Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or a person's life or work. These include letters, autobiographies, posters, diaries, archival materials, and photographs.
Canadiana.org (also referred to simply as Canadiana) works together with partners to strengthen our collective ability to present Canada's documentary heritage content online. The organization acts as a coordinator, facilitator and advocate for digitization initiatives, along with providing access services and preservation infrastructures.
A digital library of primary sources from Canada's early heritage. It covers the time period from the first European settlers to the early 20th century and includes government reports, letters, diaries newspapers, magazines and church documents.
Canadian National Digital Heritage Index
The Canadian National Digital Heritage Index (CNDHI) is an index of digitized Canadian heritage collections located at Canadian universities and provincial and territorial libraries. Supported by funding from Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, CNDHI is designed to increase awareness of, and access to digital heritage collections in Canada, to support the academic research enterprise and to facilitate information sharing within the Canadian documentary heritage community.
The Canadiana Discovery Portal is a free service that enables users to search across the valuable and diverse digital collections of Canada’s libraries, museums and archives. It provides Canadians with access to a wealth of digital material such as books, journals, newspapers, government documents, photographs, maps, post cards, sheet music, audio and video files about our nation’s heritage. Whether you are looking for information about your own family genealogy or researching a specific topic in the history of Canada, the Canadiana Discovery Portal is an essential tool for your research.
Our Roots: Canada's Local Histories Online
Searchable full-text access to rare books and primary sources describing many aspects of Canadian history including the spread of religion, war, economic development, slavery, political affairs, aboriginal history, &c.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures and the Environment
Contains over 1400 authors and over 100 000 pages of primary works: letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts as well as images of early encounters.
History of the Book in Canada Databases
Provides access to five discrete databases related to Canadian book history. These include (among others) a comprehensive database of all Canadian book historical studies (BHBiC); early printed bookseller, library, and book auction catalogues (CBC); as well as a database of all Canadian imprints (excluding newspapers), from the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec, and Ontario from 1752 to 1840 (CI).
A unique digital portal for information on the Province of Ontario which features the collections of different libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, galleries, and other content providers. The digital resources available through this portal include text, audio, image, video and other media.