Thursday, June 13, 2013

UPDATE: LAC Paywall??



According to a “leaked” document which suggests that there may be a “10-year plan to digitize documents” and we may have to pay to get access to them. Up until now, document that have been digitized have been free e.g. the land petitions of Upper and Lower Canada are free. Will we now have to pay a fee this fall to gain access to them? 

New Heritage Minute

Remember the Heritage Minutes that we use to see on TV back in the 1990s? They were sixty second shots about important moments in Canadian history.
  
Heritage Minutes have returned to our televisions this year, and for the month of June, "First Nations warriors who were instrumental in the Battle of Queenston Heights, a crucial fight in the War of 1812, has been released to mark National Aboriginal History Month".

To view the Heritage Minute, go to Your Community Blog at the CBC


If you want to read about the history of Heritage Minutes, go to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Minute

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Canadian postal system celebrates 250 years of service


The following is an explanation which accompanies the Benjamin Franklin anniversary stamp - 

“In 1753, Philadelphia Postmaster Benjamin Franklin was promoted to joint deputy postmaster general for the British colonies and opened the first Canadian post office in Halifax to link the Atlantic colonies with Britain. But eventually, Franklin’s involvement with the growing revolt against the British Empire made it necessary for him to leave his post.

Hugh Finlay was confirmed as postmaster general at Québec on June 10, 1763. The ambitious Finlay arranged for a courier from Montréal to New York to reach the monthly packet sailing to Britain. By 1771, weekly service was available year round. His innovations earned a profit for the British Post Office Department, which paid Finlay a fifth of gross receipts.

In 1833, the Quebec-built Royal William was the first steamer to carry mail across the Atlantic. Canada’s first railway line was established in 1836, and became quickly recognized as a way to carry mail faster and farther. In 1840, Samuel Cunard’s new steamer Britannia transported mail between Liverpool and Halifax. Following Confederation on July 1, 1867, postal systems from Halifax to Fort William, on Lake Superior, amalgamated. And on April 1, 1868, An Act for the Regulation of the Postal Service officially created Canada’s uniform postal system”.

To read more about Canada Post, there is an article about it on the O Canada site -

Benjamin Franklin featured on Canada Post’s 250th anniversary stamp  http://o.canada.com/2013/06/07/benjamin-franklin-featured-on-canada-posts-250th-anniversary-stamp

and  

The Library and Archives Canada has a database of Post Offices and Postmasters at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/post-offices/index-e.html

UPDATE: Canada GenWeb Updates Cemeteries

The following cemeteries have been updated in Alberta, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island -

ALBERTA

Beaver:
- Kinsella God's Acre Cemetery

Edmonton:
- Westlawn Memorial Gardens & Edmonton Crematorium

Smoky Lake:
- Victoria Park Cemetery

MANITOBA

Armstrong RM:
- Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Cemetery

Emerson Town:
- Emerson Cemetery

Franklin RM:
- Friedensthal Lutheran Cemetery
- Ridgeville / South Ridge Cemetery

Rhineland RM:
- Rosenfeld Village & District Community Cemetery

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Queen's County:
- North Wiltshire United Cemetery

All on the cemeteries on Canada GenWeb have been indexed and photographed by volunteers.

Pass along your thanks to Patricia Green & Marilyn Whiting for their help indexing. And to Olga Steinke, Cheyenne Kepke, Patricia Green, Marilyn Whiting, Jim Spence, and Elizabeth Warwick for their photographs.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

UPDATE: Restore Canada’s Local Archives

This notice just came in from Canadian Association of University Teachers. They have been following the developments at the Library and Archives Canada -   

“In the wake of enormous public pressure, the Minister of Heritage, James Moore, is considering reinstating the National Archival Development Program (NADP).  This would be an important victory for local and regional archives across the country; CAUT unequivocally supports the restoration of the NADP.  However, funding for the program is not yet confirmed. Especially troubling is that, Minister Moore has indicated that any money for the NADP would have to come from within the already depleted Library and Archives Canada (LAC) budget.

Read more:

The Canadian Association of University Teachers calls on all Canadians to contact the Heritage Minister and voice support for restoring the NADP, insisting that the $1.7 million annual cost of the program be added to the current LAC budget”.

To let your feeling be known, you can write to The Hon. James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage & Official Languages, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Find out more about the NADP see www.canadaspastmatters.ca/local-archives


For more information contact Rosa Barker: barker@caut.ca or (613)726-5166

UPDATE: FamilySearch adds more images

FamilySearch has added more images to the British Columbia, Crown Land Pre-emption Registers, 1860-1971.

Pre-emptions are purchased land that has not been fully surveyed. The pre-emption registers summarize the information from the pre-emption certificates. The pre-emptions are listed in registration number order, with an alphabetical index in the back of each volume.


And they have added more images to the Quebec, Notarial Records, 1800-1900.

You can go to the Wiki at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Quebec_Notarial_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records) to get a full description of the records.

These records are made available because of the work by thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online.

Thanks to the volunteers!


Heritage Minister not happy with the cuts at the LAC

It appears that the Federal Heritage Minister James Moore isn’t too happy with the way that the layoffs at the Library and Archives Canada has turned out.

One impact that the cuts have had is that the digitization program has been severely cut as the staff has been cut – and the digitization of records was suppose to take the place of inter-library loans, for example.

All of this is in a story carried by the Huffington Post this morning. The online newspaper says that “The heritage minister says speeding up the digitization of records will be a priority for the new head of Library and Archives”.


Read the full report at the Huffington post is at www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/10/heritage-minister-conside_n_3414200.html