Over 60 million pages of digitized Canadian documentary heritage soon to be free

As of January 1, 2019, more than 60 million pages of Canadian digital documentary heritage will be available at no charge to users. The Canadiana collections are the largest online collections of early textual Canadiana in the world. The removal of the subscription paywall will allow unimpeded access for anyone around the world to this unique historical content archival material that includes government publications, periodicals, monographs, annuals, and newspapers.

Making the Canadiana collections available at no cost to users is a result of the recent merger between Canadiana.org, a not-for-profit charity, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), a not-for-profit partnership of 75 Canadian universities, that was finalized in April 2018.

“When our members outlined the vision and goals of a merged organization, ensuring the widespread access to the Canadiana collections was of vital importance,” said Alan Shepard, chair of the CRKN board of directors and president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University.

Three collections
The Canadiana collections include three flagship collections, Early Canadiana Online, Héritage, and Canadiana Online.

The Early Canadiana Online and Canadiana Online collections are comprised of Canadian monographs, periodicals, government publications, newspapers, and annuals and amount to over 19 million pages.

The Héritage collection, developed in partnership with Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and CRKN in 2013, includes 900 collections of 41 million pages of archival materials from the 1600s to the mid-1900s.

Librarian and Archivist of Canada Dr. Guy Berthiaume said, “LAC is proud to have partnered with CRKN to develop this fundamental collection for researchers, students, teachers, and all Canadians interested in their ancestry and shared history.

“We applaud CRKN’s decision to increase access to our documentary heritage.”

The removal of the subscription paywall and user fee does not mean that there are no longer costs associated with the continued maintenance and development of this content. CRKN and the archival community continue to add to the Canadiana Online and Héritage collections and CRKN is currently engaging with stakeholders to develop digitization priorities.

Ongoing costs and support for Canadiana collections comes from CRKN members who have made a three-year commitment to fund the development of the collections and access platform. In the coming year, CRKN is looking to make critical updates to its platform, increasing the ability to find and use Canadiana content.

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12 Responses to Over 60 million pages of digitized Canadian documentary heritage soon to be free

  1. This is wonderful news!

  2. Toni says:

    Merry Christmas to all of us!!

  3. Sherry Smith-Stanford says:

    Wonderful. I just learned of a connection I have with Canada. Thanks.

  4. What a gem for researchers.
    As a Foreign Protestant writer, and a Mayflower descendant, I can hardly wait to delve into the documents.

  5. Celia Lewis says:

    Isn’t this fantastic-?!! This is great news!

  6. Kevin Sherlock says:

    Thanks for the heads up. Look forward to browsing the 41,666 items related to my old home town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

  7. Carol Kuse says:

    Just can’t resist: “The best thing since sliced bread!”

    Thank you all so much.

  8. Don Hutsul says:

    WOW. An early Christmas gift…..

  9. Sharon Callahan says:

    Soooo excited. ..My father snd all his Callaghan Murray Murphy Doyle Hays McCullough families. ..ended up in Canada from Ireland

  10. Shelley Seymour says:

    Where is the Contact page, please? I have a question…Why can’t I see the entire page when I browse a newspaper up close? Only part of the page can be read!

  11. Pat Burt says:

    So pleased. Couldn’t find where my father was born. Not the address we had.

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