LibGuides: Canadian History Research Guide: Primary Sources

Best Bets for Manitoba Historic Research

Canadianna
Canadianna provides support for the digitization, preservation of, and access to, Canadian heritage content.
Hudson’s Bay Archives
HBCA acquires and preserves archival records of HBC and other records related to HBC history, such as private records of individuals and subsidiary companies (including the North West Company), and encourages the use and understanding of these records.
IPortal
The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) connects faculty, students, researchers and members of the community with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc. - Full text: sometimes
Library and Archives Canada
With a national mandate to preserve Canadian heritage materials, LAC also has made many collections available digitally.
Manitoba Archival Information Network
MAIN is an online searchable database supported by the Association for Manitoba Archives. It provides access to descriptions of archival material held in Manitoba, including photographs, documents, audiovisual records, and maps. As a centralized resource for archival descriptions held in various repositories across Manitoba, MAIN facilitates access to records from a diverse range of creators.
Manitoba History
Although not primary source, it is an important journal with articles about the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural history of Manitoba & the Canadian West.
Manitobia
Digital Collection of historical resources pertaining to Manitoba.
Our World
Millions of pages of digitized newspapers, maps, photos, pamphlets, manuscripts and more. Freely explore and access extensive resources such as the Indigenous Peoples: North America collection. Made openly available by the University of Manitoba Libraries.
University of Manitoba Digital Archives
Home to the U of M’s unique digital collections. Manitoban in focus.

General Digital Collections

Archives Canada Search
Archives Canada is a gateway to archival resources found in over 800 repositories across Canada. Search for archival holdings across Canada. Some Full text but dependent on collection and location.
Canadianna
Canadianna provides support for the digitization, preservation of, and access to, Canadian heritage content.
Digital Museums Canada
Digital Museums Canada supports the building of digital capacity in Canadian museums and heritage, cultural and Indigenous organizations, giving people living in Canada unique access to diverse stories and experiences. Review their Funded Projects to identify relevant collections.
Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
Many online cultural resources are being archived by the Internet Archive. Search by the type of information you are looking for ( text, films, audio, etc.).
Library and Archives Canada
With a national mandate to preserve Canadian heritage materials, LAC also has made many collections available digitally.
Manitobia
Digital resources on Manitoba history.
McGill Digital Collections and Exhibits
Explore more than 80 digital projects covering a wide array of subjects. Browse 17,000 digitized books from the McGill University Library Internet Archive collection.
Memorial University of Newfoundland Digital Archives
Collection of digitized Books, Newspapers, Government Publications , Images, Maps and Yearbooks.
Our World: Gale Primary Sources for All Manitobans
Brought to you by the University of Manitoba Library, this resource contains a range of Newspapers, Periodicals and Manuscripts from the 17th Century onwards. Consists of sources from North America, England, Latin America and China. A listing of collections is found via its A-Z Resource List.
Peel’s Prairie Provinces
This collection contains books, pamphlets, and other materials related to the development of the Prairies.
Quebec Bibliotheque et Archives Nationals
Diverse collection of documents ranging from civil records to newspapers
Simon Fraser University Digitized Collections
The digitized collections include over 130 collections, with more than 1.3 million digitized newspapers, photographs, documents, sound recordings, and other objects.
Toronto Public Library Digital Archive
Photos, Maps, Manuscripts, Digitized Books & More. Over 170000 resources.
University of Alberta Digital Collections
Site provides the links to several important digital collections pertaining to Western Canadian history and Canadian History more broadly.
University of British Columbia Open Collections
UBC Library's Open Collections include digital photos, books, newspapers, maps, videos, theses and more. These publicly-accessible collections are constantly growing.
University of Manitoba Digital Collections
Home to the U of M’s unique digital collections. Manitoban in focus.
University of Toronto Digital Collections
Extensive collection of digital resources. Multiple collections including Canadian Labour Movements, Canadian Local History, Canadian Pamphlets and Broadsides, Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups
University of Victoria Digital Archives
Provides access to digitized materials both from the rare and unique holdings in Special Collections, University Archives & from project partners. Includes diaries, maps, letters, photographs, sound recordings, videos, serials, periodicals

Documents

Acadians Collection
Nova Scotia Archives holds records of these early settlements, the Deportation and Le Grand Dérangement, and present-day communities.
Ad Access
Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - and World War II propaganda. Dated between 1911 and 1955.
Alaska, Western Canada and United States Collection
Digital historic photographs documenting Alaska, Western U.S. Yukon and British Columbia. Features images of the Gold Rush of 1898-1900, Mining, Street scenes, Indigenous People, Hunting, Fishing, etc.
American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement
American Journeys contains 18,000 + pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later. Read the words of explorers, Indians, settlers, missionaries and traders
Archives Canada Search
Archives Canada is a gateway to archival resources found in over 800 repositories across Canada. Search for archival holdings across Canada.
Atlantic Canada Virtual Archive
A virtual archive of primary source material relating to the Atlantic Provinces. Each collection features digitized documents and images, accompanied by learning activities and commentary.
BC Archives Digital Objects Collection
Use this database to find descriptions and select digitized versions of archival records held at the BC Archives
Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec Digital Collection
Digital cultural, historical and genealogical sources pertaining to Quebec.
Blackfoot Digital Library
The outcome of documentary work that began over a century ago, and which elaborates on a knowledge base that emerged through a continuity of many thousands of years living in kitawahsinnoon.
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The outcome of documentary work that began more than a century ago, and which elaborates on a knowledge base that emerged through a continuity of many thousands of years living in kitawahsinnoon.
British Columbia Regional Digitized History
Use BCRDH to access copies of regional historical resources including photographs, textual documents and publications from BC memory institutions.
Canada Declassified
Digital repository of government records declassified under the Canadian Access to Information Act. Holdings span from WW II through the Global War on Terror, with the bulk of records from the Cold War. The records are open-access.
Canada In the Making
Provides links to significant primary and secondary sources available in the Government Documents collection related to Constitutional History, Aboriginal Treaties and Relations, and Immigration. Also has links to Information About these areas of Canadian History.
Canada Year Book
A wealth of historical data in Statistics Canada's annual Canada Year Book is available via the Canada Year Book Historical Collection. It covers the first century of Canada's history, from 1867 to 1967, with historical text, tables, charts and maps, supplemented by interconnected learning resources for students and teachers.
Canada’s Early Women Writers
Canada's Early Women Writers (CEWW), a long-term collaborative project, is a bio-bibliographical database of Canadian English-language women writers who first published in or before 1950.Includes primary sources.
Canadian Letters and Images Project
The Canadian Letters and Images Project is an online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. It began in August 2000, located in the Department of History at Vancouver Island University.
Canadian Libraries: Internet Archives Collection
From its humble beginnings, Internet Archive Canada has worked with more 250 institutions, in providing their unique material(s) with open access and sharing these collections the world over. IAC has digitized more than 600,000 unique texts as of September 2019.
Canadianna
Catalogues, and digitizes documentary heritage—books, newspapers, periodicals, images and nationally-significant archival materials.
Canadian Pamphlets and Broadsides
This collection provides access to the pre-1930 Canadian pamphlet and broadside holdings of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. To date the site consists of 597 broadsides ... and 2,062 pamphlet titles which amounts to 71,508 page images. The collection includes items printed in Canada, by Canadian authors, or about Canadian subjects, mainly of a non-literary nature.
Canadian War Poster Collection
The collection includes some 250 Canadian posters from the two World Wars. This site contains basic descriptions and images of each poster, an artist index, a search facility, and an essay about Canadian War Posters.
The Chinese Experience in British Columbia: 1850-1950
Read stories and view photographs of the earliest generations of Chinese-Canadians, from 1850-1950. Illustrated throughout with quotations from the works of Chinese-Canadian author Wayson Choy, this website will also link you to the digitized holdings of the Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection at the UBC Library, and the Yip family and Yip Sang Ltd. fonds at City of Vancouver Archives
CIHM Monograph Collection
A collection of publications dating back to the early 17th century that are about Canada, or written and published by Canadians, scanned from microfiche. Digitized by the University of Alberta Libraries.
Colonial Despatches
Contains the original correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, covering the period from 1846 leading to the founding of Vancouver Island in 1849, the founding of British Columbia in 1858, the annexation of Vancouver Island by British Columbia in 1866, and up to the incorporation of B.C. into the Canadian Federation in 1871.
Constitution Express Digital Collections
The repatriation of the Constitution was a moment of crisis for Aboriginal people with the realization in 1980 that proposed versions to the "new" constitution would effectively end recognition of Aboriginal title and rights. The Constitution Express was a 3000 mile trek to the seat of the federal government. The purpose of this journey was to tell Trudeau and his government that the Indian people have rights as the first inhabitants of this land, and that these rights have been guaranteed by treaty and historical agreement between Indian Nations and the British Government.
Diaries of William Lyon MacKenzie King
King was an exceedingly prolific correspondent and the author of numerous books and articles, but by far his most important literary project was the ongoing, daily writing of his diary, which began in 1893, while he was an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, and ended in 1950. Taken together, the diary texts comprise nearly 30,000 pages (more than 7,500,000 words) and arguably represent one of Canada's greatest literary achievements.
Doukhobor Collection of Simon Fraser University
Collection of digitized records pertaining to the Doukhobors made available via Simon Fraser University.
Eighteenth Century Journals
Rare journals printed between c1685 and 1835, illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. - Coverage: 1685 - 1835
Empire Online
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and it's theories, practices and consequences. - Coverage: 1492 - 1969
Exploration and Settlement
Library and Archives Canada holds vast resources related to exploration, immigration, naturalization and citizenship. Some of the types of resources available include immigrant diaries, Geological Survey of Canada records, fur trade records, Hudson's Bay Company records, land grants, quarantine records, French and British colonial records, maps and artwork. Notable literary works such as the Jesuit Relations highlight their collection of early Canadiana.
First Nations Digital Document Source
Collection of electronic documents used primarily for research in land claims and First Nations issues. Documents include court decisions, legislation, treaties, claims policies, privy council orders, research guides, and instructional resources related to land claims and Aboriginal title, particularly in the Canadian context. The FNDDS is owned collectively by the Claims Research Units (CRU) research directors and is currently being maintained by the staff of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).
France in America
Consist of digitized items from the Library of Congress collection (originally made available as the France in America digital library project). It explores the history of the French presence in North America from the first decades of the 16th century to the end of the 19th century.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters
This digital collection of primary source documents helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920. Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas.
Fur Trade Fonds
This collection of websites provides access to full text manuscripts related to the North American fur trade, including the Masson Papers (letters, diaries, travel narratives, and other textual documents relating to the North West Company and the colonial-era fur trade), the business papers of James McGill, and a collection of voyageur contracts. The papers represent a settler perspective of North American places and peoples.
Glenbow Library and Archives
This collection documents the history and culture of Western Canada, including aboriginal heritage, community and military history, and artwork.
HaithiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
Heritage Burnaby
Heritage Burnaby is an online collaboration, spearheaded by the Community Heritage Commission that represents all of the community assets, heritage services and historic collections managed by the City of Burnaby, British Columbia.
Hudson’s Bay Archives
HBCA acquires and preserves archival records of HBC and other records related to HBC history, such as private records of individuals and subsidiary companies (including the North West Company), and encourages the use and understanding of these records.
Immigrant Experiences: SFU Digitized Collections
The Simon Fraser University Library digitized collections include over 130 collections, with more than 1.3 million digitized newspapers, photographs, documents, sound recordings, and other objects.
Immigration Records
This page provides general instructions on using immigration records to do genealogical research. Individual guides for select sources are also available.
Indian and Inuit Affairs School File Series, 1879-1953 (RG10-B-3-d)
Use to search the collection of microfilmed records dealing with Indian school administration in Canada. To obtain a copy of the records utilize Inter-Library Loans.
In Pursuit of Adventure: The Fur Trade in Canada and the North West Company
Provides access to the full text of thirty-eight manuscripts collectively known as the Masson Papers. The Masson Papers comprise letters, diaries, travel narratives, and other textual documents relating to the North West Company and the colonial-era fur trade more generally. The papers represent a settler perspective of North American places and peoples.
Internet Archive Text Archive
Provides access to over 40 million ebooks and primary source texts.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook for Canada
Access to selected digitized primary sources.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents
This site contains the entire English translation of the The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents
Library & Archives of Canada Colonial Documents
Online documents and images pertaining to British/French colonial periods and the Catholic Church.
Library and Archives Canada Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiatives
Learn how Library and Archives Canada uses naming, tagging, transcribing and translating collaborations to increases access to Indigenous-related content in its collection and supports Indigenous communities to preserve First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation cultures and languages.
Louis Riel Collection: University of Calgary
The Louis Riel Collection consists of letters, papers, notebooks, and a single glass plate negative. For well over a century, this cache of original materials was in the safe keeping of descendants of Louis Riel’s immediate family members.
McCord Museum: Our People Our Stories
The McCord Museum conserves and presents close to 1,500,000 objects, images and manuscripts that are irreplaceable reflections of the social history and material culture of Montreal, Quebec and Canada. Currently the online collection ... is made up of 147,500 artifacts
Multicultural Canada
Browse or Search documents about the cultural groups that make up Canada. Joint project by Simon Fraser University and Canadian Heritage
National Aboriginal Documents Database
Search to locate land claims, independent Statutes and Acts, Treaties and Court Decisions.
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Archives
Archive preserves the records of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which examined the experiences of Residential School Survivors. By incorporating indigenous perspectives on memory, archival practice and ownership, this is a decolonized archive built on principles of respect, honesty, wisdom, courage, humility, love and truth.
Native Canada Portal
Collection of documents and images at the University of Calgary
New France Archives
The Direction des Archives de France, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the Canadian Embassy in Paris collaborated to mark the 400th anniversary of New France. This site provides access to a virtual exhibition and a database containing more than one million images
Northwest Resistance Database
Index of materials related to the Northwest Resistance of 1885.
Nova Scotia Archives: Virtual Archives and Databases
Several exhibits pertaining to the Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaelic Nova Scotians, the Mi’kmaq. Digitized newspapers pertaining to region.
Our Future, Our Past: The Alberta Heritage - Digitization Project
Open Access. : Our Roots / Our Future, Our Past collections have migrated to a new platform. The notice page for this change includes links to a variety of links, including "Our Roots."
Our Legacy
This site is a co-operative initiative among several of Saskatchewan’s publicly-accessible archives. It is primarily intended to increase the information normally available for archival material by providing access to descriptions of material at a file or item level. Where appropriate, some guides (finding aids) are also available. Although less comprehensive, the site also includes some published (library) and artifactual (museum) material.
Our Ontario
Search across hundreds of sites – digital collections of libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, government agencies, and content organizations Find photographs, maps, videos, audio recordings, government documents and other media.
Our Roots
Note: Our Roots / Our Future, Our Past collections have migrated to a new platform. The notice page for this change includes links to a variety of links, including "Our Roots."
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Open Access
Peel’s Prairie Provinces
Based on Peel's Bibliography of the Prairies to 1953, this site contains digitized materials related to Prairie History including 7,500 digitized books and over 35,000 newspaper issues (2.5 million articles!)
Primary Documents: Digitizing the Canadian Constitution
Database of historical documents related to the drafting and adoption of the Canadian Constitution. Presently consists of over 4500 documents.
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Repertory of Online Collections of Primary Sources: Specific Topics in Canadian History
Important Listing of a primary document sites organized by the area of Canadian History.
Royal Fisk Gold Rush Letters
Over 900 original manuscript letters from the Cariboo Gold Rush period, 1862-1868. Written by Victoria area merchants to Royal Fisk, a forwarding and shipping agent in San Francisco, the letters are a valuable source of information on trade and commerce as it developed in Victoria during the height and decline of the Cariboo Gold Rush.
S. J. McKee Archives
Located in BU Library
Christy Henry, B.A. (Spec.), M.A.; (204) 727-9634; Henryc@Brandonu.ca
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Collection of Primary Sources relevant to History in Western Manitoba. Some material is online.
Saskatchewan History Online
Collection of digitized artefacts, photos and documents relating to the history of Saskatchewan, hosted by the University of Saskatchewan.
Simon Fraser University Digitized Collections
Digital Collections dealing with Activism, British Columbia, Oral History, Immigrant Experience, Indigenous Collection, Newspapers, Images, Literature and Poetry in Canada.
Transgender Archives
Brought to us by the University of Victoria Libraries, Transgender Archives actively acquiries documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of persons and organizations that have worked for the betterment of Trans+ people. Some is available online.
UBCIC’s Digital Collections
The UBCIC's Digital Collections offer a variety of research and informational materials. There are four research collections in addition to a series of collections created with digitized materials from the UBCIC Archives that document the history of the UBCIC and First Nations in British Columbia
United Church of Canada Archives
Houses the records of the General Council, the national body of the Church, as well as the records of the Ontario Regional Council. Digital collections highlight the past mission work of the United Church, including First Nations missions and Residential Schools, churches, communities and church activities.
War Diaries of the First World War
Contains the digitized War Diaries of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) units. The War Diaries are not personal diaries; they are a historical record of a unit’s administration, operations and activities during World War I.
Women, War & Society, 1914-1918 Digital Collection
The First World War had a revolutionary and permanent impact on the personal, social and professional lives of all women. Their essential contribution to the war in Europe is fully documented in this definitive collection of primary source materials brought together in the Imperial War Museum, London. - Coverage; 1914 - 1918
Worlds of Change: Materials from 17th and 18th century North America
A collection of more than 700,000 digitized pages of all known archival and manuscript materials in the Harvard Library that relate to 17th- and 18th-century North America. This material was digitized as part of a multi-year project, formerly known as Colonial North America at Harvard Library.

Newpapers / News

Body Politic
LGBTQ publication digitally available from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR).
British Colonialist
The paper for the province of British Columbia until the emergence of competitors in the 1890s. This site contains all the issues of the British Colonist (aka The Daily British Colonist, the Daily Colonist) from its first issue in 1858 to December 1980

British Columbia Historical Newspapers
Search and view B.C. community newspapers published from 1865 to 1924
British Library Newspapers
British Library Newspapers delivers a wide range of irreplaceable local and regional voices to reflect the social, political, and cultural events of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. These newspapers emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Canada Gazette
Often referred to as "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada," this publication has been an important instrument in the Canadian democratic process for 160 + years. The database comprises images taken from microfilm, microfiche and rare original copies of the Gazette held by LAC.
Canadian Illustrated News, 1869-1883 (Montreal)
The Canadian Illustrated News was a weekly Canadian illustrated magazine published in Montreal from 1869 to 1883. It was published by George Desbarats & is notable for being the first in the world to consistently produce photographs at a successful rate.
CBC Digital Archive
Digitized radio and tv newsclips from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Newsstream
Offers access to the full text of 190 Canadian newspapers from Canada's leading publishers. This includes the complete available electronic backfile for most newspapers & full access to the articles, columns, editorials and features published in each. Some backfiles date as far back as the late 1970s.
Chinese’s Times Newspaper
Thais newspaper was published in Vancouver daily from 1914 to 1992 & covered both local information and news about China and Asia generally. Totalling 250,000 pages, this collection covers important moments in the history of Vancouver’s Chinese community, from early immigration struggles to the establishment of a thriving home base near Vancouver’s downtown.
Connecting Canadians: Canada’s Multicultural Newspaper Beta Website
The collection includes Croatian, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Latvian, and Lithuanian newspapers
Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004
Openly Available in Manitoba. Daily Mail has been at the heart of British journalism since 1896, regularly changing the course of government policy and setting the national debate.
Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War
This collection of more than 140,000 clippings, arranged by subject and date, includes news stories and editorials from newspapers, mostly Canadian, documenting every aspect of the war. The English-language clippings are from the archive of the century-old Hamilton Spectator newspaper, while the French-language materials are from a collection of the newspaper Le Devoir
Early Alberta Newspapers
Collection of Old Newspapers in Alberta. Some begin around 1900 and some continue into the 1990s.
Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2016
Openly available in Manitoba. Chronicles the critical financial and economic events that shaped the world, from the late nineteenth and entire twentieth centuries to today.

Gale Primary Sources - Newspapers
Includes 17-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers and 19th Century British Newspapers - 3 million pages of historic newspapers, newsbooks & ephemera. Coverage: 1600-1900
Globe and Mail (1844 - 2017)/Canada's Heritage (ProQuest)
Provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time from the pages of the Globe and Mail. - Coverage: 1844 - 2017

Historical Canadian Newspapers Online
Links to historical Canadian newspapers that are freely available on the Internet. Site discontinued locating Canadian Historical Newspapers in 2019.
Independent Digital Arvhive
Openly Available in Manitoba. A major British daily national newspaper, launched in 1986 as an antidote to its often overtly political rivals. The publication's evolution has been considerable, but it has also retained a distinctive position in British journalism. Featuring the work of journalists and columnists from across the political spectrum.

Independent Voices
Independent Voices is a digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.

The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003
Openly available in Manitoba. The Illustrated London News became the world's first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, marking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. Presents a vivid picture of British and world events, including news of war, disaster, ceremonies, the arts, and science.
INK
Collection includes early Kingston newspapers (The British Whig, The Kingston Chronicle, and The Kingston Gazette); two abolitionist newspapers from Southern Ontario (The Provincial Freeman and The Voice of The Fugitive); unique titles for topics such as Great Lakes shipping (The Marine Record); and visual sources for 19th century Canadian history (Canadian Illustrated News).
Island Newspapers
Online archive of PEI's main newspaper of record, The Guardian, from 1890 to 1957
Library and Archives Canada Indigenous Newspapers Project
Consists of digitized issues of Windspeaker, the Turtle Island News and Ha-Shilth-Sa newspapers.

Manitobia
Open Access Digital resources on Manitoba history including digitized Manitoba Newspapers from 1851-1919

Maple Leaf: For Canadian Troups in Action
Canadian military newspaper for soldiers during World War II. Contains digitized copies of the newspaper.
Memorial University Digital Archives: Newspapers
Collection of Historical Newspapers In Newfoundland and Labrador going back to 1833. Most recent issue is in 2016.
Newshound
Searchable digitized archive of local newspapers from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District area. Digitized so far: Kamloops Daily News, Kamloops The Week, Merritt Herald, Merritt News. Date range depends on the newspaper, but ranges between 1880-2019.
Newspaper Archive
The world's largest online newspaper archive..
NexiUni
1970s - present. Coverage varies by title.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
Openly available in Manitoba Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers provides an as-it-happened window on events, culture, and daily life in nineteenth-century America that is of interest to both professional and general researchers. 1.8 million pages
Nova Scotia Archives: Virtual Archives and Databases
Several exhibits pertaining to the Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaelic Nova Scotians, the Mi’kmaq. Digitized newspapers pertaining to region.
Nova Scotia Historical Newspapers Online
An estimated 104,700 pages of digitized newspapers – 21 titles over the period 1769 to 2003 – are included. All have been scanned from original copies
Our Ontario Newspapers
With links to Historical Newpapers, Audio, Images, Text and Video, this is a wonderful primary source for Canadian History.
Peel’s Prairie Provinces: Newspapers
Collection of Prairie newspapers. 1871-1912
Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938-1957
Openly available in Manitoba. The Picture Post Historical Archive comprises the complete run of the Picture Post from its first issue in 1938 to its last in 1957—all digitized from originals.

Openly available in Manitoba. The Picture Post's innovative use of photojournalism captured the imagination of the British public,. In the era before television, it became the window on the world for ordinary people, bringing the major social and political issues of the day into popular consciousness.
Prince George Newspapers
A collection of historical newspapers digitized by the Prince George Public Library, Prince George, BC
Revues et journaux québécois numérisés par BAnQ
Cette collection donne notamment accès aux journaux suivants : L'Action catholique, Le Canada, Le Canadien, Le Courrier de St-Hyacinthe, Le Devoir, La Minerve, La Patrie, La Presse, Le Petit journal et Le Soleil.
Saskatchewan News Index
The Saskatchewan News Index contains historical news stories published in Saskatchewan newspapers from 1884 to the 2004.
Saskatchewan Historic Newspapers Online
The Saskatchewan Historic Newspapers Online collection has been created in collaboration between the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan and Sask History Online (SHO). The project when completed will see the digitization of newspapers from all across Saskatchewan from 1878 through to the mid 1960s.
Seventeen and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspaper Collection
Search over 700 newspaper titles and pamphlets from the collection of Reverend Charles Burney (1757–1817).
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Nichols Newspaper Collection
Openly Available in Manitoba. Features newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets, and broadsheets held at the Bodleian library in Oxford, UK. Collection charts the history of the development of the press in England & provides insight into 17th and 18th century England.
SFU Digitized Newspapers
Collection of digitized newspapers pertaining to immigrants, French Canada, the Chinese community in Canada, Foreign Language and British Columbia.
SFU Library Editorial Cartoons Collection
Collection of thousands of original drawings published in Canadian newspapers between 1952 and the present
Southern Alberta Newspaper Collection
Digitized content from the Alberta Star, Barons Enterprise, Barons Globe, Cardston News, Cardston Record, Granum Adverister, Granum Herald, Granum News, Granum Press, Granum Times, Kainai News, Lethbridge News, Macleod Advertiser, Macleod Chronicle, Macleod Gazette, Macleod News, Macleod Spectator, Magrath Pioneer, Milk River Review & Sun Dance Echo.
Special Editions of Canadian Newspapers
For more than a century, newspapers have produced special colour supplements to mark important events. This site presents a selection of these special items from the collection of the National Library of Canada.
The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2006
Openly available in Manitoba. Boasting some 3.5 million articles and more than 800,000 digitized pages, The Sunday Times Historical Archive is a gateway to the greatest crimes, careers, and culture of the last two centuries. This archive is an important resource for the humanities and social sciences, especially in history, media studies, journalism, literature, cultural studies, politics, and theater. The collection is also a valuable resource for family history and genealogy.
The Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2000
Openly available in Manitoba. Launched in 1855 as an affordable newspaper (it quickly cut its price to a penny), by 1876 The Telegraph was the largest-selling newspaper in the world, with a circulation of 300,000.
The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985
Openly Available in Manitoba. The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, one of the most highly regarded resources for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century news coverage.
Women, War & Society: 1914-1918 Digital Archive
The First World War had a revolutionary and permanent impact on the personal, social and professional lives of all women. Their essential contribution to the war in Europe is fully documented in this definitive collection of primary source materials brought together in the Imperial War Museum, London. - Coverage; 1914 - 1918

Government Documents

British North America Legislative Database: 1758-1867
This database includes characteristics of all the legislation passed by the pre-Confederation assemblies of eastern British North America: Nova Scotia (1758-1867); Cape Breton (1785-1820); Prince Edward Island (1768-1867); New Brunswick (1786-1867); Lower Canada (1792-1838); Upper Canada (1792-1840), the United Canadas (1841-1867); and Newfoundland (1832-1867).
Canada Gazette
The Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada. It informs Canadians about government operations and involves them in the legislative process. It includes statutes, new and proposed regulations, administrative board decisions and public notices. You may search the collection of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) for digitized issues from 1841 to 1997. To find digitized issues from 1998 to the present, visit the official website of the Canada Gazette .
Canada Year Book Historical Collection 1867-1967
Discover Canada's social and economic past through the people, events and facts that have shaped this vast country. Includes historical data in Statistics Canada's annual Canada Year Book during the first century of Canada's history, from 1867 to 1967
Canadian Census Analyzer
The Census Analyser includes access to census data from 1961 to 2016, and outputs include HTML, plain text, CSV, SAS, and SPASS.
Canadian Government Publications Portal
Internet Archive Canada, with advice and assistance from government and university librarians across Canada, have digitized more than 20,000 Canadian Government publications and made them freely available online. This page is meant to serve as a portal for discovering publications digitized by Internet Archive Canada.
Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
A free searchable database of digitised versions of the debates , journals, and committee documentation of the Senate and the House of Commons
Colonial Despatches for Vancouver Island and British Columbia
Contains the original correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, covering the period from 1846 leading to the founding of Vancouver Island in 1849, the founding of British Columbia in 1858, the annexation of Vancouver Island by British Columbia in 1866, and up to the incorporation of B.C. into the Canadian Federation in 1871.
Constitutional Documents
Government of Canada Web Archive
The Government of Canada Web Archive provides access to Canadian web content collected and preserved by Library and Archives Canada.
HeinOnline
HeinOnline bridges the gap in historical research by providing comprehensive coverage from inception of more than 2,500 law-related periodicals. Also indexes Government Documents.
Historical Debates of the Parliament of Canada
Searchable database and full-text for historical debates of the Senate and House of Commons, in both official languages.
Historical Federal Ridings Since 1867
Government of Canada site that let's you search by riding name, name of a candidate, political party, general election, and by-election for all federal elections back to Confederation
Historical Statistics of Canada
Just as current statistical information provides the foundation and matrix for identification of current societal issues, for policy formulation and for program monitoring, so also does historical statistics help portray the realities of Canadian history. Using statistics, one can trace the historical conditions of Canadians respecting inflation, housing, employment, health, education, balance of payments .
Indian Affairs Annual Reports, 1864-1900
1990Canadian Content
"This database contains references to be found in more than 40,700 digitized pages of the original annual reports for the Indian Affairs portfolio for the years 1864 to 1966 and the complete annual reports for the department of Indian Affairs from 1967 to 1990.
The annual reports for Northern Affairs are not included in this database....
In 1991 the departmental annual report was integrated into the Estimates Part III which includes the Report on Plans and Priorities and the Performance Report and the Public Accounts, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Canadian Polar Commission."
Indian and Inuit Affairs School Files Series 1879-1953 (RG10-B-3-d)
Use to search the collection of microfilmed records dealing with Indian school administration in Canada. To obtain a copy of the records utilize Inter-Library Loans.
Manitoba Government Publications
The database contains digital versions of published Manitoba government documents from the early 2000s to present. Included are major reports and public information from departments and government agencies. The database does not include Debates, Bills, Statutes, Gazettes, or Regulations.
Odesi
Odesi provides researchers access to datasets from Statistics Canada, datafiles from Gallup Canada and other polling companies, public-domain files such as the Canadian National Election Surveys, and selected files from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).

Maps

Atlas of Alberta Railways
The Atlas' 224 detailed maps are accompanied by short articles, illustrations, historic photographs, charts, graphs and interesting trivia that provide a comprehensive overview of the railways in our province.
Atlas of Canada
A selection of interactive and historical maps and geographical data available for reference or downloading
Canadian Country Digital Atlas Project
The County Atlas Digital Project is a searchable database of the property owners' names which appear on the township maps in the county atlases. Township maps, portraits and properties have been scanned, with links from the property owners' names in the database.
Canadian Geographic Map Archives
The stories behind historical maps from Library and Archives Canada's vast collection.
David Rumsey Map Collection
This historical map collection has over 29,000 maps and images online. It is focused on rare 18th and 19th century North and South American maps. There are also historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Exploration and Settlement
Library and Archives Canada holds resources related to exploration, immigration, naturalization and citizenship. Includes maps and artwork.
Historical Atlas of Canada Online Learning Project
Maps and data generated for the Historical Atlas of Canada available online.
Historical Maps of Canada
From National Geographic, view maps between 1700-1999 of Canada.
Map Collection, BAnQ
Over 40,000 digitized maps held by the BAnQ. To identify maps from a specific historical period, use the Date filter on the righthand side; consider also the Lieu representé filter.
Map Collection, John Carter Brown Library
Includes online maps from the 16th to the 19th centuries including Canada, New France, New England, and more.
The W. H. Pugsley Collection of Early Canadian Maps
Collection of 50 early Canadian maps, dating from 1556 to 1857, , this set of maps tells the story of the discovery and exploration of North America.
Wikimedia Commons Historical Atlas
Contains several historical maps which can be viewed online.

Pictures and Media

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) News Archive
Provides links to a range of indigenous newspapers in Canada.
Ad*Access
Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda - dated between 1911 and 195
Alaska, Western Canada and United States Collection
Digital collection of historic photographs documenting the area of Alaska, Western United States and the Canadian provinces of Yukon Territory and British Columbia. Features images of Oregon, Idaho, and areas of interest in Alaska and the Yukon Territory relating to the Gold Rush of 1898-1900. Included also are images of mining activities, street scenes, Eskimo and Native Americans of the region, hunting and fishing, transportation, and World War II
Canadian Letters and Images Project
The Canadian Letters and Images Project is an online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. It began in August 2000, located in the Department of History at Vancouver Island University.
Canadian Military Oral Histories
The Canadian Military Oral History Collection is composed of interviews of veterans of WWI, WWII, the Korean War and the War in Afghanistan. Over 370 recordings done by Dr. Reginald H. Roy and his students are the largest holding in this category. Historian Hal Lawrence also donated over 180 recordings that he collected of Canadian Naval personnel.
Canadianna
Catalogues, and digitizes documentary heritage—books, newspapers, periodicals, images and nationally-significant archival materials
Canadian War Poster Collection
The ole toon includes some 250 Canadian posters from the two World Wars. This site contains basic descriptions and images of each poster, an artist index, a search facility, and an essay about Canadian War Posters.
CBC Digital Archives
Multimedia clips from notable events, interviews, etc, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Doukhobor Collection of Simon Fraser University
Collection of digitized records pertaining to the Doukhobors made available via Simon Fraser University.
Exploration and Settlement
Library and Archives Canada holds vast resources related to exploration, immigration, naturalization and citizenship. Includes maps and artwork.
Historical Photographs of British Columbia & Yukon
The online Historical Photographs Database provides access to over 38,000 digitized images. We are continuing to scan images and add them to the website.
Library &Archives of Canada Colonial Documents
Online documents and images pertaining to British/French colonial periods and the Catholic Church.
McCord Museum: Our People Our Stories
The McCord Museum conserves and presents close to 1,500,000 objects, images and manuscripts that are irreplaceable reflections of the social history and material culture of Montreal, Quebec and Canada. Currently the online collection ... is made up of 147,500 artefacts.
National Film Board of Canada
Collection includes documentaries, animations, experimental films, fiction and interactive works.
Native Canada Portal
Collection of images and documents at the University of Calgary.
New France Archives
The Direction des Archives de France, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the Canadian Embassy in Paris collaborated to mark the 400th anniversary of New France. This site provides access to a virtual exhibition and a database containing more than one million images.
Our Ontario
Search across hundreds of sites – digital collections of libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, community groups, government agencies, and content organizations Find photographs, maps, videos, audio recordings, government documents and other media.
Simon Fraser University Editorial Cartoon Collection
A collection of thousands of original drawings published in Canadian newspapers between 1952 and the present. Cartoonists included are: Bob Bierman, Graham Harrop, Bob Krieger, John Larter, Brent Lynch, Dan Murphy, Len Norris, Roy Peterson, Adrian Raeside, Ingrid Rice, Jim Rimmer, and Edd Uluschak.
The Vilhjalmur Stephansson Collection of Arctic Photographs
Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) was an Arctic explorer, promoter, and teacher who made expeditions above the Arctic Circle between 1906 and 1918. The Stefansson Collection of Photographs consists of over 1,200 black-and-white images primarily from the Canadian Arctic Expedition (1913-1918).
Waldron Studios: Images of Nova Scotia 1870-1940
Collection of 45,000 glass plate, film negatives, and prints from the Waldren Studios of New Glasgow and Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Approximately 90% of these negatives are portraits, nearly all of which are identified and dated. A number of the portraits represent some of the earliest photos of black Nova Scotians from Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough Counties.

Primary Sources in Books

Many primary sources can be found in books. To find these go to the library’s search engine, then search for your topic using one of the following terms:

An example of this search is displayed in the image below

Similarly there are digital books that can be used as resources. Some can be located using the library search engine; others are available in digitized library and archival collections.

Indigenous Sources

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta (AMMSA) News Archive
Provides links to a range of indigenous newspapers in Canada..
Canada in the Making: Aboriginals: Treaties and Relations
This section of the Canada in the Making site will look at these treaties and laws, and the events that preceded and followed these changes.
First Nations Digital Documents Source
The First Nations Digital Document Source (FNDDS) is a collection of electronic documents used primarily for research in land claims and First Nations issues. Documents include court decisions, legislation, treaties, claims policies, privy council orders, research guides, and instructional resources related to land claims and Aboriginal title, particularly in the Canadian context.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlements & Colonial Encounters
This digital collection of primary source documents helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920. Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas.
Independent Voices
Independent Voices is a digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Indigenous People of North America. (Gale. Manitoba Openly Available courtesy of U of Manitoba Libraries)
Materials representing the historical experience of Indigenous peoples as authored by European settler communities, Christian religious organizations, government agencies, non-Indigenous scholars / scientists, As Well As Indigenous individuals and organizations. Materials are provided for academic research and teaching purposes.
IPortal
The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) connects researchers and members of the community with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc. - Full text: sometimes
Library and Archives Canada Indigenous Newspaper Project
Consists of digitized issues of Windspeaker, the Turtle Island News and Ha-Shilth-Sa newspapers
McCord Museum - Indigenous Cultures Collection
The Indigenous Cultures collection is composed of over 16,000 archaeological and historical objects covering nearly 12,000 years of history; over 6,000 are available in the online collection.
National Aboriginal Documents Database
Search to locate land claims, independent Statutes and Acts, Treaties and Court Decisions.
Native Canada Portal
Collection of images and documents at the University of Calgary.
Our Legacy
A database of material relating to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples, found in Saskatchewan cultural and heritage collections. To find electronic resources, use the left side panel to limit to LOCATION > AVAILABILITY > ONLINE
Our Roots / Nos Racines
This resource represents a unique nation-wide collaboration of libraries, universities, colleges, archives, historical associations, businesses, and individuals, led by University of Calgary and Université Laval, creating a coast-to-coast record of Canadian local histories. Includes an K-12 Indigenous Curriculum and the Louis Riel Collection.
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
The Final Report is comprised of the truths of more than 2,380 family members, survivors of violence, experts and Knowledge Keepers shared over two years of cross-country public hearings and evidence gathering.
Sabin America 1500-1926 (Gale. Openly Accessible to all Manitobans courtesy of the U of Manitoba Libraries)
This digital collection offers a perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late fifteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century. Covering more than 400 years and more than 65,000 volumes in North, Central, and South America and the West Indies, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions, and momentous events of the time through sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature, and more. Over half (58%) of this collection was digitized from microfilm. This microfilm began the work of pulling together all the titles in Sabin, with volumes sourced from many institutions
Shingwauk Narratives: Sharing Residential School History
An open-access online book from the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC), which hold letter books of two principals of the Shingwauk Residential School (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) dating from 1875-1904 and include a wealth of information about the early history of Shingwauk and Wawanosh.
Treaties, Surrenders and Agreements
Extensive collection of Canadian Indian treaties, land surrenders, and related agreements, spanning from 1680 to 1956. These are digital copies of the original treaty documents (not transcribed/typewritten).
Two-Spirit Archives
The Two-Spirit Archives at the University of Winnipeg makes Two-Spirit people visible in our documentary heritage. It is guided in its development by the Two-Spirit Archives Advisory Council, which ensures Two-Spirit people are central to preserving the history of their contributions to society and in strengthening their community. Currently includes a small digital collection, and links to other projects including the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Oral History project.
We are Here: Sharing Stories
Digitized and described Indigenous heritage content via Library and Archives Canada. Includes textual material, photographs, artwork, maps and publications related to First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation, and comes from private donors, government records and published works.

Gender and Sexuality

The Alberta Women’s Memory Project
Includes profiles of Alberta women, memoirs, and digitized archival collections relevant to the lives of women in Alberta during the 20th century.
Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity: LGBTQ History since 1940
Provides a significant collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. Material dates back to the sixteenth century, researchers. Enables scholars to examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas.
The ArQuives
The ArQuives is one of the largest independent LGBTQ2+ archives in the world and the only archive in Canada with a mandate to collect at a national level. Its mandate is to safeguard the LGBTQ2+ history of Canada. The ArQuives preserves a wide range of material including personal and organizational papers, books, monographs, photographs, moving images, sound recordings, periodicals, artifacts (like buttons, board games, t-shirts, and banners), and other reference material.
Tip: try browsing the digital exhibits
Chatelaine (1928-2005)
https://www.proquest.com/publication/2035829?accountid=12339book
Defining Gender: 1450-1910
Primary Source Materials including documents, letters, diaries, books, pamphlets, images, maps
Rise Up! Feminist Archive
The Rise Up! project aims to create a digital archive of original publications, documents, flyers, posters, and many other materials representing feminist activism from the 1970s to 1990s across Canada and Quebec.
Transgender Archives
The Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria is committed to the preservation of the history of pioneering activists, community leaders, and researchers who have contributed to the betterment of Trans+ and other gender-diverse people.
Two Spirit Archives
The Two-Spirit Archives at the University of Winnipeg makes Two-Spirit people visible in our documentary heritage. It is guided in its development by the Two-Spirit Archives Advisory Council, which ensures Two-Spirit people are central to preserving the history of their contributions to society and in strengthening their community. Currently includes a small digital collection, and links to other projects including the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Oral History project.
Women’s Studies Archive
Women's Studies Archive connects archival collections concerning women's history from across the globe and from a wide range of sources. Focusing on the evolution of feminism throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the archive provides materials on women's political activism, such as suffrage, birth control, pacifism, civil rights, and socialism, and on women's voices, from female-authored literature to women's periodicals.
Women, War & Society: 1914-1918 Digital Archive
The First World War had a revolutionary and permanent impact on the personal, social and professional lives of all women. Their essential contribution to the war in Europe is fully documented in this definitive collection of primary source materials brought together in the Imperial War Museum, London. - Coverage; 1914 - 1918

Black History

Accessible Archives: African American Newspaper Collection
This collection of primarily American newspapers includes two Canadian publications by and for Black Canadians and Americans: Provincial Freeman (Chatham, Canada West), 1854-1857; and The Canadian Observer (Toronto), 1914-1919;
African Nova Scotians in the Age of Slavery and Abolition
A database from the Nova Scotia Archives including descriptions of African Nova Scotians from 1749 to 1955 including some digitized primary sources.
Bill of Sale for Enslaved People: Quebec (1778-88)
Transcribed and made available by Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson (NSCAD University).
Black Film Archive: Canada
Black Film Archive is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1898 to 1989 currently streaming. This link leads to Canadian films.
Black Loyalists Digital Collection
Digital collection from the Black Loyalist Heritage Center (Nova Scotia), including personal accounts, letters, and official documents.
The Canada Black Music Archives
The CBMA's mission is to research, preserve and celebrate various music genres, created, influenced and inspired by primarily Black Canadian musicians. The site can be searched by artist name, genre, region, and decade, and includes artist biographies, photographs, and playlists.
Freedom on the Move
Freedom on the Move is a database of fugitives from North American slavery focused on newspaper "runaway ads".
LAC: Black History in Canada
In addition to a short background on Black History in Canada, this page includes a selection of primary sources available at Library and Archives Canada as well as the bibliographic information for many published sources and links to other institutions and repositories.
Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation, and Freedom: Primary sources from Houghton Library
Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation, and Freedom: Primary Sources from Houghton Library (SAEF) is a growing digital collection highlighting materials related to Black history and culture from Harvard University's Houghton Library. These materials were hand-selected to provide freely accessible digitized primary sources for scholars of all sorts. A handful of this sources are related to Black history in Canada; the link leads to a collection-wide search for "canad*".
Slavery, Abolition, Social Justice: 1490-2097
Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice. - Coverage: 1490 - 2007
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is devoted to the study and understanding of the history of slavery in America and the rest of the world from the 17th century to the late 19th century. Archival collections were sourced from more than 60 libraries.
Voice of the Fugitive by Henry Bibb
Newspaper that circulated in Canada promoting the anti-slavery movement. Publication Date: 1851-52

HathiTrust Digital Library

HathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. HathiTrust provides long-term preservation and access services to digitized content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house member institution initiatives. Items in the public domain are in full-view for everyone and items held in copyright are searchable.

To locate Digital Primary Sources in HathiTrust:

Step 1:

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S.J. McKee Archives

The S.J. McKee Archives holds historical documents related the Westman area of Manitoba. It is increasingly placing a number of institutional and regional history documents online via the Institutional Repository at Brandon University. Researchers wishing to use the Archives physical collections can visit it from 1:00-4:30 P.M. Monday-Friday (with the exception of Statuatory Holidays.) During Covid contact the archives to arrange a visit.

One significant collection is the Fabian Society Tracts. To access them go to the library search engine and follow tin instructional screenshots below.

Meta Searching via ArchiveGrid

ArchiveGrid includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies. ArchiveGrid is largely made up of MARC records from WorldCat.

To search ArchiveGrid:

Step 1:

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EROMM European Register of Microform and Digital Masters

EROMM is an international database containing information about printed and handwritten material that have been reformatted to microform or digital form. It does not contain information about “digital born” material (e. g. electronic journals, e-books), nor information about non-textual items like images, photos or three-dimensional objects (e.g. artifacts, art).

To search EROMM:

Step 1

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Meta Searching Via Google Advanced Search

Advanced Google Searches

General Google searches may yield very many results, and it may take much sifting through the results in order to find relevant items. Using Google Advanced Search with specific search terms can help yield more focused results.

Within Google Advanced Search, use the “all of these words” and the “this exact word or phrase” to enter keywords for your subject, for example,

all these words: Métis Rebellion
any of these words: archives manuscripts correspondence diaries scrapbooks sources letters

This will yield a mixture of digitized full text and other material.

Also try:

all these words: Women Canada
any of these words: "digital archives" "digital collection" "digital library" "online collection"

Although less effective you can also try:

all these words: [Your topic words]
any of these words: cdm contentdm

"Cdm" or "contentdm" occur in the url of many digital collections

For any of these searches Use the Usage Rights option and select material that is openly available for you to use.

For any of these searches, use the “site or domain” box to search within just .edu, .org, or .gov sites. List of country domain names.

Note: Examples adapted from Harvard University Libraries Libduide

Useful Journals for Background Research

Journal of Canadian Studies
Although not a primary source, The journal has a long history of being deeply committed to interdisciplinary perspectives, bilingual presentation of research, and the scholarly study of Canada.
Manitoba History
Publishes articles about the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural history of Manitoba & the Canadian West.
Quebec Studies
Québec Studies is a twice yearly, fully refereed journal, publishing articles dealing with all aspects of Québec society and Francophone Canadian culture.

BU Library QuickLinks

Library Home Page
The home page of the John E. Robbins Library
Search the Library Catalogue
Search the library catalogue for books, journals, and online links
BU Journal List
The list of journals that Brandon University students and faculty have access to
BU Database List
The list of databases that Brandon University students and faculty have access to.

Accessing Primary Sources from Home

If you are a student or faculty member at Brandon University, you can access primary sources from off campus.

If you are accessing the library's web site from off campus, most links on the library's web site will first take you to the Proxy Authentication Page, where you can log in with your Brandon University username and password. Once you have logged in, you will be taken to the destination of the link. You should only have to log in once per session.

To log in, you will need your Brandon University username and password - the same username and password you use to log into the Brandon University network when you're on campus. If you have not claimed your username and password or you are having trouble logging in with those, you should contact the Brandon University Help Desk (Phone 571-8500 Monday -Friday 8:30AM to 4:30PM).

For more information, see the Off-Campus Access Page

Contact

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane

Email Me

Contact:

Carmen Kazakoff -Lane, Scholarly Communications Librarian
John E. Robbins Library - ( LB 2-19 )
270-18th Street
Brandon, Manitoba
R7A 6A9

VIDEOCONFERENCING:
*Microsoft Meetings: Kazakoff@brandonu.ca
*Zoom Invite to Kazakoff@brandonu.ca

Blog:
https://hsscommons.ca/en/members/2009/blog

Ph: (204) 727-7483

Subjects: Anthropology, Business Administration, Classical and Modern Languages, Drama, Economics, English and Creative Writing, Faculty - Arts, Gender and Women’s Studies, History, Native Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Rural Development, Sociology, Visual and Aboriginal Art