National Library News

October 1995, vol. 27, no. 10

The Confederation Project

by Mary Jane Starr, Director General, Research and Information Services

Background

In late 1994, ten major research libraries in Canada met to discuss scholarly resources on the Internet and how they, in conjunction with the National Library and the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), could contribute to the availability of electronic resources by digitizing their own collections.* At about the same time, National Librarian Marianne Scott met with Derek Burney, Bell Canada Enterprises, and Glenn Jones, Mind Extension University (formerly Jones Intercable), at their request, to discuss the availability of Canadian information resources on the Internet. During the course of both discussions, the National Librarian described several major digitization proposals being considered which would draw on the Library's unparalleled collection of Canadiana. Specifically mentioned were early Canadian official publications, city and telephone directories, and the digitization of pre-1900 books and periodicals that have been microfilmed by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM).

Several months later, Alex Burney of the Jones Educational Network contacted the National Library and sought an indication of its interest in participating in a demonstration project involving students in two schools (one in Alexandria, Virginia, the other in Sutherland's River, Nova Scotia). Using electronic mail and electronic information resources on the Internet, the students would spend a week studying together as they followed the same lesson plan. The subject was history, and the theme was "Canadian Confederation and the American Civil War".

The National Library agreed to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity and participate in this demonstration project for several reasons, seeing it as an chance to:

explore further the World Wide Web (WWW) already being used in the Library for purposes of exhibitions, publications and information dissemination;
test the Library's capacity to design and mount a Web project in one of its areas of emphasis, namely Canadian history;
make its collections available to remote users; and
determine the suitability of the collection for various forms of digitization, such as scanning and imaging.

The demonstration project on Canadian Confederation was designed, written, scanned, marked-up, edited and completed within three weeks. The project drew on the Library's collection of books, periodicals, newspapers, and official publications in hard copy and microfilm formats. Because of the time constraint, strict attention was paid to ensuring that no copyrighted material was used in the project. The Library restricted itself to any quoted text and images from material printed before 1895 and maps before 1935.

Planning and Organization

With only three weeks in which to deliver the Web publication, the National Library organized a team of 12 people, both on staff and on contract, to handle research, writing, design, editing, coding, media relations and technical liaison. Those involved were a senior reference librarian, a music documentalist, a research assistant, a senior network specialist, two text processors, a writer, an editor, and a mark-up specialist. Three other people were responsible for scanning design, technical liaison and media relations.

Work began immediately on all fronts -- conceptualization, research, writing and scanning -- since there was so little time in which to produce a final document. In conjunction with the development of the electronic publication, plans were made for the launch, preparation of media material, and technical liaison with Mind Extension University, as initially the publication would reside on its server in Denver.

As the work progressed and the topic became more focussed on Confederation and the Civil War, more material was identified. The copyright issue is of paramount concern to the National Library. In other Web projects, obtaining copyright permissions has involved a considerable resource expenditure. For this reason, the Confederation project was limited to using text and images in the public domain. Since some of the originals of the photographs and maps are available in the National Archives of Canada, the Library concluded that a collaborative approach to draw on these resources was worth pursuing. Initially, it was the intention to test the digitization of microform by using microform editions of material from the CIHM collection to test the digitization of materials from microfiche. When it was determined to be impossible to scan and reproduce the microform editions within the allotted time frame, the original print materials from the Library's collection were substituted. The project contained 82 separate text files linked together through hypertext links and a total of 70 inline images and appropriately 44 000 words.

The technical development process consisted of four stages: 1) scanning and image manipulation; 2) HTML design and markup; 3) editing/debugging; and 4) transmission to Colorado. While the project was highly successful, a number of problems were encountered at each stage, primarily caused by the lack of time to properly plan and carry out the stages in an appropriate order -- it was, instead, a period of frenzied activity with all stages taking place contemporaneously.

Project Evaluation

While the project schedule was extremely compressed, it nevertheless produced a high-quality multimedia document on Canadian Confederation. It is a good example of the potential for the National Library to develop networked information resources that can provide wider access to Canadian cultural heritage materials. It also revealed the necessity for thorough planning and sufficient time to carry out the plan appropriately. The stages required to carry out future Web projects efficiently are:

Concept development
Background research/selection of graphic material
Detailed project planning (specifying required images, text, and design). A "storyboard" or map should be developed that will guide and coordinate all participants through subsequent stages.
Image scanning/content writing
Editing and translation
HTML coding
Final debugging and editing

The demonstration project on Canadian Confederation is consistent with the National Library's mandate to build a strong, national resource for the study, understanding, appreciation and continued vitality of Canada's cultural heritage. Moreover, the use of the Web technology and the Internet is essential to the Library's efforts to promote and increase Canadian content on the Information Highway and to provide equitable, affordable and universal access to Canada's published heritage for all Canadians.

*For background information, see "The CAN-LINKED Initiative: A Proposal for the Co-ordinated Development of a Distributed National Digital Library System in Canada, Prepared by a Group of Academic and Research Libraries", June 1995.

Selected Bibliography of Source Material Used for Confederation Project

Bourinot, John George. -- Canada under British rule, 1760-1900. -- Cambridge : University Press, 1900

Boyd, John. -- Sir George Etienne Cartier, bart. : his life and times : a political history of Canada from 1814 until 1873. -- Toronto : Macmillan Co. of Canada, 1917 [c.1914]. -- (The Chronicles of Canada, 30)

Bradley, A.G. -- Lord Dorchester. -- Toronto : Morang, 1910. -- (The Makers of Canada, Canadian Club edition, v. 5)

Bryce, George. -- Mackenzie, Selkirk, Simpson. -- Toronto : Morang, 1905

Burpee, Lawrence J. -- The search for the western sea. -- Toronto : Macmillan, 1935

Colquhoun, A.H.U. -- The fathers of Confederation : a chronicle of the birth of the Dominion. -- Toronto : Glasgow, 1916

Gosling, William Gilbert. -- Labrador : its discovery, exploration, and development. -- London : A. Rivers, 1910

Grant, W.L. -- A history of Canada. -- London : W. Heinemann, [1916]

Laut, Agnes C. -- Pioneers of the Pacific coast : a chronicle of sea rovers and fur hunters. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1915

Longley, J.W. -- Sir Charles Tupper. -- Toronto : Morang, 1916. -- (Makers of Canada, new series, v. 1)

Lucas, Charles. -- A history of Canada, 1763-1812. -- Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1909

MacMechan, Archibald. -- The winning of popular government : a chronicle of the union of 1841. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1920

Martin, Chester. -- Lord Selkirk's work in Canada. -- Toronto : Oxford University Press, 1916. -- (Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions, Microfiche CC-2 no. 2555)

Parkin, George R. -- John A. Macdonald. -- Toronto : Morang, 1908. -- (Chronicles of Canada, v. 28)

Pope, Joseph. -- The day of Sir John A. Macdonald : a chronicle of the first prime minister of the Dominion. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1920

Scott, Duncan Campbell. -- John Graves Simcoe. -- London : Oxford University Press, 1928. -- (The Makers of Canada, Maclean's Magazine edition, v. 4)

Shortt, Adam. -- Lord Sydenham. -- Toronto : Morang, Glasgow, Brook, 1914. -- (The Makers of Canada, v. 15)

Skelton, Oscar D. -- The day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier : a chronicle of our times. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1916. -- (The Chronicles of Canada, v. 29)

Skelton, Oscar D. -- The life and times of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt. -- Toronto : Oxford University Press, 1920

Wallace, W. Stewart. -- The United Empire Loyalists : a chronicle of the great migration. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1920

White, James. -- Boundary disputes and treaties. -- Toronto ; New York; London [etc.] : Oxford University Press, 1926

Wood, William. -- The father of British Canada : a chronicle of Carleton. -- Toronto : Glasgow, Brook, 1916