Here at the Digitization Centre we are fascinated and excited by the vast amount of primary-source material that our digitization work exposes us to.  Whether a document of historic significance, a beautiful illustration, or even a particularly fine typeface, we are frequently amazed by the materials we’re working to share with the world.  So much so, that not only will we crowd around to ogle a particularly interesting specimen, but we’ve started decorating our workplace with copies of some of our favorites.  But why stop there?  Surely, we can’t be the only ones geeky enough to appreciate such “gems” in our collections, and so we’ve decided to share them here with you.  Below you will find some of our favorites, hand-picked by staff from both existing and upcoming collections.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!  

TIP: To view full resolution versions of the images on any size screen, click to view in Open Collections.


Subjects In Our Collections: Asian Studies

Posted on Jul 31, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Our digital collections cover a wide range of topics and disciplines that you can explore through Open Collections. Among our thousands of digital items, you can find materials to support your research, your teaching, and even your imagination. Below, we’ve selected a few of our collections that may be helpful when researching topics related to […]


Canadian Food Recipes

Posted on Jul 24, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Canada is a multicultural country, and its culinary traditions reflect that. Many people often ask Canadians: what are typical Canadian dishes? I’ve asked that question myself a few times and usually heard “gravy” or “poutine.” Well after a bit of digging, we found the answer, and it is way more than just gravy! While browsing […]


Teach me how: Metadata and Digitization

Posted on Jul 17, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
In our last post, we talked about how you can handle and preserve your materials in order to lengthen their lifespan. This post will explore the Metadata and Digitization steps. As always, these topics can be explored in more depth, and we will point you to some resources if you need more information.   Before […]


Teach me how: Handle and Preserve Family Photographs and Documents

Posted on Jul 10, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
You or someone in your family may have documents and photographs that hold the history of your family. Often times, people are worried that this information could be lost or damaged and want to know how to preserve this history for future generations. To begin to answer how you can save your cherished treasures, we’ve […]


Explore Open Collections: Uno Langmann Travel Photo Albums

Posted on Jul 03, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Our Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs has several photo albums with tons of interesting materials. Photo albums act as collections of memories for families and are always a good source for remembering moments, people, and places. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, people didn’t have digital cameras to take multiple photos […]


The seven Ps of marketing in our collections

Posted on Jun 26, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Marketing is an important part of any business. People need to know about a product before they buy it, and businesses need to convey exactly what their product or service does in order to make that sale. The seven P’s of marketing is a classic marketing tool used to study what a brand or product […]


Explore Open Collections: Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era

Posted on Jun 19, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Maps are not just for marking land. Through maps, you can travel back in time to understand how society was structured, how a region was recognized, the power structures of that time, and other cultural and societal aspects of the place being represented. The Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era Collection is a treasure trove […]


2018 FIFA World Cup

Posted on Jun 12, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
The FIFA World Cup is always an exciting event! This year, Russia will be hosting the games from June 14 to July 15, and 32 national teams will be participating. To get you into the sportive spirit, we selected some photos from our collection.   After years of preparation and practices…     The time […]


OCR and non-Latin text

Posted on Jun 05, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
The UBC Digitization Centre is responsible for the creation of more than 50 collections, all available through the Open Collections website. Our collections are diverse in formats, information and languages. Having non-English materials, or materials that are not written using the Latin-based alphabet, may be a barrier to access and retrieving information. But technology can […]


Eight Business Lessons From the Canadian Pacific Railway

Posted on May 29, 2018 by Paula Arasaki
Lately, we’ve been highlighting some important lessons that can be learned in our collections, including the history of typography, how surgery was performed in the 16th century, and which artists are responsible for the art in the Chung Collection. But did you know that our collections also contain important business lessons? That’s right, business lessons […]


a place of mind, The University of British Columbia

Emergency Procedures | Accessibility | Contact UBC  | © Copyright The University of British Columbia