L-R: Times Colonist Editor-in-Chief Lucinda Chodan; Will Weigler in character as Amor de Cosmos, founder of The British Colonist; and UVic Vice-President External Relations Dr. Valerie Kuehne cut the cake to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the TC and the launch of the British Colonist website.
Photo: Debra Brash, courtesy of Victoria Times ColonistUVic and the Times Colonist make it easier to search BC’s past online
By Maria Lironi
There will be fewer trips to the library, squinting at years of microfiche, for those who are interested in BC history. Thanks to a partnership between the University of Victoria and the Victoria Times Colonist, the world can now search through historic editions of the newspaper online.
The website, www.britishcolonist.ca, was officially launched on Dec. 11. It contains issues of The British Colonist, one of the oldest daily newspapers in Western Canada and one of the best records of colonial BC. Every page of every issue between the first one, on Dec. 11, 1858, and the end of June 1910 is now on line—a total of 100,544 pages.
“December 11 is the exact date of the 150th anniversary of the Times Colonist,” says Times Colonist Editor-in-Chief Lucinda Chodan. “We’re delighted to mark that occasion by giving something back to the community that has helped us thrive for the last century and a half—a legacy in perpetuity to the citizens of Victoria, Vancouver Island and British Columbia.”
Until now, The British Colonist newspaper, under many differing titles, has been available only on microfilm in a few libraries. The newspaper is the sole source of some types of information. For instance, during the first 30 years of its existence the newspaper covered the proceedings of the British Columbia legislative assemblies, which makes it the only documentation of its kind of this body. The British Colonist also reported on most court cases and is the only surviving record of judicial proceedings in the early days of the colony.
“The new site is important for historical researchers and genealogists,” says Head of Special Collections Chris Petter, who helped to manage the project. “Some of its content even predates the establishment of the province and Canada. As such, the site will provide historical researchers—including students and genealogists—with a rich full look at our history.”
Petter and his team built an interface that provides the ability to search either chronologically or by using keywords. The interface also displays the digital image of each page of the newspaper with the search words highlighted.
A number of other UVic staff and faculty worked on the project including: Associate University Librarian I.T. and Technical Services Ken Cooley; John Durno, Maike Dulk and Ben Sheaff (Library System Services); Ian Baird (Library Microforms); Drs. John Lutz and Patrick Dunae (history); and Pat Szpak (Humanities Computing & Media Centre).
“It’s been so hard to access over the last years; we’ve had to crank through microfilm, go to the archives. To be able to just look it up online is just going to change the way we do BC history,” Lutz told the Times Colonist at the launch event.
The project is supported by the Times Colonist. UBC’s Ike Barber Learning Centre, the Electronic Library Network of British Columbia, the BC Public Library Services Branch and the Greater Victoria Public Library provided additional support.
|
