Category Archives: Reference Services

Access to Information and Privacy legislation or Donor restrictions and how they affect your access to our collections

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Did you know that both government and non-government records held in the archival collections of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are subject to access restrictions?

For federal government records, the Access to Information Act gives Canadian citizens the right to access information. It is also important to note that, in Canada, there is no “30-year rule” that applies to government documents, even if such rules exist in other countries.

For archival fonds or collections donated by private individuals, there will often be restrictions on research access. These are sometimes called “Donor restrictions.”

For access to both federal government records and documents donated by private individuals, legal mechanisms are involved and must be respected without exception.
So when you need to consult restricted material at LAC, you must factor into your project deadlines the time required to process your request. Processing time will vary based on the request and the materials involved.

For more information on restrictions and how to request access, please consult the Discover the Access Codes for Archival Records at Library and Archives Canada Part I and Part II pages on our blog.

Did you know that not everything is available online?

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In an age when more and more information is available on the Internet, it is easy to assume that if you can’t find what you’re looking for online, it probably doesn’t exist. But this may not always be the case. For instance, at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), we have a vast collection of historical material. Yet most of this collection predates the digital era, which means that it just doesn’t exist in digital format.

It also means that not everything at LAC is indexed or discoverable online, and that you may not find something described in our online tools even though we have it.

So, if, after starting your research, using our major online tools, you cannot find what you are looking for, but suspect it is in LAC’s collection, make sure to ask us about it. Our knowledgeable reference librarians and archivists can help identify tools and resources to guide you in your research.

Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post on preliminary research and preparing for your reference appointment.

How to retrieve a Canadian newspaper when visiting LAC on site

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Thanks to our article on “How to Find a Canadian Newspaper on Microfilm” you may now know how to easily access our Geographical List and how to read a newspaper entry. But how can you access these newspapers while you are on site at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa?

Some of our newspapers on microfilm are available in the self-serve section on the third floor, but most need to be requested via AMICUS, our library catalogue. Once you have located your AMICUS number, you can make a retrieval request in AMICUS by following the steps below:

To access our AMICUS catalogue, go to one of our computer workstations and open the Internet browser. You can access the catalogue by selecting the “Library Catalogue – AMICUS OPAC” link from the workstation homepage.

Use the AMICUS number to get to the correct record by selecting the “AMICUS No.” option from the drop-down menu.

Remember:
Not all the AMICUS records have been updated to show all the newspaper dates available. If you don’t see your date listed in the AMICUS record, don’t worry! You can trust the dates given in the Geographical List even if you don’t see them in the AMICUS record.

Once you have found the right record for your date range, press the “Retrieve” button. Enter your date in the first space provided and don’t forget to enter your user card barcode number.

Your retrieval request will take 2 to 3 hours to process. You can then retrieve your microfilm reels in the third floor Consultation Room. Make sure to search for them under the first letter of your last name. You will find microfilm readers available in the same room. For more information on using these microfilm readers, consult our article “Tips and tricks on how to use a microform reader”.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Tips on How to Search for Companies’ Archival Records

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Have you come upon an old stock certificate and wondered if the company is still in existence?

A very good starting point is the FP Survey, Predecessor & Defunct. This book provides information on changes to companies, as well as on those that are no longer in existence. It is also helpful in determining the date of incorporation of a company, the jurisdiction of incorporation (i.e. federal or provincial) and the status of a company (e.g. dissolved).

The actual stock certificate often indicates whether the company was incorporated under federal or provincial legislation.

If the company in question was incorporated under federal legislation, you can use Library and Archives Canada’s Archives Search to see if we have files on the company as part of the Corporations Branch (RG95) records. These records consist of files relating to companies which were incorporated, amalgamated, and dissolved between 1867 and 1973. It is possible to order copies of these files, but keep in mind that some of these can be voluminous.

You can also search Industry Canada’s Corporations Canada database for more recent company information. If your company was incorporated at the provincial level, Industry Canada provides a handy list of provincial registrars. A few jurisdictions offer free company databases (others may charge a fee) that provide information on the status of a company.

If your certificate is from a mining or oil company, you could ask your local library about these sources:

• Canadian Mines Register of Dormant and Defunct Companies, compiled, printed and published by Northern Miner Press Limited. Toronto: Northern Miner Press, c1960. 419 p. AMICUS No. 1715558
• Canadian Mines Register of Dormant and Defunct Companies. Supplement, compiled, printed and published by Northern Miner Press Limited. Toronto: Northern Miner Press, 1966- . ISSN 0068-9300. AMICUS No. 13231254
• Canadian Mines Handbook. Toronto: Northern Miner Press. Maps. 19 cm. ISSN 0068-9289. AMICUS No. 89851
• The Financial Post Survey of Mines. Toronto: Maclean-Hunter. ISSN 0071-5085. AMICUS No. 104992
• The Financial Post Survey of Oils. Toronto: Maclean-Hunter. ISSN 0071-5093. AMICUS No. 34629
• FP Survey, Mines & Energy. Toronto: Financial Post. ISSN 1486-4266. AMICUS No. 18927856

Good luck with your research!

How to find photographs that are not yet available online – part two

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Our previous article “How to find photographs that are not yet available online—part one” explained the best-case scenario for finding photographs that are not yet available online. But what happens when things don’t go that smoothly?

What if I find items that are close but not what I want?

If there are items in your search results that aren’t quite what you’re looking for, don’t despair. It’s quite possible that we have what you want, but that it hasn’t been described yet. The items that have already been described offer you a useful clue as to where those non-described items might be.

First, note the fonds, collection, or accession where each item is from and look at the field labelled “extent.” How many other photographs make up that collection? Perhaps there are more images relating to your topic.

Does the item have:

- an item number?
- a particular photographer?
- certain keywords?

Use variations of those keywords, item number and photographer’s name to do other online searches in Archives Search. If those don’t yield any results, try the finding aid related to each item, either online or on paper. See “How to find photographs that are not yet available online—part one” for tips on using the finding aid.

What if the finding aid is not online or the finding aid is only available in paper?

If you find a fonds, collection, or accession that seems relevant to your research but that doesn’t have an electronic finding aid, look to see if it has a paper one. If it does, you can visit us at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa, to have a closer look at it. If there is no reference to a paper finding aid, then you have to search through the boxes from that collection. If you cannot come to Ottawa, you can contact our reference staff for guidance, or you may wish to hire a freelance researcher.

With more than 25 million images, chances are we have your “perfect shot.” You just have to find it!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

How to find photographs that are not yet available online – part one

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Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has more than 25 million photographs, one of the largest archival photographic collections in the world. To make these collections more accessible, LAC has undertaken an ongoing project to digitize them, including photographic material. Currently, some images are already digitized and described at the item-level in our Archives Search database.

Given the cost and complexity of describing and digitizing fragile archival images, photographs are described and digitized only when they are requested by users. So, if you are looking for that unique, one-of-a-kind archival photo that no one else has requested (e.g., UFO, Big Foot or Ogopogo), you better start digging!

Begin by checking what has already been described. Follow the steps outlined in our past article: “How to find photographs online” to get a sense of the type of photographs that already exist on your topic, individual, or location.

If those searches do not yield what you’re looking for, it’s time to dig deeper. This is where archival research meets detective work! Remember, from now on we’re talking about photographs that have not been digitized, so you will not be able to view the image before ordering it or visiting LAC.

Keyword Search

In Archives Search, after selecting “Photographic Material” under “TYPE OF MATERIAL” you can enter key words in the search box. Get creative with the key words; archival documents are often titled using the creator’s own language. Narrow your search by using the “ADVANCED SEARCH” features.

You may end up with image search results that aren’t exactly what you’re looking for. Don’t panic. This list is just the beginning of your journey into deeper archival research. It’s fun, trust us!

Fonds/Collections/Accessions

Have you found archival records, including photographs and textual records, all jumbled together? These groupings are called fonds or accessions or sometimes collections. This is a high-level description of an entire grouping of material, usually based on the source of the original donation.

Check out the extent field and see how many photographs are listed there. Read the descriptions carefully and see if the material described relates to the photographs you’re looking for.

They do? Great!

Now, read the description again and see if there is a finding aid.

There is? Good!

Now see if it’s electronic and attached to the description in Archives Search.

It is? Fantastic!

Open it up and see if it provides a listing of the contents of the fonds, collection, or accession.

It does? Wonderful!

Locate the box that you think contains the image you’re looking for, based on the contents of the finding aid, and order the box by following the steps outlined in our article “How to consult material that is not yet available online.”

But what happens if things don’t go this smoothly? Our next article on this topic will provide more tips from our experts on what to do. Stay tuned!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Discover Finding Aids—Part Three: Searching within a Finding Aid

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As we mentioned in our previous article “Discover Finding Aids – Part Two,” finding aids may be accessed through the hyperlinked number found in the “consists of” field in Archives Search. This link takes you to the next level down in the hierarchy, the lower-level descriptions.

Browsing through finding aids in this manner can be done quickly when there are a small number of lower-level descriptions. You can use the filters on the right-hand side of the search result list to sort by title or name, for example, or to limit the list to a particular decade.

However, for other finding aids, there may be thousands of lower-level descriptions and you won’t necessarily want to browse through them all.

Fortunately, help is at hand!

There is a way to keyword search only within these lower-level descriptions. This can be a very useful strategy when there are thousands of them.

First, go to the “finding aid” field description in Archives Search and jot down the finding aid number.

Screen capture of the finding aid section of a record description in Archives Search, identifying the electronic finding aid number.

Next, go to the Advanced Search page.

■ Select “finding aid number” from the drop-down menu and enter the finding aid number you wrote down in the first search box.
■ Enter your keyword search terms in the second search box.

Finally, click the “Submit” button.

Screen capture of the Archives Advanced Search box, indicating a finding aid number (24-60) and the keyword (Saskatoon).

Remember, this strategy is for searching finding aids that have been entered into Archives Search as lower-level descriptions in the “consists of” field. This strategy will not work for all finding aids.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Reference Appointment by Skype

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Did you know that we now use Skype to answer your reference questions? You can take advantage of the Skype reference appointment service when you need to meet with a specialist at Library and Archives Canada but cannot come to Ottawa, or when you wish to prepare for your visit ahead of time.

Through Skype, a reference specialist (archivist or librarian) will help you navigate our online tools, locate documents in our vast collection and clarify any conditions of access that may apply. You can follow along through a screen-sharing feature, share links through instant messaging and, of course, communicate with us by voice and video.

Before booking an appointment, make sure to consult our tips on how to get started with your research and other frequently asked questions. You can also peruse the Library and Archives Canada Blog to see if your question has already been answered.

To book your 30-minute Skype reference appointment, please contact us by telephone at 613-996-5115 (or toll free at 1-866-578-7777). You can also email us
by using our “Ask Us a Question” form. Please provide the following information:

  • your question
  • a preferred date and time (we are available Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time)
  • that you would like a Skype appointment
  • your phone number (in case we have trouble reaching you by Skype or by email)
  • your Skype name

A reference specialist will contact you via Skype the day of your appointment.

If you are new to Skype, download the Freeware.

We look forward to meeting with you, wherever you may be!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Queen Victoria’s Journals now available at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa

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At the age of 13, Queen Victoria became an avid journal writer when her mother gave her a diary to document an upcoming trip to Wales. Her last entry was written more than six decades later, on January 13, 1901, only nine days before her death.

This year, in honour of Queen Victoria’s birth (May 24, 1819) and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, all 141 journal volumes (comprised of 43,765 pages) have been digitized and are now available through a courtesy subscription obtained by Library and Archives  Canada (LAC), through The Royal Household, and with the assistance of ProQuest.

The project’s website says that “ As well as detailing household and family matters, the journals reflect affairs of state, describe meetings with statesmen and other eminent figures, and comment on the literature of the day. They represent a valuable primary source for scholars of nineteenth century British political and social history and for those working on gender and autobiographical writing.”

Not only have the diaries been digitized, they have been (and will continue to be) transcribed to allow for a keyword search. In fact, The Queen, as Head of State for Canada, did not leave us unmentioned. A keyword search for “canad*” (without the quotation marks) currently retrieves more than 150 results up to 1839!

As the project continues and more years are transcribed and become searchable, this resource will become more valuable.

To access the journals, use any of the public workstations located at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa or our Wi-Fi connection and visit the website Queen Victoria’s Journals [http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/]. You may browse the journals by date or search for keywords.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Why Consult Newspapers on Microfilm?

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We have already discussed how to find Canadian newspapers on microfilm; and you might have wondered why we have to turn to microfilm in the first place? Aren’t these newspapers available online?

The short answer is that only some of them are (*). Most newspaper editions available electronically for free are limited in their content, and the issues usually start only in the 1980s. If you are interested in full-page content and original layouts, or need to access older issues, some major dailies like the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the Winnipeg Free Press offer historical versions in PDF format for a fee. As well, your local library may subscribe to a particular daily, or you may also purchase access yourself.

Another option is to access Library and Archives Canada’s newspapers on microfilm, an extensive collection that:

  • includes major newspapers, as well as local, labour, ethnic and student papers;
  • allows you to research aspects of newspaper publishing, such as design, layout and advertising, not contained in the electronic versions; and
  • provides access to content excluded in the electronic versions, including photographs, classifieds and obituaries.

Come visit us in Ottawa to consult these newspapers on microfilm and discover our collection, or contact us for more information.

* The following are examples of free digital newspaper collections:

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!