14 November 2018

LAC moves to centralize & preserve digital documentary history

Library and Archives CanadaA press release announces developments on how Library and Archives Canada will promote greater accessibility of documentary heritage records. It refers specifically to collections that include Government of Canada records, censuses, personnel records of the Canadian Armed Forces, genealogy and family history, immigration records, published works, and theses from Canadian universities since 1965, as well as its extensive audio visual collection.
Two companies are involved. Ottawa-based TeraMach will support LAC in the design, installation and maintenance of the overall solution. Boston-based Preservica technology will be used to protect and future-proof LAC’s unique digital records ensuring they can be easily found and remain accessible for future generations.
For many years LAC has recognized the need for a trusted digital repository for it's unique records. It's been unclear how that was to be achieved. The press release states that LAC's previous in-house built solutions were nearing end of life.
Terms of the fifteen year agreement were not disclosed.
It appears the agreement just announced has been in place for over month. Let's hope service will improve over the slow response and outage experienced in recent days.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It has been over a year since my son put in a request for his paternal grandfather's WWII records. Grandpa died over 20 years ago, so records are accessible. When I enquired recently, I was told it would take another 2-3 months.

M. Anne Sterling