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National Library News |
by Mary Bond,
Research and Information Services
Consider an author who has just completed the manuscript of a novel set in Montreal in the roaring twenties. You feel that the plot is terrific and the characters are well-developed. However, the backdrop of Montreal society during that time period needs fleshing out. On the advice of a friend who is a librarian, the author visits the National Library of Canada to check its collection of Canadian newspapers, magazines and city directories, as well as histories of the 1920s and of Montreal. This is how an author can discover the riches of the largest collection of published Canadiana in the world.
Although they range from the classic, the controversial and the scholarly to the practical, the popular and the funny, the following publications have in common that they were researched, at least in part, using the National Library of Canada’s collections and services: Firing the Heather : The Life and Times of Nellie McClung (Mary Hallett and Marilyn Davis, Fifth House); Last Stop, Paris : The Assassination of Mario Bachand and the Death of the FLQ (Michael McLoughlin, Viking); The Annotated Anne of Green Gables (Edited by Wendy E. Barry, Margaret Anne Doody and Mary E. Doody Jones, Oxford University Press); Les Premières Nations (Olive Dickason, Septentrion); Strangers at our Ggates : Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540-1997 (Valerie Knowles, Dundurn Press); How to Research Almost Anything : A Canadian Guide for Students, Consumers and Business (Stephen Overbury and Susanna Buenaventura, McGraw-Hill Ryerson); Books You Need to Do Genealogy in Ontario : An Annotated Bibliography (Ryan Taylor, Round Tower Books); Dictionary of Canadian Place Names (Alan Rayburn, Oxford University Press); Histoire de l’Outaouais (Institut québécois de recherche sur la culture); Scorned & Beloved : Dead of Winter Meetings with Canadian Eccentrics (Bill Richardson, Knopf Canada).
The National Library’s collections and staff are acknowledged by most of these authors; some provide details of the collections or materials which they used. Alan Rayburn, for example, notes his research in "the library’s vast collection of published histories and reference materials", while Mary Hallett and Marilyn Davis checked "cartloads of early Canadian magazines". Their notes and bibliographies make it apparent that a wealth of Canadian books, magazines, newspapers and government publications were consulted. Many of these authors worked on-site, making full use of the Library’s reference, general and special collections and seeking the assistance of staff with their research. Michael McLouglin expresses appreciation for the ability of the librarians "to uncover the most recondite sources" while Ryan Taylor states that the "ongoing assistance and interest" of staff "demonstrate to me exactly what a national library is for".
Our collections and services are also available to researchers unable to visit in person. Most publications in our general collection can be borrowed on interlibrary loan by arrangement with your local library, whether in Canada or abroad. To discover the depth and breadth of our collections, you can search our online catalogue on the Internet (address: http://www.amicus.nlc-bnc.ca/wapp/resanet/introe.htm.). No access to the Internet? Then you can send questions to the National Library through your local library or contact us directly by telephone, fax or letter. We can identify relevant sources in our collection, advise you on a research strategy, provide factual information, or refer you to another institution or organization for further assistance.
When your manuscript is ready, we can assist you by locating contact information for editors and publishers or direct you to one of the many excellent guides on how to get published in Canada. We might ask you to share the joys, frustrations, insights and results of your research with other researchers and staff in our SAVOIR FAIRE seminar series.
The collections of the National Library are acquired through legal deposit, purchase, gift and exchange with other institutions. The legal deposit regulations, through which the largest part of the Canadiana collection is obtained, require that Canadian publishers deposit up to a maximum of two copies of a publication (book, pamphlet, periodical, microform, CD-ROM, etc.) with the National Library, depending on the number of copies published.
There are a number of benefits for publishers. One copy of the two copies which you send to the Library will be housed in our Preservation Collection to ensure its availability for future generations of researchers. It will be stored in special environmental conditions and be available for restricted use in the Library. The other copy will be placed in our general collection for use on-site and through interlibrary loan. The titles noted above are the best evidence that a comprehensive Canadiana collection at the National Library helps researchers to create new works for publishers to consider.
When a publisher deposits a publication with the National Library, a bibliographical description of it is will beentered in the National Library’s on-line catalogue as well as and the national bibliography, Canadiana, ensuring that the publication will be made known to researchers within inside and outside of Canada as well as to booksellers, many of whom contact the Library to track down publishing and ordering information for particular titles.
Publications received by the National Library are also promoted through cultural events such as public readings and lectures held at the Library, and through inclusion in exhibitions and bibliographies prepared by Library staff on Canadian history, people, art, institutions, literature, music, etc. Virtual exhibitions and electronic versions of the bibliographies on our Web site ensure a worldwide audience.
One of the great joys for those of us who work with the National Library’s collection on a daily basis lies in knowing that the strands of research for which we provide assistance may result in a new publication and that our next client might turn out to be the author of a book which will be end up on our shelves one day. With such a collection, the possibilities are infinite.
For further information, contact Reference :
Reference: (613) 995-9481
Fax: (613) 943-1112
E-mail: reference@nlc-bnc.ca
Internet: www.nlc-bnc.ca
Mail: 395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
(Mary Bond is the acting head of the Public Services Section, Reference and Information Services Division and the compiler of Canadian Reference Sources, a seminal guide for those researching Canadian topics.)