National Library News January 1999 Vol. 31, no. 1

National Library of Canada Awarded Gold Medal at Technology in Government Conference

The National Library of Canada was one of 31 winners at Technology in Government’s "Distinction ’98" awards gala at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

For his work on behalf of the Library, Dr. Timothy Maloney, Director of the Music Division, received the Committee’s Choice gold medal at the October 26, 1998 conclusion of industry’s week-long salute to "excellence in the management of information and technology in the public sector". He and his team were honoured for "conceiving and delivering a program of digitization projects illustrating and explaining the achievements of Canadian musicians, making the music collections more accessible to Canadian and international audiences".

Among the many projects are:

• The Canadian Music Periodical Index, an online database of bibliographic information pointing researchers to some 30 000 articles on Canadian music and musicians found in 475 Canadian journals, newsletters and magazines dating back to the 1800s. Three years ago, this was a little-known card file accessible only on-site at the National Library. Today, it receives over 50 000 visits and close to 40 000 pages are downloaded each month. (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/cmpi)
• The Glenn Gould Archive, a multimedia Web site containing a virtual exhibition, and including three hours of archival audio unobtainable elsewhere, three separate databases giving access to Gould’s archival papers and recordings, writings by and about Gould, literary and artistic works inspired by Gould, and links to related sites. This site now averages 100 000 visits and around 60 000 pages are downloaded each month. (http://www.gould.nlc-bnc.ca)
• The Claude Champagne Virtual Exhibition, based on the National Library of Canada’s 1990-1991 exhibition, mounted to celebrate the centenary of the Quebec musician’s birth. It contains a digital selection of documents, photographs and artifacts from the National Library of Canada's Claude Champagne Archive. (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/dl/1998/champagne/)
• Disc-o-logue, a Web-accessible database containing information on close to 90 000 French-language pop-music sound recordings, sold in Canada between 1955 and 1985. Until 1997, the index was a card file available only on-site at the National Library. (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/discologue/)
• The Virtual Gramophone, a multimedia Web site and database devoted to the 78-rpm era in Canada. The site features the earliest Canadian sound recordings and information about the artists, labels, record companies and technology of the 1900-1955 period. (http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/gramophone/)
• Finding aids to the archival papers of such Canadian musicians as Robert Fleming, André Prévost, and the Mathieu family. Similar finding aids for Alfred Laliberté, Otto Joachim and other Canadian musicians are now in preparation.
• A revised guide to all archives held by the National Library of Canada Music Division will soon be mounted on the Web. (It will also be printed in hard copy on demand.)

Every digitization project needs a good team.

As Jerry Shattner, president of Hitachi Data Systems Inc., pointed out, the projects at the Library are examples of the "creativity, dedication and leadership that has resulted in improved operations, innovative solutions and strategic directions that will help set the stage for the new millennium."

"The 31 awards were presented in 11 categories: Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Business; Implementing Medium to Large IT Projects; Enhancing Government Operations; Innovative Service Delivery in the Provinces; Innovative Service Delivery in the Municipalities; Strategic Information Management; Building Partnerships; Cross-Jurisdictional Cooperation; Development and Training of IT Professionals; Doing Business Electronically; and Leadership. A Committee’s Choice Award was awarded to Dr. Timothy Maloney, Director, Music Division, National Library of Canada. Mr. Maloney conceived and delivered a program of digitization projects illustrating and explaining the achievements of Canadian musicians, making the music collections more accessible to Canadian and international audiences."