Electronic collections featuring community newspapers, B.C. history, fossil specimens, medical artifacts and works by renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman will all be a mouse click away, thanks to a community initiative from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia.
Such projects are among the 21 finalists selected by the Learning Centre’s British Columbia History Digitization Program.
Launched in 2006, the digitization program provides funds to make B.C. heritage accessible to the public. Original and historical documents — including images, sound or print materials such as books and documents — are scanned and converted into digital files that can be viewed or heard on a computer.
Already available online are links to the 2007 digitization projects, which include newspapers, Indo-Canadian oral history, Salt Spring Island photos and audiotapes, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs history and Vancouver city directories from 1860-1901. Find these links and other project descriptions at: www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/ps/2007Projects.html.
“By doing this we’re giving British Columbians and people around the world instant access to the historical and other treasures of this province,” says Chris Hives, University Archivist. “We’ve been getting excellent feedback from various heritage communities about the leadership role the Learning Centre is providing through digitization.”
The 2008 projects should be completed and ready for free online viewing with in a year. Similar to 2007, a large number of this year’s projects also involve digitizing community newspapers, among them publications from Surrey, Prince George, the Cariboo, the Vanderhoof area and Vernon.
Photographic collections also figure prominently. For example, one project involves the digitization of 3,200 slides illustrating the artistic, environmental and family aspects of Canadian wildlife painter Robert Bateman.
Other collections to be digitized include early photographs of Bowen Island and Prince George, along with images of expeditions to northern B.C. in the early 20th century.
Additional efforts include the digitization of medical artifacts, three-dimensional fossil specimens, multimedia theatre archives, provincial flora and more. A complete listing of 2008 projects is available at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/ps/2008Projects.html.
The British Columbia History Digitization Program supports the goals of the Learning Centre — named in honour of Irving K. Barber, who donated more than $20 million to develop the facility – to provide lifelong learning opportunities for the people of British Columbia.
The digitization program provides up to $200,000 in overall annual matching funds. The program provides three funding categories for organizations involved with the preservation of historical provincial material, such as libraries, archives, museums, post-secondary institutions and community groups. The next round of program applications will begin in mid-December. For more information, see www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/ps/BCDigitInfo.html.
Background
Dr. Irving K. Barber graduated from UBC in 1950, and went on to an esteemed forestry career. In 1978, at the age of 55, Dr. Barber founded Slocan Forest Products Ltd., which he built into a leading North American lumber producer.
In 2002, Dr. Barber donated more than $20 million for the construction of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia. The B.C. Government contributed $10 million and UBC matched these sums.
The Learning Centre, constructed around the historic core of UBC’s Main Library, provides resources and services to support lifelong learning and research for users at UBC, throughout the province and beyond.
For more information, visit www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca.
– 30 –
