> SFU Library leads multicultural heritage project
SFU Library leads multicultural heritage project
Contact:
Lynn Copeland, copeland@sfu.ca, 778.782.3265
Erica Branda, SFU Advancement, 778.782.3353/778.231.1274, ebranda@sfu.ca
Lynn Copeland, copeland@sfu.ca, 778.782.3265
Erica Branda, SFU Advancement, 778.782.3353/778.231.1274, ebranda@sfu.ca
February 21, 2008
A $500,000 grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canadian
Culture Online program will enable SFU Library to lead a
multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at preserving the history and
heritage of Canada’s minority groups.
Multicultural Canada will collect and digitize multicultural collections of newspapers, magazines, audio tapes, photographs, local histories, speeches, letters and oral histories that currently reside in a variety of locations.
Collections will be enhanced with additional content that provides context for the collections and participatory opportunities for users to interact with the content.
Specific resources are being developed for K-12 teachers, students, community members and academic researchers.
As a leader in digitization and online access to collections, SFU Library is uniquely positioned to spearhead Multicultural Canada.
“In keeping with SFU’s slogan, ‘Thinking of the World,’ we are committed to sharing this expertise and making information available to the general public, worldwide,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson.
“We are extremely pleased that the Department of Canadian Heritage is supporting this initiative to digitize unique cultural materials from minority groups,” says University Librarian Lynn Copeland.
“By preserving these materials and making them available online we will help citizens better understand and appreciate the multicultural heritage of their country, and the global world we inhabit today.”
Eleven collections will be digitized in this phase of the project including the Chinese Times newspaper, a Ukrainian collection, articles about the Vietnamese Boat People and an Indo-Canadian Oral History collection.
These collections and educational materials will be available on line at www.multiculturalcanada.ca, at no cost to users, by June 2008. Interactive educational tools and resources will be available in French and English.
Project partners for this phase include the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, University of Victoria and the Vancouver Public Library.
Multicultural Canada will collect and digitize multicultural collections of newspapers, magazines, audio tapes, photographs, local histories, speeches, letters and oral histories that currently reside in a variety of locations.
Collections will be enhanced with additional content that provides context for the collections and participatory opportunities for users to interact with the content.
Specific resources are being developed for K-12 teachers, students, community members and academic researchers.
As a leader in digitization and online access to collections, SFU Library is uniquely positioned to spearhead Multicultural Canada.
“In keeping with SFU’s slogan, ‘Thinking of the World,’ we are committed to sharing this expertise and making information available to the general public, worldwide,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson.
“We are extremely pleased that the Department of Canadian Heritage is supporting this initiative to digitize unique cultural materials from minority groups,” says University Librarian Lynn Copeland.
“By preserving these materials and making them available online we will help citizens better understand and appreciate the multicultural heritage of their country, and the global world we inhabit today.”
Eleven collections will be digitized in this phase of the project including the Chinese Times newspaper, a Ukrainian collection, articles about the Vietnamese Boat People and an Indo-Canadian Oral History collection.
These collections and educational materials will be available on line at www.multiculturalcanada.ca, at no cost to users, by June 2008. Interactive educational tools and resources will be available in French and English.
Project partners for this phase include the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, University of Calgary, University of Toronto, University of Victoria and the Vancouver Public Library.