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.
BC Victoria Now and Then
Posted on Apr 19, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and one of the oldest cities in Canada. This capital has evolved from a trading and commercial hub in the 19th century to a tourist hotspot and a city of government nowadays. In this post, we are taking the opportunity to compare a few recent photographs in Victoria […]
Metadata Cleanup for the UBC Institute of Fisheries Field Records Collection
Posted on Apr 11, 2022 by Laura Moberg
This blog post was written by Laura Moberg, a graduate student in the Dual Master of Archival Studies and Master of Library and Information Studies program at the UBC School of Information. Introduction As a project for the course ARST 556L/LIBR 514L: Metadata in the fall of 2021, I worked with the UBC Library Digitization Centre […]
Ideas for Indoor Games from the Open Collections
Posted on Mar 28, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
Since the pandemic, we have been spending a great deal of time at home. We imagine you have tried a variety of indoor games to bring your family together and nurture your relationships. In case you run out of ideas for indoor games, we have your back! We have searched our collections and found you […]
International Women’s Day
Posted on Mar 08, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on 8 March and its 2022 theme is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. It is a day of commemorating women’s movements during the 1917 Russian Revolution, celebrating women’s achievements, and raising awareness of breaking social bias. In recognition of this special day, we have gathered newsletter, […]
Happy Family Day
Posted on Feb 21, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
The third Monday in February is known as Family Day in most Canadian provinces, but it is also called Louis Riel Day in Manitoba, Islander Day on Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia Heritage Day in Nova Scotia. Regardless of the names, today is the perfect time to celebrate with your loved ones and spend […]
Happy Darwin Day
Posted on Feb 12, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
Today is Darwin Day. People all over the world pay tributes to Charles Darwin on his birthday, February 12. Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) was a renowned English naturalist and geologist who made significant contributions to the science of evolution. He proposed revolutionary scientific theories, best known for the theory of evolution by natural selection. His […]
Royal Visits to UBC
Posted on Jan 26, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
UBC has hosted visits from various members of Royal families over the past century. The most recent royal visit to UBC took place in 2016 when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Okanagan Campus] Apart from the British royals, UBC has also welcomed other royal families to visit the campus. Most members of […]
Back to the Online Class
Posted on Jan 12, 2022 by Kin Man Leung
Hurray! It is the first back-to-school week in UBC. With students back on campus, we look forward to the campus filled with laughter and learning. However, the University has decided to move most classes online until January 24 because of the emergence of the Omicron variant. We understand that students living off-campus may not have […]
Newspaper Comic Strips published on Christmas Eve
Posted on Dec 24, 2021 by Kin Man Leung
Which section of the daily newspaper do you read first – Local News? Sports? Advertising? If you go for advertising part first, you can check out our previous blog which features advertisements from the BC Historical Newspapers, Tairiku Nippō (Continental Daily News) and Ubyssey (UBC’s student newspaper). If the comics strip is your favourite part, […]
Historic Hotels around the World
Posted on Dec 06, 2021 by Kin Man Leung
The holiday season is upon us, and it is time to celebrate. If you’re considering a staycation, you should check out our previous blog posts: Hotel Vancouver and the Empress Hotel, two largest surviving Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) hotels with more than 100 years of history in B.C. This post uses images from The Chung […]
