DigiLab

Putting Canada's history in your hands

The digitization of collections held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is a vital means of advancing research, promoting discovery, and ensuring broad access to Canada’s documentary heritage. LAC has worked extensively with partners to increase the amount of digital content made available to Canadians, often focusing on large-scale, multi-year initiatives.

Now LAC is inviting academics, individuals, genealogists and community-based groups to engage in digitizing LAC collections. The newly established DigiLab at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa is a hands-on facility for users to digitize and contextualize LAC collections of value to their study, work and communities. All of the material digitized through the DigiLab will be made available online for general public access.

The goal of the DigiLab is to facilitate digitization projects that make available a range of materials from LAC’s vast collections that may not otherwise be digitized. By working with and meeting the needs of a variety of users and communities, LAC will expand its digital content and make this documentary heritage available to everyone.

The DigiLab will provide:

  • Scanners to accommodate various media at various resolutions
  • Multiple workspaces with computers and Internet access
  • Access to collections and training for handling and digitizing material
  • Templates to create metadata and descriptions for internet access
  • Links to LAC online catalogues and tools

Applicants will provide:

  • Overview of their project with detailed description of LAC material to be digitized
  • Volunteers, students, etc. to complete the project
  • Hands-on digitization of archival materials
  • Creation of tagging, description or other metadata

To be eligible for a DigiLab project:

  • Materials must have no restrictions and be copyright free
  • Materials should not have been digitized previously
  • Textual files or diaries must be scanned in their entirety to ensure proper context

If you are interested in using the DigiLab, please contact us at numeri-lab-digilab@bac-lac.gc.ca. Include a list of the materials that you would like to digitize as well as a few words about your project and how the materials will be used.