Digitizers’ Blog
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/07/haha-wa-manzaishi-125x100.jpg)
Japan in Focus: Part 1 – Kamishibai Plays and Their Diverse Audiences
Welcome to our blog series exploring Japan-related materials from our Open Collections! This week, we begin with Part 1, where we delve into the fascinating world of kamishibai plays from the private collection of Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh, Department Head and Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Popular Culture at UBC’s Asian Studies. While our previous […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/06/are-your-dreads-2yk-comppliant-copy-125x100.jpg)
Revisiting the Y2K bug through open collections
Remember the year 2000? As the clock ticked closer to midnight on December 31st, 1999, the world was preparing for the potential chaos of the infamous Y2K bug. In this week’s blog post, we’ll take a trip down memory lane and revisit some materials in our open collections that are related to the Y2K crisis! […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/05/coal-mining-125x100.jpg)
Mining in British Columbia
In this week’s blog post, we’ll take a brief look at the history of coal mining in British Columbia and its impact on the region’s industrial landscape. All the materials featured in this post can be found in our open collections. Please feel free to click the captions underneath the photos attached to this blog […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/05/seiyuryotan_2-125x100.jpg)
Exploring Japanese Travel Narratives in Tokugawa Era
This week’s blog post explores the fascinating world of Japanese travel during the Tokugawa period (1603 – 1868), both within Japan and beyond its borders. All materials shown in this blog post are from our Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era Collection which is available through Open Collection. 1. Seiyū ryotan (西遊旅譚) [A Diary of […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/04/Cumberland_Islander_1929_07_12-125x100.jpg)
Wildfire Prevention in B.C. Historical Newspapers: 1904-1981
A comparatively warm and dry winter here in British Columbia has experts predicting a bad year for wildfires across the province. While wildfires have always been a natural part of British Columbia’s seasonal cycle, increasing seasonal average temperatures and decreased precipitation are contributing to longer, more widespread and more destructive wildfire seasons, with four of […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/04/Jack_Jill_2-125x100.jpg)
Open Collections Highlight – Historical Children’s Literature Collection
The Historical Children’s Literature Collection contains eighty-five works of children’s literature spanning from the late 18th to late 19th Centuries. The collection is a collaboration between UBC’s School of Information, Department of English Language & Literatures, Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) and Digitization Centre. The physical materials are from both RBSC’s historic children’s literature […]
![](https://digitize.library.ubc.ca/files/2024/03/cdm.specialp.1-0439610.0000full-125x100.jpg)
How a Composer was Reunited with a Long-lost Score
It’s not every day that you hear of a librarian reuniting a composer with their long-lost work. Incredibly, this is exactly what happened when a paper score that needed some TLC was brought to UBC Music Librarian Kevin Madill late last year. I spoke with Kevin, who is the Music Librarian at UBC’s Music, Art […]