| Digitization Centre

Asian Heritage Month 2026 – Asian Canadian Collections Round-Up!
In honour of Asian Heritage Month, we are rounding up 6 of our best collections that tell the stories of Asian Canadians in Canada and beyond. Over the years Open Collections has digitized multiple collections that deserve to be highlighted.
Punjabi Patrika : Local Newspapers as Windows into the Past
Local newspapers show what life was like at the time. They report on everyday events and issues, showing what people cared about. Ads and editorials reveal social values, the economy, and popular trends. They also reflect the opinions and biases of the people who wrote and read them, while showing how communities changed over time. […]
Tracing the History of Sandon Ghost Town through UBC’s Open Collections
Have you heard of Sandon, a historic former silver mining town, now known as a ghost town? If you’re traveling through the Kootenay region these days, it’s definitely one of the most popular heritage tourism sites to visit. As you set out on a scenic wilderness drive, winding along a rugged and twisting road, you’ll […]
Around the World with Canadian Pacific Railway Travel
Travelling and tourism are prominent topics in the Chung Collection. The collection contains more than 10,000 archival items, including documents, photographs, books, and other artifacts. Many of these materials relate to travel through the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and offer fascinating glimpses into British Columbia’s history. They reveal traces of the province’s early commercial and […]
New Westminster: Buildings That Endure and Those That Vanished
If you love exploring historic photographs and imagining the stories behind them, you may have noticed that information about old images is often scarce, and much of what we know may survive only in local archives or through community memory. Yet, these photographs remain powerful windows into the past, inviting us to rediscover forgotten stories. […]
Bloedel Limited Fonds, Part 2: The Powell River Company
Last week, we took a brief look at the origins of the Powell River Company. You can read that post here. To recap: The Powell River Company Ltd. operated from 1909 to 1959 and was once considered one of the largest forest products companies in the world, producing newsprint, paper, lumber, panelboard, and containers. This […]

The UBC Library Digitization Centre embraces new technologies, methods of access, workflows and preservation strategies while building sustainable digital collections to support and enrich the educational, cultural and economic endeavors of the University, the people of British Columbia and communities beyond.