Digitization: CBC Visits the Library and Archives Canada Preservation Centre

The Canadian Broadcasting Company recently visited the Library and Archives Canada Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Quebec for a segment that aired last night.
From a the CBC:

Library and Archives Canada is in the process of digitizing all soldiers’ records from the First World War, the most requested items in its collection.
And it’s not easy work.
Sylvain Bélanger, director-general in the stewardship branch of Library and Archives Canada, said there are about 640,000, and within each of those folders there are numerous documents. He estimates that, in the end, about four million images will be scanned and digitized.
“So that’s a big effort for our team,” Bélanger said, adding the project should take 12 to 18 months.

On the Digitization of LAC Holdings

Guy Berthiaume, who was named librarian and archivist of Canada six months ago, said he hopes to one day see 15 per cent of the collection digitized, but not much more than that.
“One-hundred per cent is not the goal. We’re not going to go and digitize the phone book, all phone books in Canada. It doesn’t make sense,” he said
[Clip]
Vancouver’s chief librarian, Sandra Singh, is leading the digitization effort in her city.
She said Berthiaume’s efforts are a step in the right direction.
“Fifteen per cent in the short timeline he’s speaking about is pretty ambitious. I would hope over the long term to see even greater collections digitized and provided and made available to Canadians,” Singh said.

Read the Complete Article
More About the CBC Visit to LAC (Including Several Images) in this News Release
See Also: LAC Preservation Centre Video (From LAC)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Digital Preservation, Libraries, News, Preservation