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:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/06/09/pol-james-moore-funding-to-library-and-archives.html

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.

A full description is give on the Wiki at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/British_Columbia,_Crown_Land_Pre-emption_Registers_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

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

Canadian Week in Review

10 June 2013

I have come across the following Canadian websites, blogs, Facebook pages, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too

Websites

Mennonite Archives of Ontario A new, and improved    Mennonite Archives of Ontario, will be debuted to the public in September 2013, when it is scheduled to double its floor space.

If you go to the Genealogical Resources Online, they have an index to family histories available at the archives.

The archives are located at the Conrad Grebel University College, at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario.

The website is at https://uwaterloo.ca/mennonite-archives-ontario

Blogs

There are no new blogs this past week.

Facebook- YouTube – Video

Canadian Heritage https://www.facebook.com/CdnHeritage The Canadian Department of Heritage has a Facebook page with very good information on it.

Newspapers

Museums take up crowd funding: Smithsonian in Washington appeals for funds for yoga exhibit  www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/05/31/crowd-funding-museums.html Is this a new way to raise money to keep museums open?

The wharf in Riverside-Albert is in danger of collapsing into the Bay of Fundy http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/historic-wharf-in-danger-of-crumbling-into-bay-of-fundy-1.1312800

The Atlantic CTV News reports that “The wharf in Riverside-Albert (New Brunswick) is in danger of collapsing into the Bay of Fundy due to recent heavy rains. The Shipyard Heritage Park had been built in 2006 as a tribute to the community’s shipbuilding past and thousands of tourists visit the park each year”.

The Royal Canadian Mint celebrates the 300th anniversary of Louisbourg with collector coins

www.sacbee.com/2013/06/04/5469768/the-royal-canadian-mint-celebrates.html#storylink=cpy 

As of June 11, 2013, the coins will also be available at the Royal Canadian Mint's boutiques in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver, as well as through the Mint's global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets

Opening hours restricted at Green Cables http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/p-e-i-tourists-disappointed-to-find-green-gables-closed-on-sunday-monday-1.1311008 Parks Canada has decided to restrict operating hours at Green Gables, closing on Sunday and Monday during the month of June

Tracing and celebrating Irish ancestry easier than ever

www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Tracing+celebrating+Irish+ancestry+easier+than+ever/6599552/story.html The Canadian 2006 census shows that Irish is the fourth largest ethnic group in Canada — about 14 per cent of the total population or 4.4 million people.

Groups submit plans to save 128 surplus lighthouses

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2013/06/05/ns-surplus-lighthouse-plans.html

Community groups and municipalities in eight provinces have come forward with business plans to save 128 lighthouses.

Story of the Week

The Internet was busy with blogs about the 1921 Canada Census this past week.

It all started on June 4^th, when the Library and Archives Canada released a notice on their blog at www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/Pages/2013/1921-census.aspx which said the census would be available to research in the ‘next few weeks’.

They told us all about the census, for instance, “The almost 11,700 commissioners and enumerators recorded by hand nearly 8.8 million individuals in thousands of communities across the country” – but not when it would be ready for us to research. So we wait...

Meanwhile, the blogs have been, and still are, busy - 

1921 Canadian Census Countdown - Get Involved!   http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/05/1921-canadian-census-countdown-get.html

1921 Canadian Census http://carletonplacelocalhistory.wordpress.com/tag/1921-canadian-census

1921 Canadian Census Update http://jimsgirlfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/1921-canadian-census-update.html?showComment=1370652530311

Census Sunday: I’m ready http://yvonnesgenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/census-sunday-im-ready.html

The next Canadian Week in Review will be issued Monday June 17, 2013

Tracking down Francophones across America

The Morrin Centre will host Professor Dean Louder as he presents his first bilingual talk in which he will discuss the traces of French-Canadian settlements across the continent. 

Reading from his book and sharing photos from his travels, Louder will tell the stories of these little-known communities while illustrating the fact that Francophones here in Quebec are not the only French speakers to whom their roots, history and heritage are important in an ever-growing global society.

This presentation will take place on Wednesday, June 19 at 7 p.m., at the

Morrin Centre, 44 Chaussée des Écossais, Quebec City, Quebec.

Admission is free. To reserve, please contact us at 418-694-9147 or info@morrin.org.

GenealogyCanada has done it again!

Mentioned as one of the Top 25 blogs of 2013 in the July issue of Internet Genealogy Magazine, my blog has hit the big time once again.

In Blogged: 25 Top Genealogy Blogs to Help Speed Your Research! author Tony Bandy says “In particular, the outbound links to LOTS of great resources and digital resources makes this blog invaluable for your current family project”.

Thank you Tony, and the people at Moorshead's Magazine.

To read more of what he said about GenealogyCanada, and the other 24 blogs he chose to write about, go to www.internet-genealogy.com

Quinte OGS Branch Meeting

On 15 Jun 2013 at 1:00 pm, the Quinte OGS Branch will present the talk Why Can't I Find It Online? Other Resources to Help with Your Search. The talk will be presented by Ruth Blair, from The Passionate Genealogist blog.

A good deal of research can be done online, and many believe this is all we need, but only about 1% of genealogical data has been digitized and been made available on the Internet. Great strides are being taken to get more data online, but it is a costly process and sometimes what is available is only a small reference to a certain record group, and not the actual image.

Libraries and archives are still the main sources of information for the genealogical researcher, especially when you want to dig deeper. Ruth Blair will present case studies using such resources.

The talk will take place at Quinte West City Hall Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, Ontario

The Quinte OGS Branch web site is at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs/index.htm

The Passionate Genealogist web site is at http://blog.familyhistorysearches.com