Digital Content Creation and Digital Alliances Web Sites

To see examples of Ontario public library completed digitization projects that received Ministry Library Strategic Development Fund Digital Alliances and Digital Content Creation funding support in previous fiscal years, go to these URLs

Hearst
This fully bilingual site, “A Short History of the Hearst and Area Sawmills”, covers the history of Hearst and its surrounding area and how it gradually became a leader in the lumber industry both in Ontario and Canada.  Backed up by personal accounts and photographs, the site covers the evolution of the lumber industry from the 1920s to the 1990s, in what is now known as the Hearst Forest.  The Hearst region’s industry was driven by small, mostly French-Canadian entrepreneurs, who established sawmills and factories that helped the community’s growth and prosperity. The Hearst Public Library created the site, with partners including Conseil des Arts de Hearst, Corporation of the Town of Hearst, Hearst and Area Ecomuseum, and Université de Hearst.

North Bay
The Dionne Quintuplets site is found via the North Bay Public Library's website and contains links to collections of Dionne material in the North Bay region.

Sault Ste. Marie
The Algoma history project concentrates on the life of industrialist Francis H. Clergue and the industrial history of the Algoma region and features photos and textual history.

Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay's local photo project is a key word searchable database of pictures from Thunder Bay, Red Rock and Schreiber. Photos also contain links to related sites.

Orillia
Orillia's William Sword Frost Scrapbook is a digital album/scrapbook from the collection of Leslie Frost's father. The database is key word searchable.

Parry Sound
Parry Sound launched its digital collection on April 19 1999. The site features historical images and essays written by local contributors. The database can be viewed using a browse feature or keyword searching.

Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake completed its digital content creation site in late 1999. Ars Historica Niagara is a key word searchable database covering the history of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Information includes historical reminiscences by Niagara residents and visitors, including one anecdote on the local invention of the ice hockey goalie stick; a register of baptisms, weddings and burials in the 18th and 19th centuries; buildings of architectural and historical significance that include explanations of architectural features; and photo art.

New Tecumseth
The Sir Frederick Banting Digital Library site was launched on March 28, 2000. It covers correspondence, papers, diaries, photographs and artefacts belonging to Sir Frederick Banting as well as his sketches and paintings. The collection the site is based on was bequeathed to New Tecumseth's Alliston Memorial Library in 1988. Sir Frederick Banting was born on a farm near Alliston in 1891.

North Bay
North Bay Public Library developed this award-winning Virtual City Hall site for the City of North Bay. The site includes by-laws searchable by keyword and number, municipal department online forms and a virtual democracy pilot project.

Waterloo Regional Library / Cambridge
Waterloo Regional and Cambridge public libraries' digital sites supported by mcl funding celebrate textile art. Waterloo Regional Library worked in partnership with the Joseph Schneider Haus to digitize its unique German folk art collections. The collection covers Fraktur or decorated writings, show towels, pottery, book plates, family registers and birth records.

Since 1986 the Cambridge Public Library has established a permanent art gallery collection that focuses on contemporary Canadian fibre art. This decision was influenced by Cambridge's textile industry heritage. The site benefits the local and world-wide artistic communities by expanding public access to fibre art

Welland / Wainfleet
This Welland Canal digital collection includes historical pictures and photographs dating from the 1820s as well as articles, a bibliography and links to related sites. The first Welland Canal opened in 1829 and the current Welland Ship Canal opened in 1932. The collection was developed in co-operation with the Wainfleet Public Library, whose digital site includes links to the Marshville Heritage Festival held every Labour Day Weekend in Wainfleet. Both Welland and Wainfleet sites include "fun stuff" interactive web pages on the Welland Canal.

Woodstock
This site covers the career of Joseph Whiteside Boyle, 1867-1923. Boyle grew up in Woodstock, Ontario. He became a Klondike entrepreneur, and equipped Dawson City to compete for the Stanley Cup in 1905. Later he outfitted a 50-man Yukon Machine Gun Company for World War 1. He served in various capacities on the war's Eastern Front and was hailed as a national hero by Romania. Site covers historical photographs and other information and is keyword searchable.

Killaloe
The Killaloe Library Digital Collection provides historical information and photographs on the history of Killaloe and settlement and industry associated with the opening of the Opeongo Road. The site is updated and maintained by volunteers, and is keyword searchable.

Big Grassy First Nation Community Library
Big Grassy First Nation and Ojibways of Onegaming have produced a site detailing a First Nation land claim.  Assabaska Shoreline Issue - Healing an Old Wound:  Reclaiming our Land and Spirit provides information on the Assabaska Shoreline land claim settlement proposal, timelines and history.  The site also includes a list of  Big Grassy / Onegaming and Ontario and Federal government negotiators, a map, and questions and answers.  The site is the first completed First Nations library digital site assisted by Ministry support and was launched in the winter of 2000/01.

Hamilton: Hamilton Public Library has developed a number of digital collections. These include two digital sites developed with MCZCR support. The Hamilton Gallery of Distinction permanently recognizes outstanding Hamilton citizens who have made significant contributions to the community. The library's web site records all inductees since the Gallery was established in 1984. Inductees include Daniel Lanois, Gary Lautens, the Honourable Lincoln MacCauley Alexander, and Dr. Roberta Bondar.

Flames of Affection: Tongues of Flame is a multimedia site based on a poem by poet John Terpstra. It articulates the connections between natural environments and human culture, and provides links to subjects such as language and immigration, the geology and ecology of the Niagara Escarpment, Industrial development, and transportation. This site is the first completed site assisted by Digital Content Creation funding to include sound as a feature.

Toronto: Picturing the Past: Views of 19^th and Early 20^th Century Ontario site makes a selection of provincially significant pictorial images from the Toronto Public Library's Special Collection accessible on the library's Digital Collections Website. The project includes 4,000 images covering the life and development of towns and cities across the province. A Pictures Database includes 800 images of cities and towns across Ontario, particularly from the period 1850 to 1910. A Postcards database covers images of cities and towns across Ontario ranging from smaller communities like Athens to larger communities such as Ottawa and London, and covers the period 1900 to 1914.

The Souvenir Pictures Database includes over 1,000 pictures from souvenir view books, popular at the turn of the 20^th century as new photographic and printing techniques made them inexpensive to produce. Many show homes, stores and factories, while more show public buildings, streets and parks. Together these images document over a hundred years of Ontario social and economic history from the early 1800s to the early 20^th century. A description was created for each image based on the Dublin Core Metadata standard.

Pickering Public Library
The Virtual Pickering Project is a multimedia virtual guide of the City of Pickering developed by the Pickering Public Library. Providing information about the City of Pickering and its various attractions and neighbourhoods, this Internet-accessible guide is an information resource for visitors, residents, families and businesses considering a move to the City of Pickering, and film producers looking for potential locations.

Greater Sudbury
The Sudbury Heritage project is a digital collection from the Greater Sudbury area covering archival materials, historical photographs and heritage artefacts of local significance. This project has been realised by the Greater Sudbury Public Library in partnership with the Anderson Farm Museum, the former Rayside-Balfour Public Library, the Rayside-Balfour Heritage and Museum Committee and the former City of Sudbury’s Flour Museum and Copper Cliff Museum. The database’s entries are accessible by author, title, keyword and subject and the images can also be viewed by collection type (e.g. footwear, toys, postcards, mining, newspapers, etc).

Windsor
This health gateway site provides access to local health care system information including physicians, dentists, and therapists, in addition to the institutions that are currently partners in the Windsor-Essex County Health Gateway. The project adds a GIS service locator to the Windsor-Essex County Health gateway site and provides illustrations of health statistics. As well as being used by people seeking health services, the site will also be used by grade 10 students who will learn about using Geographical Systems software to gather and share data online, and display it with easy-to-understand pictures.

The Windsor Public Library and the University of Windsor led the project. Windsor Essex County Health Unit, the Teen Health Centre, the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, Information Windsor, the County of Essex and the City of Windsor provided research and data. The Windsor-Essex County Health Gateway project is the fourth joint web project by the library and the university.

Windsor Public Library won the Canadian Library Association/Information Today Award for Innovative Technology for the year 2004 recognizing its new library Internet service called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Applications in Health.

St. Catharines Public Library
St. Catharines Public Library has housed the 72 Henley Regatta trophies on permanent display since 2000, through an agreement with the Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation and Rowing Canada Aviron. The Royal Canadian Henley Regatta is the premier regatta in North America and has been held in St. Catharines since 1882. The four-day regatta attracts crews and scullers from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Through a partnership with Rowing Canada Aviron and the St. Catharines Historical Museum, the library created a searchable Henley Database web site. The site features a database of trophies and race results.

Welland Public Library
Welland Public Library’s Welland Industrial and Ethnic Past digital project provides access to information on the impact of industry on the City of Welland’s development. The site provides access to a collection of more than 3,000 photographs, monographs, newspaper clippings, industrial newsletters, reports, advertisements and other documents. Industry has contributed to the development of the City of Welland and attracted immigration. Now, one of the characteristics of the city is its ethno-cultural diversity. This digital collection can help students and life-long learners appreciate how industry contributes to community economic and social development.