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Early Canadiana Online : Information at a Glance

Resource Type
Online books and journals. Primary historical documents.
Subject Area
Canadian History, Canadian Literature, Canadian Studies, Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, Native Studies, Politics.
Availability
Trent - Access available to any valid Trent user, using their Novell Password in the Library, or at home through the PROXY SERVER.
How to Access

Click Here to Connect to Early Canadiana Online

For off campus access, learn how to use the proxy server
Description

Early Canadiana Online (ECO) is a full text online collection of books and pamphlets documenting Canadian history from the first European contact to the late 19th century. The collection is particularly strong in literature, women's history, native studies, travel and exploration, and the history of French Canada.

Early Canadiana Online (ECO) is a digital library providing access to 2,008,165 pages of Canada's printed heritage. It features works published from the time of the first European settlers up to the early 20th Century.

ECO is produced by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM), a nonprofit organization for preserving and providing access to early Canadian publications, first on microfiche and now online.

ECO began in 1997 as a pilot project to create an online digital library. Over three years, 550,000 pages of text were taken from the CIHM's microfiche collection and scanned into digital images. This part of the collection remains free and accessible to the general public.

The second phase of ECO began in 2000 and is scheduled to continue to 2004. During this time, 1,250,000 pages of colonial, federal, and provincial government publications will be scanned and published. This portion of the collection is available to all registered ECO members.

Along the way, a few special projects have also been added to the collection. These include 20,000 pages of text detailing the history of Hudson's Bay Company, and 22,500 pages of Jesuit Relations texts, translated into English by Reuben Thwaites. These collections are also accessible to the general public.

Individual collections include Canadian Women's History, Colonial Government Journals, The Early Governors General of Canada, Early Official Publications, English Canadian Literature, History of French Canada, Hudson's Bay, Jesuit Relations, and Native Studies.

Notes
Part of the collection is available without a subscription; Trent subscribes to the entire collection.
Coverage
1500 -
Update Frequency
irregularly
 
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Last modified: April 27, 2007
Maintained by Information Services, Trent University Library.