No Need to Blow the Dust off these Maps

The Digital Archives Initiative of the Memorial University Libraries has thrown open the doors on a collection that, although open to the public, was largely inaccessible for a couple of reason. For one; some may not even know of its existence; or two, users may feel that they do not want to go through the extra steps, or make the request to staff if it isn’t something that they are ‘very serious’ about using.


What the Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) is able to accomplish is to place the material into the hands of the user, to enable them to browse the items electronically -  without guilt of placing extra requests with library staff. Or else it may simply increase the awareness of the collection through its ease of access.  In many cases, the materials held as part of this collection are rare and certainly something that you would not want out as part of the general collection. For example, Captain Cook’s Chart of the South-East Part of Newfoundland from 1771 is a map that libraries would certainly handle with care.

Users are able to zoom in on parts of this map to use it, almost just like viewing the original, only without being able to touch it.  Making this map available electronically through the DAI, places this resource back into the hands of the users rather than behind locked doors. In the Map Room here at the Queen Elizabeth II Library, a 1909 map of St. John’s has become so brittle that even staff are hesitant to handle it. Steps have been taken to preserve this map and add it to the DAI to ensure that this map is not lost to library patrons.

Simply opening up the DAI site and browsing the collection is an incredible experience. There are videos from the opening of the current Memorial Campus; personally I could spend hours browsing the Geography Collection, which are historical photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador by three prominent photographers from around the turn of the 20th century. Or perhaps you may wish to browse the first volume of the Newfoundland Quarterly.

All of these resources are readily available through the Digital Archives Initiative of the Memoriual University Library system and can be found online at http://collections.mun.ca/.

Happy Browsing!