To meet the growing need for fast access to digital information, UBC Library launched Open Collections – a new portal that gives researchers a single access point to the Library’s digital collections.
Woodcut Japanese Map of the Tokugawa Era, “Kaisei chiri shoho ansha no zu,” 1876 (G3201 .A5 1876 T)
Find information quickly and get better results
The portal provides streamlined access for researchers wanting to explore various digital collections – previously held in several different databases and portals, each with their own interface.
Now researchers from around the globe can access more than 7 million pages of text, 100,000 digital objects and 65,000 full-text items – from the convenience of one portal. Current “Featured Collections” include the Langmann Collection of BC photographs, UBC’s first 100 theses, and BC historical newspapers.
Open Collections will continue to expand as the Library adds more items including maps, photographs, art and more.
The Library has also provided the API as an open-source tool for researchers to mine data and build their own custom views, apps and widgets. The Open Collections Research API is available for anyone to use.
For questions or feedback, email library.opencollections@ubc.ca.