Libraries

	Library, Vancouver, B.C. Photo: Danielle Dalbec

The arrival of the computer in the library landscape altered the way knowledge and information are sought in those institutions. The familiar index cards have been increasingly replaced by databases and computer keyboards. Libraries are now faced with deciding how much of their budget goes to books, and how much goes to electronically packaged information.

In the autumn of 1997, the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries (CIDL) was founded with more than 50 Canadian libraries joining the national alliance. Its mission is to “promote, co-ordinate and facilitate the development of Canadian digital collections and services in order to optimize national interoperability and long-term access to Canadian digital library resources.”

At the beginning of October 2002, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that the National Library and National Archives of Canada had joined together to create the Library and Archives of Canada. The purposes of this amalgamation were providing leadership and support to Canada's archival and library networks, continuing to represent them on the international level and taking advantage of the latest technologies to build on all that had already been created.

Less than a month later, the Library and Archives of Canada, along with the CIDL, the Canadian Newspaper Association and the Association for Canadian Studies hosted a national consultation on Canadian online newspapers. The purpose of this meeting was to explore strategies to strengthen online access to contemporary and historical newspaper content for Canadians. The Library and Archives of Canada's own collections of newspapers in print, microform and on CD-ROM are among the largest of their kind in the country.

Using a local library is still a part of Canadian life. Between 1994 and 1999, the average collection size per library grew by 24% and the level of borrowing activity grew by 5%. Libraries are also in the vital business of answering users' questions: this activity grew by 34% over the same period.