The British Columbia History Internet/Web Site

Links to Other Archives/Libraries/Museums

To search for new or updated content, use the page-search function of your Web browser and search on "date added" or "date updated". Dates are entered as "yyyy.mm.dd", for example, "2001.08.23".

Directories and Guides

• Archives and Archivists Web site (established by John B. Harlan; currently managed by Robert F. Schmidt)
• Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet (Steve Billinton and Cheryl Avery, University of Saskatchewan Archives)
• CCA Directory of Archives (Canadian Council of Archives)
• Directory of Corporate Archives in the United States and Canada (Business Archives Section, Society of American Archivists)
• Directory of Regional, State and Local Archival Organizations in the United States (Peter Nelson, Mount Holyoke College Archives, South Hadley, MA)
• Guide to Environmental History Archival Collections (Forest History Society; hosted by Duke University). Includes references to British Columbia forest history archival resources. Use "Canada" as the keyword to find these references.
• MuseAmerica is a multilingual guide to the museums of the Americas.
• Musethno Homepage (Ethnographic Museum of Geneva, Switzerland) is a Webring devoted to anthropological or ethnographic museums.
• Repositories of Primary Sources (Terry Abraham, University of Idaho)
• 24 (Twenty-Four) Hour Museum (UK)
• UNESCO Archives Portal
• Virtual Library museums page (VLmp) (Jonathan Bowen for the International Council of Museums) contains a site-search engine; Canadian entries are derived from the Canadian Heritage Information Network's online guide.

Individual Institutions and Archival Networks

• Alaska State Library: Historical Collections (Juneau). Includes online images of the Klondike Gold Rush.
• American Museum of Natural History (New York, NY) preserves Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations art, artifacts and photographs, including most records of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902)
• American Philosophical Society Library (Philadelphia) includes an online version of its manuscripts guide; the personal and business papers of anthropologist Franz Boas are here.
• Archives Network of Alberta (ANA) Database represents institutions with holdings pertinent to BC such as the Glenbow Archives and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies - Archives. Records can also be searched through the Canadian North West Archival Network (CNWAN).
• Archives of Traditional Music (Indiana University, Bloomington) holds field recordings of various anthropologists, including Franz Boas and the Jesup North Pacific Expedition (1897-1902), who worked in BC; all recordings are searchable through the online catalogue IUCAT.
• Bancroft Library (University of California, Berkeley)
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yale University) includes the Western American Collection. Search tools accessible through this link include an online Guide to the Beinecke Library, the Beinecke Digital Images collection, the Yale University Library Finding Aid Database, and the Yale University Library Orbis catalogue (completely Web-based).
• The British Library (London)
• The British Museum, Department of Ethnography (London)
• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (University of Washington, Seattle)
• CAIN (Canadian Archival Information Network) is national database of archival records managed by the Canadian Council of Archives.
• Canadian Museum of Civilization (National Capitol Region, Hull, Quebec) contains many virtual exhibits featuring British Columbia content.
• Canadian North West Archival Network (CNWAN), a database of descriptions of archival records preserved in institutions in Alberta, BC, and the Yukon Territory, is managed by the Archives Association of BC as part of its BC Archival Information Network. Records in CNWAN are also found in Canadian Archival Information Network (CAIN).
• Canadian Pacific Railway Archives (Canadian Pacific, Montreal, Quebec) includes a gallery of historical photographs and artwork.
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, PA) includes a virtual exhibit North, South, East, West: American Indians and the Natural World.
• Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, IL) made collecting trips to BC in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for First Nations art, artifacts and photographs.
• Hudson's Bay Company Archives (Provincial Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg)
• McCord Museum (Montreal, Quebec) includes the Notman Photographic Archives and a searchable database of museum artifacts and records, along with the Magic Lantern project. Date updated: 2001.10.07.
• Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Secretaría de Estado de Cultura (Spain) offers Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas (archival and library databases) and Bellas Artes, Museos y Patrimonio (museums and art gallery databases) documenting Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
• Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, MN) preserves business records of the Great Northern Railroad Company whose subsidiaries operated in BC.
• Museum für Völkerkunde (Museum for Ethnology, Berlin, Germany) features a viritual exhibit on Indianer Nordamerikas (North American Indians).
• Museum für Völkerkunde Wien (Museum for Ethnology Vienna, Austria) includes the James Cook Collection with objects from Vancouver Island.
• Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Cambridge, UK) includes objects acquired by explorers James Cook and George Vancouver.
• Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (University of Pennsylvania)
• Nantucket Historical Association, Stackpole Library (MA) includes Pacific Northwest Coast whaling history information (manuscripts, maps, books) in its online catalogue
• National Archives and Records Administration (Washington, DC) includes online images of BC and other types of archival records pertaining the province locatable through the Archival Research Catalog (ARC; replaced NAIL, the NARA Archival Information Locator). Date updated: 2002.09.24
• National Archives of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario) features ArchiviaNet, a new online research tool with several databases and thematic guides to Federal records and artifacts in various media (textual, photographs, artwork, cartographic, audio-visual). The ArchiviaNet General Inventory database, which provides RAD-compliant descriptions and views of all media public and private records at the NAC, was made public on or around April 1, 2000.
• National Aviation Museum (Ottawa, Ontario)
• National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)
• National Library of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)
• National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, UK) includes PORT: Maritime Information Gateway
• National Museum of American Art (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.)
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) (via Library of Congress Z39Web Gateway) indexes archival collections preserved by Research Libraries Group members; this includes Canadian institutions and Canadian content in USA institutions.
• Natural History Museum (London, UK) preserves the works and natural history specimens collected by and for Sir Joseph Banks.
• The Online Archive of California (California Digital Library, University of California) includes British Columbia content, much of it digitized from the collections of the Bancroft Library.
• Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA) preserves "the oldest ongoing collection of Native American art in the hemisphere".
• Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Harvard University) offers virtual exhibits such as Gifting and Feasting in the Northwest Coast Potlatch, an archival holdings database, and online finding aids.
• Public Record Office (United Kingdom) contains an online catalogue the PRO expects to complete in 2001. There are also over 100 Research Information Leaflets linked to the catalogue on a wide variety of topics of interest to those researching BC history or their family ancestry.
• Resources for Aboriginal Studies (University of Saskatchewan Libraries and University of Saskatchewan Archives) Archival Material Database.
• RLG Archival Resources is available by free trial to the end of August 1998 and thereafter by subscription. Site features Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids from institutions in North America and the United Kingdom.
• The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (United Kingdom) records information on archives anywhere in the world for the study of British history through the National Register of Archives. ARCHON, the gateway for British archivists and researchers, is also accessible from this link; while holdings of any institution can be displayed, searches can only be conducted via the repository code, name, town, county or country (for example, Canada).
• Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) preserves paintings by Paul Kane who travelled across Canada to British Columbia in the mid-1840s; an overview of an online exhibit about Kane is available.
• Saskatchewan-Manitoba List of Archival Holdings is a prototype union list.
• Seattle Art Museum (WA)
• Smithsonian Institution SIRIS Catalogs (Washington, DC) provide access to the libraries, archives/manuscripts, art inventories, and research/bibliographies of the Smithsonian and its associated museums. Smithsonian Institution Online Collections are also available for searching and display.
• Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
• Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Germany) includes a virtual exhibit Indianer Nordamerikas (North American Indians) at the Museum für Völkerkunde / Museum of Ethnology).
• Virtual Museum Canada (Canadian Heritage Information Network and the museums of Canada) includes a customizable user interface, My Personal Museum.
• Washington State Historical Society publishes Columbia magazine.
• Yukon Archives (Whitehorse). Records preserved by the Yukon Archives can also be searched through the Canadian North West Archival Network (CNWAN).

Compiled by David Mattison, Victoria Telecommunity Network, BC. Copyright © 1995-2003 by David Mattison. This page may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without my consent.