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.
Klondike Gold Rush
Posted on May 17, 2012 by slindber
Photographs from the Klondyke Souvenir published by H.J. Goetzman in 1901 depicting pioneer life and the Klondike gold rush from the upcoming B.C. Bibliography collection. Images contributed by the University of Northern British Columbia. If you are looking for more related Klondike gold rush resources, please visit this blog post: British Columbia, the Gold Rush and […]
Illustrated Victoria
Posted on May 15, 2012 by slindber
Illustrations of Victoria BC from Souvenir British Columbia by the Canadian Department of Agriculture, 1885, and Souvenir of British Columbia: Views No. 1, printed by T.N. Hibben & Co., 1880 (respectively). The full volumes and many other illustrated and photographic “souvenirs” of early BC will be featured in the upcoming BC Bibliography digital collection. Both images […]
Know Your Enemy
Posted on May 08, 2012 by slindber
Second World War era Japanese poster depicting allied bombers from UBC Rare Books and Special Collections’ David Conde fonds. David Conde was born in Ontario. He moved to the United Sates in the early 1920s and became an American citizen in 1932. In 1945/1946 Conde worked for the U.S. State Department during the occupation of […]
Vancouver, 1880
Posted on May 07, 2012 by slindber
Souvenir of British Columbia, No. 1 printed by T.N. Hibben & Co. circa 1880. Look for lots more photographs of historic Vancouver in the upcoming B.C.Bibliography Collection!
Birds’ Eye View: UBC’s Planning Stages
Posted on Apr 30, 2012 by slindber
Hooper was one of the original bidders for the construction of the University of British Columbia, and while this European-style campus plan was never made a reality, the sketch, along with the rest of the original submissions, persist in the UBC Library Archives.
Chinese Canadian Stories
Posted on Nov 07, 2011 by goritsas
History is full of amazing stories—of triumph and of loss, of laughter and of tragedy, of hope and of bitterness. But so many stories have been forgotten or ignored. The stories of Chinese Canadians have either been left out of our history, or the stories we hear are often about the terrible things that were […]
British Columbia Historical Newspapers
Posted on Oct 11, 2011 by goritsas
Search and view B.C. community newspapers published from 1865 to 1924. The British Columbia Historical Newspapers Collection makes 24 of B.C.’s earliest newspapers freely available in digital format for the first time! http://historicalnewspapers.library.ubc.ca
Allan Bell talks digitization
Posted on Mar 25, 2011 by mikec
photo by Martin Dee
Tour UBC Library’s Digitization Centre
Posted on by mikec
Jennifer Yip, researcher with the Community Historical Recognition Program, gets a tour of the brand new scanning facilities at UBC.
New Westminster in Flames
Posted on Nov 09, 2010 by jrstrang
See the stunning art collection held in the UBC Library Framed Work Collections.
