Connectivity, Content and Collaboration: The Canadian Digital Library Experience

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief overview of issues libraries are confronting as they attempt both to embrace the opportunities of global networked information and to balance these with traditional resources and demands. The context in which Canadian libraries operate and uniquely Canadian approaches to digital library activities are reviewed. The federal government’s Connecting Canadians agenda has focussed on connectivity, but attention is shifting also to support of the creation of content. The federal department Industry Canada has been funding, within a job creation and skills development strategy, the creation of digital content by Canadian youth. The National Library is building an electronic collection of Canadiana and various other digital products and services. Substantial digital collections such as the collaborative project Early Canadiana Online are emerging. Canada’s activities, which are not currently on scale with the United States or some other countries, remain largely a result of local initiative. It is hoped that increased provincial or national coordination, collaboration and funding will strengthen our libraries’ role in the delivery of networked information services.