Volume 1, Number 3, September-October 2005

Partnerships

Scoop! A Salute to 160 Years of the Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen, past and present Source

Scoop!, presented by the Ottawa Citizen and Library and Archives Canada, is an exhibition of the newspaper's memorabilia, photographs and illustrations. It is enriched by items from the art, photography and manuscript collections of Library and Archives Canada, as well as by artifacts from the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

The contents, eclectic as any daily newspaper, are presented in modules, some of which are titled "From Lumber Town to Metro," "Tragedies," "Lifestyles" and, on the lighter side, "Fun and Games."

"The items were chosen for their visual interest and relevance to the module subject," says curator, Michal Crawley. "There is a letter written by Louis Riel to the editor of the Citizen shortly before Riel's execution, and a tiny First World War diary that a Canadian soldier kept throughout the war. But it is our hope that all the records have meaning  --  humorous as well as serious  --  and will be enjoyed by visitors."

For those interested in print history and typography, the exhibition includes various production tools and type used in the Citizen's earlier days. Items include a cabinet drawer containing brass type and a Ludlow typesetter, which produced lines of type twice as fast as hand-set type.

Library and Archives Canada collects daily, ethnic, Native and student newspapers in original newsprint, bound volumes, microfilm and microfiche. Print issues are consulted onsite but the number of microfilm reels sent around the country through interlibrary loan each year is remarkable.

Scoop! offers an informative and visually striking look at Ottawa's  --  and Canada's  --  heritage, tracing our evolution from a colony to a nation. It will run from October 20, 2005, to April 14, 2006, in Exhibition Room D, 395 Wellington Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, admission is free.

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