News Release

98-02

National Library of Canada Sets Sites on Internet

Ottawa, February 9, 1998 -- The National Library of Canada has collaborated with partners across Canada and Industry Canada's SchoolNet Digital Collections Program to develop Web sites that represent its commitment to increasing Canadian content on the Internet. The Library has added to its Web service (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca) sites on cultural icons Emily Carr and Stephen Leacock, another entitled "Incunabula, Hebraica & Judaica", and is planning to launch a fourth, "Disc-O-Logue", in the spring of 1998.

"The interests and skills of everyone involved in these projects melded together remarkably well," said National Librarian Marianne Scott at a launch and demonstration of two of the sites at the Library on November 19, 1997. "This synergy enabled us to provide researchers with high-quality, useful resources," she told the attendees, including government officials and project managers, as well as project team members who developed the content and design for the sites.

"Emily Carr: At Home and at Work" was originally created in 1996 by a team led by Curator and Content Provider Jennifer Iredale at the Heritage Branch, Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture in British Columbia, using funding from the SchoolNet Digital Collections Program. This past summer, the National Library and BC Heritage collaborated on an update of the site, adding new materials such as articles, architectural drawings, and Carr's manuscript field notes.

"Stephen Leacock: Humorist and Educator" was developed at the National Library of Canada by a team of researchers, writers and managers, with assistance from Daphne Mainprize, Curator of the Stephen Leacock Museum/Archives, the City of Orillia, and the National Archives of Canada. Literary scholars David Staines and Gerald Lynch of the University of Ottawa were responsible for ensuring the integrity of the site.

The third project is a reproduction of the exhibition catalogue published by the National Library in 1981, Incunabula, Hebraica & Judaica: Five Centuries of Hebraica and Judaica, Rare Bibles, and Hebrew Incunables from the Jacob M. Lowy Collection. It was launched on November 23, 1997 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Library's acquisition of the Jacob M. Lowy collection.

Involving the collaboration of individuals and organizations, which include municipal, provincial and federal government departments, work on the sites also provided invaluable experience to young people just beginning their careers. In total, 13 young people acquired financial support from Industry Canada's SchoolNet Digital Collections Program to work on teams to develop the sites. Three of them are now youth entrepreneurs, having established their own companies on the strength of this experience.

SchoolNet Digital Collections are located at http://www.schoolnet.ca/collections. The National Library has included the sites on its Web service under "Digital Projects".

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