Digitization of the Nanaimo Free Press (1874-1928): Part II Complete

February 17, 2021

Vancouver Island University Library has completed part II of its digitization of the Nanaimo Free Press (1874-1928) collection.

Nanaimo is the sixth oldest incorporated municipality in BC and a key site of settler early industry as a mining town. The Nanaimo Free Press saw its first publication in 1874 along with the city’s incorporation. These papers provide primary source material for those interested in politics, labour history, settler-Indigenous relations, social history, economic, infrastructure, and municipal development.

The digitization of the Nanaimo Free Press (1872-1928): Part II was digitized with support from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre through its BC History Digitization Program.

For more information about the 2019/2020 BC History Digitization Program Projects, click here.

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Digitization of LIVE Biennale of Performance Art: The Early Years Complete

February 16, 2021

grunt gallery (Visible Art Society) has completed its digitization of LIVE Biennale of Performance Art: The Early Years. The six-week citywide festivals featured a diverse range of styles and individual works. LIVE sought to highlight and broaden audiences to underground cabaret, independent artist collectives, and performance art by Indigenous, Queer, and other minority artists.

The digitization of LIVE Biennale of Performance Art: The Early Years was digitized with support from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre through its BC History Digitization Program and is hosted on Arca.

For more information about the 2019/2020 BC History Digitization Program Projects, click here.

grunt gallery – LIVE Biennial of Performance Art: The Early Years

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Digitization of the Photographs of British Columbia by George Hunter, RCA Complete

January 20, 2021

The Canadian Heritage Foundation Photography Foundation has completed digitizing 2000 photographs of BC taken by Canadian photographer George Hunter, RCA. The images reflect the industry, culture and landscape of the province from 1950-2010. The digitized negatives and slides are preserved in the CHPF archive, and the images are currently on-line and available to the public.

The Digitization of the Photographs of British Columbia by George Hunter, RCA was digitized with support from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre through its BC History Digitization Program.

For more information about the 2020/2021 BC History Digitization Program Projects, click here.

Hunter, G. (n.d.). British Columbia: Vancouver – waterfront at night with Harbour Centre and Granville Square Buildings. [photograph] http://digitalcollections.thechpf.com/index.php/Detail/objects/7752

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Digitization of Pender Guy Audio Complete

December 15, 2020

The Vancouver City Archives has completed the digitization of the Pender Guy Audio and it is now available in the archives. Pender Guy ran on Vancouver Co-operative Radio from 1976 to 1981 with its focus on themes surrounding Chinese-Canadian identity.

To read more about the Pender Guy Audio Radio Collective fond, click here. The Pender Guy Audio Radio Collective fonds was digitized with support from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre through its BC History Digitization Program.

For more information about the 2020/2021 BC History Digitization Program Projects, click here.

Pender Guy, CFRO 102.7 fm poster, ca. 1980. Photo by Kristy Waller. Reference code: AM1523-S4-F189 https://www.vancouverarchives.ca/2020/12/03/pender-guy-audio-now-available-online/

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New Downtown Eastside Research Access Portal takes collaborative approach to Open Access

October 23, 2020

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BC History Digitization Program: Complete our survey

October 14, 2020

The BC History Digitization Program is interested in getting feedback from current and prospective applicants in the form of a survey. We would like to invite you to fill out our survey (approximately 5 minutes) to provide your experiences about the program.

The responses and data from the survey will be used to assess the program and to make appropriate changes and improvements to better support applicants and their projects. Your responses are confidential meaning that any identifying information will not be shared outside of the program team.

To access the survey, please click here (https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0vTI7x1QYgR2QN7). If you have any questions, please contact the BCHDP Coordinator, Mimi Lam.

The survey will close on Friday, October 30^th @ 5:00 pm PST. Thank you in advance for your time.

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BC History Digitization Program: 2021/2022 Call for applications

October 14, 2020

The British Columbia History Digitization Program (BCHDP) is now accepting applications for project funding. The program, initiated by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre in 2006, provides matching funds to support digitization projects that make unique British Columbia content freely available. Since its inception in 2006, the BCHDP has awarded more than $2 million of matching funds for more than 250 projects.

In 2020, the program awarded more than $160,000 for 19 projects. The wealth and diversity of unique British Columbia content to be digitized is impressive. The BCHDP will be accepting applications for the 2021/2022 funding year. Applicants can receive up to $15,000 of matching funds for their projects. Multi-year projects are accepted with each successive year going through the adjudication process.

Applications are due by Friday, December 18, 2020 @ 5:00 pm PST. Information about the application process as well as the guidelines and application form are available on the BCHDP website (https://ikblc-16mar2016.sites.olt.ubc.ca/?p=18772). It is highly recommended that applicants consult the Guidelines and Instructions as well as accessing the Application Form because both are updated annually based on feedback from applicants and the program adjudicators.

For more information about the program and to view past projects, please visit the BC History Digitization Programwebsite (https://ikblc.ubc.ca/initiatives/bcdigitinfo/).

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Book Study Space at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

September 2, 2020

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The Community Scholars Program

July 28, 2020

The Community Scholars Program (CSP) provides BC non-profits and charitable organizations with free access to academic journals and research related to their fields.

Many of the 170,000 non-profits and charitable organizations in Canada are doing critical work on social issues but most have little or no access to academic journals or research unless they are affiliated with a university. CSP provides BC organizations with access to more than 20,000 academic titles at no cost. In addition, the program provides research support, consultations with libraries, communities of practice through workshops and journal clubs.

UBC Library, through the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, joins SFU Library, Vancouver Island University, the University of Northern British Columbia and Thompson Rivers University as a Community Scholars partner to share involvement in the program with their non-profit networks. During UBC’s pilot year sponsorship there will be limited placements available for qualifying organizations that are referred to the program by the UBC. If you have a UBC affiliation and would like to recommend an organization or for more information please contact Kristen Wong (kristen.wong@ubc.ca) or Aleha McCauley (aleha.mccauley@ubc.ca).

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Announcing the 2020/2021 BC History Digitization Program Projects

July 10, 2020

Nineteen projects have been selected as the successful recipients of the 2020 -2021 B.C. History Digitization Program (BCHDP) funding awards.

The digitization program, an initiative of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, was launched in 2006. It provides matching funds that help libraries, archives, museums and other organizations digitize unique historical items, including images, print and audio visual materials.

The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre funding totalled $160,000 for the 2020 – 2021 round. Altogether, the B.C. History Digitization Program has provided more than $1 million for more than 100 projects throughout British Columbia.

This year’s diverse range of projects include the digitization of several historical newspapers (Kelowna, Nelson, Oliver and Saanich), audio recordings from Pender Guy radio program, the Museum of Vancouver’s trades and businesses collection , a bilingual newspaper Patrika (English/Punjabi), as well as the Judith Marcuse Dance collection.

Please note, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some projects are deferring their start date until further notice.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

To view a complete listing of the projects and their descriptions:

BC History Digitization Program – 2020 Projects