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Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. The national archive and
library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
is the fifth largest library in the world. The LAC reports to the
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...
through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The LAC traces its origins to the Dominion Archives, formed in 1872, and the National Library of Canada, formed in 1953. The former was later renamed as the Public Archives of Canada in 1912, and the National Archives of Canada in 1987. In 2004, the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada were merged to form Library and Archives Canada.


History


Predecessors

The Dominion Archives was founded in 1872 as a division within the
Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...
tasked with acquiring and transcribing documents related to
Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...
. In 1912, the division was transformed into an autonomous organization, Public Archives of Canada, with the new responsibility of managing government documents on all types of
media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
. The organization would be renamed in 1987 as the National Archives of Canada. With the efforts of people like Freda Farrell Waldon, the first president of the
Canadian Library Association The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...
, the National Library of Canada was founded in 1953.


21st century

In 2004, under the initiative of former National Librarian
Roch Carrier Roch Carrier (born 13 May 1937) is a French Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada. Life He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and studied at ...
and National Archivist
Ian E. Wilson Ian E. Wilson (born April 1943) is a former chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Appointed in 2004, he had previously (as of July 1999) been National Archivist of Canada. With Roch Carrier, the then National Librarian, he developed and led ...
, the functions of the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada were combined to form the Library and Archives Canada. The LAC was established per the ''Library and Archives of Canada Act'' (Bill C-8), proclaimed on April 22, 2004, with a subsequent
Order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...
on May 21, which formally united the collections, services, and personnel of the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada. Wilson assumed the position as the first Librarian and Archivist of Canada in July that year.


Modernization

In June 2004, LAC issued a discussion paper titled ''Creating a New Kind of Knowledge Institution''; after consultation in June 2006, it issued ''LAC Directions for Change'', a document setting out five key directions to define the new institution, including being a new kind of knowedge institution; becominga truly national institution, a collaborative institution that works to stregnthen Canada's documentary heritage; a learning destsination; and an institution in government information management. LAC's modernization policy provides for transformation from an institution focused on the acquisition and preservation of analogue (non-digital) materials to one that excels in digital access and
digital preservation In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and ...
. A Documentary Heritage Management Framework developed in 2009 seeks the right balance between resources dedicated to analogue and digital materials and is based on: *three main business pillars: acquisition, preservation and resource discovery (''resource discovery'' includes description, discovery, access and services to the public) *four guiding principles for fulfilling its documentary heritage mandate, i.e. significance, sufficiency, sustainability and society (broad social context) *four key roles, i.e. foundation building (relationship building), collaboration, program (integrated collection management processes) and transfer (formal agreements with third parties to fulfill its legislated mandate). Eight pilot research projects were initiated to validate the framework, including projects on military documentary heritage, aboriginal documentary heritage, and stewardship of newspapers in a digital age. In March 2010 LAC issued its final report on Canadian Digital Information Strategy stakeholder consultations initiated in accordance with its mandate to facilitate co-operation among Canadian knowledge communities. In the same month it issued ''Shaping Our Continuing Memory Collectively: A Representative Documentary Heritage'', a document which outlines how it plans to achieve its modernization objectives. Despite LAC's stated objectives of continuing to fulfill its mandate by adapting to changes in the information environment and collaboration with others, the actual experience since 2004 has been a reduction in both services and collaboration. Federal funding cuts since 2004 have also impacted on LAC services and acquisitions. A detailed timeline of relevant developments and the decline in LAC services since 2004 has been compiled by the Ex Libris Association.


Budget cuts

Following the announcement in the 2012 federal budget of a
CDN$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...
9.6 million funding cut over the three years commencing in 2012–13, more than 400 LAC employees received notices which indicated their jobs may be affected and the department announced a 20% reduction of its workforce of about 1,100 over the following three years. The "harsh" wording of a 23-page code of conduct for employees effective January 2013, which "spells out values, potential conflicts of interest and expected behaviours", has been criticized by the
Association of Canadian Archivists The Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), established in 1975, is a national not-for-profit organization representing over 600 archivists (and those interested in archives and archivists) in Canada. With headquarters in Ottawa, the ACA's manda ...
and the
Canadian Association of University Teachers The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT; french: Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université, ACPPU) is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 70,000 teachers, l ...
among others. The code describes personal activities including teaching and speaking at or attending conferences as "high risk" activities "with regard to conflict of interest, conflict of duties and duty of loyalty" and participation in such activities is subject to strict conditions. In a section on duty of loyalty, it also cautions employees about expressing personal opinions in
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
forums. Only authorized LAC spokespersons may issue statements or make public comments about LAC's mandate and activities, which includes controversial changes related to modernization and budget cuts. Changes introduced under the management of
Ian E. Wilson Ian E. Wilson (born April 1943) is a former chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Appointed in 2004, he had previously (as of July 1999) been National Archivist of Canada. With Roch Carrier, the then National Librarian, he developed and led ...
and
Daniel J. Caron Daniel J. Caron (born 1957) was the Librarian and Archivist of Canada from April 25, 2009 until May 15, 2013. He is also a professor, author, fellow and public speaker. Education Caron graduated with a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Economi ...
have been the subject of controversy and public criticism. Caron asserted that radical change is needed to cope with the influx and demand for digital material and they are subject to federal budget constraints. Several individuals and organizations voiced concerns about these changes. In 2011, the
Canadian Association of University Teachers The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT; french: Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université, ACPPU) is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 70,000 teachers, l ...
launched the Save Library & Archives Canada campaign. On May 2, 2012, the
Canadian Library Association The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...
expressed concern about budget cuts to libraries, both in federal departments and at LAC. In August 2012, the Bibliographical Society of Canada wrote to every
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
urging them to ensure budget cuts do not compromise LAC's legislated mandate. In a follow-up letter to Heritage Minister James Moore in November 2012, the Society singled out the termination of
interlibrary loan Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...
s as a particularly harmful decision. Bibliophile blogger Nigel Beale characterizes LAC as "Canada's national disgrace" in his blog ''Literary Tourist''. Academic Ian Milligan describes LAC's "rhetoric of modernization" as a "smokescreen" for cutting services in light of the insignificance of and limited accessibility to LAC's online collections on the ActiveHistory.ca website. Historian Valerie Knowles outlines the impact of government cutbacks at LAC and federal government libraries in her article "Closing doors on Canada's history" on the ''
iPolitics ''iPolitics'' is a Canadian digital newspaper, which covers stories in Canadian politics. The site was launched in 2010 by founding editor and publisher James Baxter, and offers daily coverage of political news, a quarterly print magazine, politic ...
'' website. On May 31, 2012, the
Association of Canadian Archivists The Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), established in 1975, is a national not-for-profit organization representing over 600 archivists (and those interested in archives and archivists) in Canada. With headquarters in Ottawa, the ACA's manda ...
announced its withdrawal from forums of LAC's Pan-Canadian Documentary Heritage Network, stating that it does not believe the network can meet the needs and interests of
archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...
s across Canada previously met by the National Archival Development Program abruptly terminated by LAC following the 2012 federal funding cut. Following Caron's resignation in May 2013, a stakeholder coalition issued a joint statement on the qualities of a successful Librarian and Archivist of Canada for official consideration in what they consider a "matter of great national significance": In June 2013 the Heritage Minister said speeding up the digitization of records will be a priority for the new Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Moore also said he will ask the person appointed to revisit the termination of the National Archival Development Program.


Truth and Reconciliation Commission

During the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Library and Archives Canada initially failed to produce records requested by the commission in a timely and comprehensive manner and was ordered by an
Ontario Superior Court The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...
judge to do so. Ultimately, LAC did provide the records, but many were not in digitized and searchable formats as required by the commission. The Calls to Action of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission explicitly referenced Library and Archives Canada as follows:
We call upon Library and Archives Canada to: fully adopt and implement the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...
and the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples' inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why, with regard to
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
violations committed against them in the residential schools; ensure that its record holding related to residential schools are accessible to the public; ndcommit more resources to its public education materials and programming on residential schools.
Library and Archives Canada has begun to address these concerns by dedicating funding to hire Indigenous archivists, build relationships with Indigenous communities, and support
digitization DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-r ...
efforts. However, Indigenous-led organizations have drawn attention to the fact that Indigenous communities have been conducting this type of work for decades. LAC also holds and provides access to archival copies of the websites of organizations related to the TRC, in collaboration with the
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR; french: Centre national pour la vérité et la réconciliation, ) is the archival repository for all of the material collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, purposed ...
, the
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gra ...
Library, and
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Wellington Street in
downtown Ottawa Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the east, ...
is the main physical location where the public may access the collection in person. The building was officially opened on June 20, 1967. With the de-emphasis on physical visits, in-person services have been curtailed—for example, since April 2012, reference services are by appointment only—and the role of this building is decreasing. There are also administrative offices in
Gatineau, Quebec Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's ...
, and preservation and storage facilities throughout Canada for federal government records. The Preservation Centre in the city centre of Gatineau, about 10 kilometres away from the Ottawa headquarters, was designed to provide a safe environment for the long-term storage and preservation of Canada's valuable collections. It was built at a cost of
CDN$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...
107 million, and the official opening took place on June 4, 1997. It is a unique building containing 48 climate-controlled preservation vaults and state-of-the-art preservation laboratories. In 2000, the
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...
named it one of the top 500 buildings constructed in Canada during the last millennium. A Nitrate Film Preservation Facility on the
Communications Research Centre The Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC; french: Centre de recherches sur les communications Canada) is a Canadian government scientific laboratory for research and development in wireless technologies, with a particular focus on the effic ...
campus in
Shirleys Bay Shirleys Bay is a bay of the Ottawa River, about sixteen kilometres (10 miles) from downtown Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. Shirleys Bay also includes a significant wetland and nature preserve that is part of an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area th ...
, on the outskirts of Ottawa, houses Canada's cellulose
nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
collection. The collection contains 5,575 film reels dating back to 1912, including some of the first Canadian motion pictures and photographic negatives. The film material is highly sensitive and requires precise temperatures for its preservation. The state-of-the-art facility, which was officially opened on June 21, 2011, is an eco-designed building featuring an
environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that cl ...
roof that provides better insulation and minimizes energy expenditures. A planned key activity for 2013–14 was to rehouse analogue (non-digital) information resources in a new state-of-the-art high-density storage facility in Gatineau, where the national newspaper collection and records of
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
veterans will be stored. The facility will feature a high bay metal shelving system with a suitable environment to better protect Canada's published heritage. In January 2019, Library and Archives Canada announced that negotiations for a new facility to be built next to the existing one in Gatineau were starting, with an opening date in 2022. LAC's online collection is accessible via its website and LAC provides ongoing information online via its
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...
,
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
s, the
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...
s, the
Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and profession ...
image-sharing site, and the
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
video-sharing site. RSS feeds provide links to new content on the LAC website and news about LAC services and resources. A new modernized website is being developed and is scheduled for completion in 2013, with both new and old websites accessible during the transition period.


Collection

The Library and Archives of Canada's holdings include: * 250 linear kilometres of
Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...
and representative private textual records ** textual archives for various individuals and groups who have contributed to the cultural, social, economic and political development of Canada * 22 million books and publications acquired largely through
legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposi ...
* 24 million photographic images (including
prints In molecular biology, the PRINTS database is a collection of so-called "fingerprints": it provides both a detailed annotation resource for protein families, and a diagnostic tool for newly determined sequences. A fingerprint is a group of conserved ...
, negatives, slides, and digital photos) * over 3 million architectural drawings, plans, and maps * over 90,000 films (including short and full-length films, documentaries, and silent films) * over 550,000 hours of audio and video recordings * over 425,000 works of art (including watercolours, oil paintings, sketches, caricatures and miniatures, as well as medals, seals, posters and coats of arms) * about 550,000 musical items (including the largest collection of Canadian
sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, ...
in the world; documentation related to music in Canada; and recordings on disks and records of all formats, including piano rolls, reels and spools, and
8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...
s) * the Canadian Postal Archives; * national newspapers from across Canada, including
daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
s,
student newspapers A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also rep ...
, Indigenous magazines, and ethnic community newsletters. Notable items in the collection include: *the Proclamation of Canada's ''
Constitution Act, 1982 The ''Constitution Act, 1982'' (french: link=no, Loi constitutionnelle de 1982) is a part of the Constitution of Canada.Formally enacted as Schedule B of the ''Canada Act 1982'', enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 60 of t ...
'', which bears marks left by raindrops during a ceremony on
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...
in April 1982 when
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
signed it; *a copy of the ''
Constitution Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...
'' (aka the ''British North America Act''), which features editing changes made by the first
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...
,
Sir John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
; *'' De antiquitate Judaica:
De bello Judaico ''The Jewish War'' or ''Judean War'' (in full ''Flavius Josephus' Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans'', el, Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ...
'' ('
Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the ...
and the Judean War')—the oldest book in the collection—written by 1st-century historian
Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
and printed in 1470; *the chair used by world-renowned pianist
Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...
while he played and recorded.


Digitization

The LAC also houses more than a
petabyte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable uni ...
of
digital content Digital content is any content that exists in the form of digital data. Also known as digital media, digital content is stored on digital or analog storage in specific formats. Forms of digital content include information that is digitally broad ...
. Some of this content is available
online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" ...
, primarily books, Canadian theses, and census material—equating to around 5 thousand
terabytes The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable uni ...
of information in electronic format. Many items have not been
digitized DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i ...
and are only available in physical form. As of May 2013, only about 1% of the collection had been digitized, representing "about 25 million of the more popular and most fragile items."


Operations

Since its inception, LAC has reported to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. LAC's stated mandate is: *to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations; *to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society; *to facilitate in Canada co-operation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge; *to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions. LAC is expected to maintain "effective recordkeeping practices that ensure transparency and accountability".


Management

The Librarian and Archivist of Canada has the same seniority level as a deputy minister of a federal department. On May 27, 2019,
Leslie Weir Leslie Weir is a Canadian librarian, one of the founding architects of Scholars Portal and former president of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. Weir was the University Librarian at the University of Ottawa from 2003 to 2018. She ha ...
was appointed Librarian and Archivist of Canada for a four-year term commencing August 30, 2019. Weir is the first woman to hold this role. The head of Canada's national archives was known as the Dominion Archivist from 1872 to 1987 and the National Archivist from 1987 to 2004.


See also

* List of archives in Canada


Notes


References


Further reading

* Council of Federal Libraries (Canada): Readers' Services Committee. ''Basic Readers' Services'' = ''Principaux services offerts aux lecteurs''. Ottawa, Ont.: National Library of Canada, cop. 1980, t.p. 1979. ''N.B''.: The English and French texts are printed ''tête-bêche'' one to the other. * Delvaux, Alex, and Yves Marcoux. ''Public Archives Library'' = ''Bibliothèque des Archives publiques''. In "General Guide Series: 1983". ttawa Public Archives Canada, 1983. Text, printed tête-bêche, in English and in French. * Kallmann, Helmut. "The Music Division of the National Library: the First Five Years", ''The Canada Music Book'', vol. 10,
o. 1 O is the fifteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. O may also refer to: Letters * Օ օ, (Unicode: U+0555, U+0585) a letter in the Armenian alphabet * Ο ο, Omicron, (Greek), a letter in the Greek alphabet * O (Cyrillic), a letter of the ...
(Spring/Summer 1975), p. 95-100. ''N.B''.: Also printed as a fold. offprint. * Library and Archives Canada. ''Legal Deposit at the
hen named Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway * Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringe ...
National Library of Canada'' = ''Le Dépôt légal à la Bibliothèque nationale du Canada''. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1982. ''N.B''.: Text, printed tête-bêche, in English and in French. * Library and Archives Canada. ''Music Collection
f the F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...
National Library of Canada sMusic Division'' = ''Collection de musique e laDivision de la musique, Bibliothèque nationale du Canada''. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1989. ''N.B''.: Texts in English and in French, printed tête-bêche. * Library and Archives Canada. ''National Film, Television, and Sound Archives'' = ''Archives nationales du film, de la television et de l'enregistrement sonore'', in ''General Guide Series''. Ottawa: Public Archives Canada, 1983. 45 p. (English) + 47 p. (French), ill. with b&w photos. ''N.B''.: The English and French texts are printed ''tête-bêche'' one to the other. * Library and Archives Canada: Sound Archives Section. ''Sound Archives, Guide to Procedures'' = ''Les Archives sonores, guide méthodologique''. 3rd ed. ... rev. ... and updated, ncollaboration between ... Michel Bourbonnais et al.; Josephine Langham ... responsible for the revision of the text in the English-language version. Ottawa: Public Archives Canada, 1979. ''N.B''.: Texts in English and in French, printed tête-bêche one to the other.


External links


Library and Archives Canada
{{Authority control Archives in Canada State archives Federal departments and agencies of Canada Film preservation Libraries in Canada
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
Department of Canadian Heritage Museums in Ottawa Art museums and galleries in Ontario 2004 establishments in Ontario Libraries established in 2004 Deposit libraries Canadian government information