio générés par le Projet Héritage Franco-Albertain. Les fonds ont été acquis par les Archives de l’Université de l’Alberta en 2019 auprès des…

Metadata is the information that describes the resources the University of Alberta Library makes accessible to our campus community and the world beyond. If you have searched our library catalogue or found an item in our institutional repository, you have already seen metadata in action: Metadata is a core tool in the information search and retrieval process. In aggregate form, it holds inherent value as  a resource in itself. Metadata creation and…

We are thrilled to keep shining a spotlight on the accomplishments of our exceptional colleagues at the University of Alberta Library! This second part of our library wrap-up further demonstrates our team’s commitment to delivering outstanding services and collections that meet the complex information needs of the U of A community. Our instructors, including subject librarians, librarians and library staff, teach undergraduate and graduate students across all the U of A Colleges…

Written by Michaela Morrow, Digitization Assistant The words “annual business report” likely don’t conjure up the most exciting visions in your head. You most likely think of rows of monetary values, line graphs of stocks, and maybe, if you’re lucky, a photo of a company’s president. However, our library’s unique Canadian Corporate Annual Reports collection shows there is more to annual reports than numbers and suits. These reports offer us a glimpse…

Written by Michaela Morrow, Digitization Assistant The library is happy to announce the launch of a new version of our longtime website, Peel’s Prairie Provinces. This digital collection has been updated and migrated to the Internet Archive for better access, quality, and research. What is Peel’s Prairie Provinces? Peel’s Prairie Provinces (or “Peel”) is a digital collection of materials related to Western Canada. The collection includes rare and hard-to-find primary sources such…