Explore unique highlights from UBC’s Open Collections, as well as insights into the work of the Digitization Centre. From announcements of new projects and collections to behind-the-scenes looks at our digitization process, we share the stories and hidden gems that inspire us in our efforts to preserve and make accessible diverse materials.
Happy Chinese New Year
Posted on Feb 05, 2016 by Alexandra Kuskowski
Known as the Spring Festival the Chinese New Year is a holiday determined by the lunisolar Chinese calendar- meaning the date changes from year to year. Festivities start the day before the New Year (Feb 8th this year) and continue until the Lantern Festival – celebrated this year on February 27th. For Vancouver this holiday is […]
One Hundred Poets in Person (and Online)
Posted on Jan 27, 2016 by Alexandra Kuskowski
One of our most dazzling collections is the One Hundred Poets. Originating from the personal collection of Professor Joshua Mostow of the UBC Department of Asian Studies with material largely from the Edo-period (1615-1868), and currently the buzz around it is heating up. While our metadata is pretty comprehensive – check out the information on this […]
Women’s Work in World War 1
Posted on Jan 20, 2016 by Alexandra Kuskowski
UBC Open Collections has lots of hidden gems to discover. One of the most historically fascinating is the women of the World War I 1914-1918 British Press photograph collection. The collection images depict multi-faceted views of World War I, and were originally distributed by the British government during the war to diplomats overseas for use […]
Behind the Scenes: Digitizing the RCMP
Posted on Jan 14, 2016 by Alexandra Kuskowski
Here at DI we occasionally get special orders for digitization. Every once and a while the orders are for pretty exciting stuff. Recently we got an order to digitize an illustrated poster from the 1970’s about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Canada currently stored in the vaults of Rare Books and Special Collections […]
Stanley Park Pictures
Posted on Jan 07, 2016 by Alexandra Kuskowski
One of the best things about Open Collections is the amazing amount of images and items focused on the local area. It’s easy to look back in time. Our Now & Then blog for example is a fun way to see how the UBC campus has changed. We’re turning our time machine to another beloved […]
Now & Then
Posted on Dec 29, 2015 by Alexandra Kuskowski
As the end of one year approaches and the beginning of a new year sneaks up it’s always good to take a moment (or 5) to reflect. The Digitization Centre and UBC have seen a lot of changes, this year and over time. Our new portal Open Collections premiered this year and UBC turned 100. […]
Happy Holidays
Posted on Dec 22, 2015 by Alexandra Kuskowski
Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the holiday break. We compiled a few items for your to peruse from our collections that run in the holiday spirit. Click on any image to see it closer or download it. Hope you enjoy!
How We Digitize: Vintage Vancouver and a Video
Posted on Dec 15, 2015 by Alexandra Kuskowski
We’ve got a special treat for the blog today! An advance peek at new digitizations: This hand tinted shot of Vancouver taken between 1925 and 1933 is from some of the Uno Langmann Collection items awaiting digitization. It is a panorama taken from the Boundary Road and Trinity Street area showing much of Vancouver proper as […]
Sneak Peak: 3D Digitization
Posted on Dec 08, 2015 by Alexandra Kuskowski
This week we are going give you a sneak preview of one of the coolest new machines coming soon to the Digital Initiatives, and even better a new collection we are partnering with Woodward Library! The machine sounds about as futuristic as it gets—a 3D imager. But not to worry, it is far from HAL […]
Flickr Uploads Updates!
Posted on Dec 04, 2015 by Alexandra Kuskowski
We’ve uploaded a few new collection albums to our Flickr account! All of our Flickr account albums are curated to between 25 and 50 images that represent the collections. Check out all of our albums. The newest collection is 50 curated bookplates from our RBSC bookplates collection. Here are a few of the images up […]