nova scotia historical newspapers
TRANSCRIPT
Nova Scotia Historical
Newspaperswww.nsnewspapers.
ca
History of the Newspaper Project
• In the late 1980s, an Ad Hoc Committee for the Preservation of/Access to Nova Scotian Newspapers was formed
• Goal of establishing a province-wide collection, preservation, and access approach for newspapers (current and historical)
March 2009 Consultation
• 20 years later, a consultation was held at the Nova Scotia Archives
• Brought together libraries, archives, and historical societies
• Explored the current status of collecting, preserving, providing access to the province’s newspapers
Findings of Consultation
• Strong interest in collaborative digitization strategies
• Digitization facilities existed, but no funding available
• Newspapers lie outside of institutions’ mandates
Start of the Newspaper Project
• Libraries Nova Scotia (a consortium of academic, college, special, and public libraries) takes the lead
• Funding provided by Nova Scotia Community Access Program (CAP)
• Steering committee included: Libraries Nova Scotia, NS Provincial Library, Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management, Beaton Institute, CBU, Legislative Library and Western Counties Regional Library
Funding
• Received $24,000 grant from Nova Scotia Community Access Program
• Two “scanners” employed: one at the Nova Scotia Archives, and one at the Mi’kmaq College Institute, CBU
• Over the course of seven months, 19,000 pages of historic newspapers were scanned
Selection Process
• Early and unique newspapers• Representing different regions, both urban
and rural• Including different cultural groups (Gaelic,
Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotian)• Preservation: Some papers had to be digitized
or their content would be lost• Originals (not microfilm)
Where did the newspapers come from?
• Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management• The Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University• Cape Breton Regional Library• Private donors
Digitization Process
• Scanning done from originals
• “Digital repair” and paper conservation for papers in poor condition
• Optical Character Recognition used for Cape Breton papers
Digitized Newspapers
• Nova Scotia Chronicle and Weekly Advertiser (Halifax, 1769-1770)
• The Port-Roseway Gazetteer and the Shelburne Advertiser, 1784-1785
• The Royal American Gazette (Shelburne), 1785
• The Nova-Scotia Packet and General Advertiser (Shelburne), 1786
• Pictou Bee (1835-1838)• The 4th Estate (Halifax, 1969-
1978)• The Tiny Tattler (Central Grove,
Digby County), 1934-1943
•Billa Na Queg (A New Day), 1964•Micmac News, (Membertou), 1965-1992•The Thermometer (Sydney), 1899-1900•The Nova Scotia Gleaner (Sydney), 1929 •The Cape Breton News (Sydney), 1850-1852•The Daily Advocate (Sydney), 1878 •The Cape Breton Advocate, (Sydney), 1899 •The Daily Times (Sydney), 1878 •The Sydney Booster (Sydney), 1935 •Glace Bay Enterprise (Glace Bay), 1896 •Semi-Weekly Express (Sydney), 1879
Communities
ShelburneHalifaxCentral GrovePictouSydneyMembertouGlace BayEskasoni
Websites
• Nova Scotia Archives hosting “mainland” Nova Scotia newspapers
• Memorial University hosting Cape Breton newspapers
• Newspapers searchable by date• Cape Breton newspapers full-text searchable• Images viewed in high resolution with ability
to zoom and pan
Nova Scotia Archives Website
Memorial University Website
Outcomes
• Enabled broad public access to several outstanding examples of Canadian newspapers
• Fostered a broad partnership of organizations with expertise, infrastructure and interest in historical newspapers
• With a small amount of funding, produced a considerable product in a very short time frame
Next steps
• Potential continuation of the project
• Only a fraction of historical Nova Scotian papers have been digitized
Thank-you!