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News Release2001-01 Canadiana Turns 50Ottawa, January 15, 2001 - Fifty years ago today the first issue of Canadiana, Canada’s national bibliography, appeared. That first issue contained some 60 descriptions of Canadian works published in the preceding weeks. Under the aegis of the Canadian Bibliographic Centre, the forerunner of the National Library of Canada, this new bibliographic tool emerged. Canadiana took over from the Canadian Catalogue of Books, which had been published by the Toronto Public Library since 1921. From 1951, the objective of Canadiana was to create a record of everything published in Canada or dealing with Canada. The content of that first edition faithfully reflected this objective: in it could be found works of fiction, from commercial publishers or published by the author, documents published by private associations and organizations, educational tools, non-fiction works, reports and documents from federal and provincial governments. Indeed, everything the bibliographer-editors were aware of or that was reported to them and that held a specific interest for the country’s libraries and booksellers made its way into Canadiana. The objective has remained the same: to make bibliographic information rapidly available to every Canadian who wishes to know what has been published in Canada or about Canada. The fundamental mission, conceived for Canadiana by its publishers half a century ago, has endured even though the means of dissemination or compilation of the national bibliography have undergone many transformations. Canadiana, with its wealth of bibliographic content, can be found in the National Library’s AMICUS database (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/amicus/index-e.html), which can be accessed throughout Canada and the world. Much of Canadiana’s data can also be found in numerous national and international databases. Canadiana on CD-ROM makes it possible to consult the entire Canadian published heritage off-line. Our wish for this birthday is that Canadiana continue to meet the needs of all Canadians searching for current information to enhance their knowledge or to become more familiar with their past and their cultural identity. - 30 - For more information about Canadiana, please contact: David Balatti |