Internet resources: New Canadiana Discovery portal brings together libraries, archives and museums of Canada

An ambitious new search engine Canadiana Discovery Portal has been launched by an alliance of digital heritage advocates designed to allow one-stop searching for centuries of Canadian history.

Unlike traditional academic search engines, this one has been designed for ease. "It's more Google-like”, said Ron Walker, executive director of Canadiana.org, an organization that facilitates digital initiatives and is spearheading the portal initiative. It allows users to perform searches similar to searching a term on Google but it’s all Canadian content.

The Canadiana Discovery Portal combs through more than 60 million pages of information from 30 different library, museum and archive collections across the country.

The database of the search engine covers everything from various book collections and newspapers both in English and Canadian to sheet music, postcards and photographs. There are multiple ways to search; name, city or subjects. On health care, the search engine turns up everything from political speeches in the 1950s to 19th c. books, while on hockey, there are photographs of Lester B. Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada, on the ice in Switzerland. The Canadiana.org portal isn't meant just for academics. Genealogists and genealogy buffs can peek in and see where their family names may pop up in local newspapers.

The new Canadiana Discovery Portal will prove useful to academicians, genealogists, artists, and everyone who takes an interest in the history of Canada.