One more week to fill out our survey on digitization in Ontario public libraries!

ODW, SOLS, and OLS-N are partnering on research to learn more about how Ontario public libraries perform digitization – their capacity, tools, knowledge, constraints, funding, collections, and assessment. We’re hoping to use this information to inform future policy and advocacy work in the province – from strategies to better resource-sharing and collaborations between organizations and government.

We can’t do this important work without your help! If you’re at a public library in Ontario, make sure someone on staff has filled out the survey. There’s one week left to get in your answers – the deadline is July 25th!

If you are unsure about how best to respond, please read over the questions in advance of submitting. You may want to save a copy of this document to draft your answers.

You can find the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ODW-digitization-on-pl

Extended deadline! Our survey on digitization in Ontario public libraries ends on July 25th

Every public library in Ontario is invited to submit a response to this survey, even if you have never done digitization and don’t intend to. This survey should take 30 minutes to complete. We have extended the deadline – please submit your response by July 25th. Continue reading Extended deadline! Our survey on digitization in Ontario public libraries ends on July 25th

OurDigitalWorld is the recipient of a second Multicultural Community Capacity Grant

OurDigitalWorld is delighted to announce that we are able to continue our project on Ontario’s multicultural history thanks to a second grant from the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration’s Multicultural Community Capacity program. This funding will support our development of educational tools to promote the history of diverse and underrepresented Ontarians and their contributions to the social and cultural life of the province. These stories, sometimes painful, are part of our heritage.

Continue reading OurDigitalWorld is the recipient of a second Multicultural Community Capacity Grant

OurDigitalWorld’s Multicultural Community Capacity Grant project: Digital Storytelling for Ontario’s Multicultural Communities

MCCI

We’re excited to announce the release of three virtual exhibits focusing on different aspects of Ontario’s multicultural history. These narrative exhibits are themed on black history, Japanese history, and women’s history in the province.

These virtual exhibits are available on a dedicated VITA digital toolkit platform:

http://vitacollections.ca/multiculturalontario/search Continue reading OurDigitalWorld’s Multicultural Community Capacity Grant project: Digital Storytelling for Ontario’s Multicultural Communities

Ontario’s Multicultural History – and an update on our MCC project

With the anniversary of Agnes Macphail’s birthday coming up this Saturday (she was born on March 24th, 1890) we thought we would share some of our work from the Multicultural Community Capacity Grant project we’ve been working on.

Our MCC project is designed to highlight and elevate the stories of Ontarians we don’t hear enough about. We decided to focus on women’s history, and the histories of black and Japanese Ontarians.  Continue reading Ontario’s Multicultural History – and an update on our MCC project

This Saturday: From Kanata to Canada – A Journey Through Time

Don’t forget that this Saturday you can catch Jess Posgate talking about all things OurDigitalWorld – OurOntario.ca, the VITA Digital Toolkit, Ontario Community Newspapers, INK, GovDocs, and other initiatives at the Ontario Genealogical Society Toronto Branch’s full-day event.

Session C2: Searching Ontario’s Family History with OurDigitalWorld
Speaker Jess Posgate

OurDigitalWorld (ODW) is a not-for-profit organization that has a long role in bringing Ontario’s community collections online for free public access. In this session, we’ll look at where to find more than 200 years of Ontario’s local history in photos, documents, genealogical resources, oral histories, and more. Learn about ODW’s three main portals: OurOntario.ca, Ontario Community Newspapers, and Ontario GovDocs. Plus, we’ll explore some of the 150 local collection sites and how to bookmark “what’s new” search results, add missing information, contribute comments or your personal items to local collections, and share your discoveries with colleagues and family members.

Want to start working with Wikipedia? We can help.

Perhaps you work with a local history collection that deserves more worldwide exposure. Perhaps you’re wrists-deep in a fonds that contains fascinating correspondence with a variety of public figures. Perhaps you’ve run across a number of BMD entries of a famous family. Have you thought about using Wikipedia and Wikimedia to expose these pieces of cultural heritage?

Continue reading Want to start working with Wikipedia? We can help.