Showing posts with label Upper and Lower Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upper and Lower Canada. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

LAC Changes “Search” Feature

Have you noticed the changes made between the old landing page of the LAC and the new landing page of the LAC in addition to the new layout?

There is one big change to me, and that is, on the new website of the LAC at www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx as opposed to the old website of the LAC at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html they have changed the Search feature!

On the old website one could search the federated search site on the top right hand corner of the website, and your search would be broken down into Library, Archives, and Ancestors. You could choose just one way to search, or you could search all three. You could clearly see which one you wanted to search first. I found it a very efficient way to search the holdings for my clients. Now you just get “results” of your search – the three fields are all mixed together.

I also see where there has been talk about the LAC making plans to digitize newspapers once again.

And when these plans are finalized, will the papers be indexed, as well as digitized? That is my question, and the answer will probably be " No."

Anyone who has had occasion (like myself) to work with the digitized Land Petitions of Upper and Lower Canada, know what a task it is to find anyone within the pages and pages of paper – it involves hours and hours of work on the Intertnet to find the exact record. They are not indexed by the  person's name!
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