Bringing B.C.’s history online

The front pages of the Bella Coola Courier (1917) and the Abbotsford Post (1924).

More than 45,000 pages chronicling B.C.’s storied past are available online following the completion of the British Columbia Historical Newspapers Project in late 2011.

The project, led by the UBC Library’s Digital Initiatives Unit and generously supported by a private family foundation, features digitized versions of 24 historical papers from around the province. The titles, which range from the Abbotsford Post to the Phoenix Pioneer, date from 1865 to 1924. All are available for free online viewing.

“This is an excellent example of UBC Library advancing its digital agenda and connecting with communities at UBC and around the province,” says Allan Bell, Director of Library Digital Initiatives. So far, the project has been a hit, as the site has attracted more than 22,000 visits from users in 69 countries.

“UBC Library’s digital collection of British Columbia newspapers makes the exciting history of the province’s early development readily available to a wide reading public,” says Bob McDonald, an Associate Professor in UBC’s Department of History.

“These newspapers tell the story of logging at Port Alberni, farming in the Fraser Valley, silver mining in the Kootenays and social conflict at Cumberland.”

The publications are fully searchable and browsable; single pages can be downloaded in the JPEG format, while entire issues are downloadable as PDFs. Another highlight is the “Today in History” feature, which allows users to discover the news stories of small-town B.C. that correspond to the present date but took place in centuries past.

In the coming year, another 48 reels of digitized microfilm will be added to the site, and it’s likely that more titles will be featured in the future.

This is an excellent example of UBC Library advancing its digital agenda and connecting with communities at UBC and around the province

For more information, please visit historicalnewspapers.library.ubc.ca