26 July 2014

Canadiana seeks feedback to improve genealogy collections

The following is from Canadiana.

"Over the past few months, Canadiana.org has partnered with Library and Archives Canada on a massive project to digitize 40,000 reels of microfilm from Canada's most important archival collections. This project, known as Héritage, will comprise 60 million page images when digitization is completed next year.

Much of the Héritage collection will be of interest to genealogists. Canadiana would like to enhance access to this content by partially transcribing select collections. Once transcribed, researchers can conduct key-word searches on a collection, allowing them to find specific personal names, geographical locations, events, etc. within a document.

We need your help in choosing which collections to transcribe first. By participating in this short survey, you can have a voice in telling Canadiana which collections are important to you."

35 datasets are included.

It's clear they need help. One database is described as
Edwardsburg Township (Ontario) fonds, 1801 & 1818 This collection consists of a births, marriages and deaths register for the current-day Prince Edward Island, then known as Île St Jean, dating from 1724 to 1758.
The detailed description makes it clear it has nothing to do with PEI!
Edwardsburgh/Cardinal is a township in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville in eastern Ontario. The township was formed in 2001 through the amalgamation of Edwardsburgh Township with the Village of Cardinal. It currently has a population of about 6,500 residents. The township borders the St. Lawrence River Seaway to the south. Early settlers to the region included the Irish, Scottish and United Empire Loyalists.
This collection consists of Upper Canada census returns and related records for Edwardsburg Township in Grenville County in 1801 and 1818, Elizabethtown in 1818, Johnstown District in 1822, Oxford-on-the-Rideau Township in 1841 and 1842, Westminster Township in 1840, and Woodhouse Township in 1812, 1827 and 1829.
Only heads of families are listed.

Thanks to Bruce Elliott for the tip.

1 comment:

Olive Tree Genealogy said...

Canadiana.org needs a lot of help! As mentioned in a previous blog post I wrote called Heir & Devisee Commission 1797-1854 on Canadiana.org - Listing Errors and a Workaround, the index and description of what is in each film, as provided on Canadiana.org, is incorrect.

Of the 21 microfilms, 10 are incorrectly identified as to volume numbers and content contained.


I have been slowly going through each film and noting the correct contents in detail. I've written several times over the past year to Canadiana.org to offer my corrections and have had no response EXCEPT from their Twitter account saying someone will be in touch with me. That has not happened.

This is shameful as the films are of no use to researchers who rely on the content description to know which film to search through!

So I have begun publishing the corrections for the 21 microfilms on my blog and my website.

A complete and correct list of contents of many of the films can be found on Olive Tree Genealogy website at Finding Aid for Heir & Devisee Commission Online Films

I continue to go through the films and publish the correct content listing plus image number for each volume contained within the film on my Olive Tree Genealogy blog.