Digitized Collections

Canadian Prairie History

This collection brings together materials on the history of the Western Canadian provinces, primarily Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and primarily from the 19th century onward. It includes material in English, French, Ukrainian, and other languages from a selection of University of Alberta Library digital collections:

University of Alberta Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains historical digitized theses and dissertations by University of Alberta graduate students from 1910 to 2012. Please search our Education & Research Archive (ERA) for more recent theses and dissertations.

This historical collection continues to expand as we digitize our back catalogue. The theses are primarily in English and come from departments throughout the University of Alberta.

Independent Media Publications

This collection of Western Canadian independent media publications encompasses alternative weeklies, newspapers, magazines, podcasts, and television programs. It explores the cultural diversity of Alberta and Northwestern Canada, highlighting topical issues within Latin American, Indigenous, and French communities.

These publications are in English, French, and Spanish and have been digitized with support from various organizations and crowdfunding campaigns, offering a unique perspective on the cultural experiences of these communities.

Titles within this collection include:

Historical Business Resources

This collection, primarily composed of annual reports from Canadian companies, offers historical insights into Canadian industries. It includes public documentation like prospectus statements, filing and listing statements, and shareholder reports, mainly focusing on natural resource and manufacturing corporations from the 1940s to the early 21st century.

Materials are from the Lynch Annual Report Collection, which the Martin Lynch estate donated to the Winspear Business Library in 2000.

University Archives

This collection features various archival resources held by the University of Alberta. These include photographs, course calendars, maps, convocation programs, reports, blueprints, university records, surveys, and more.

The material is held by the University of Alberta Archives. Featured collections include:

Ukrainian Studies

Unique in its focus on Ukrainian culture in North America, this collection was created in collaboration with the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and the Kule Centre for Ukranian and Canadian Folklore. The material include Ukrainian and English content, dating from the 1930s to the 21st century.

Highlights of the collection include:

Queer History

This collection features 2SLGBTQ+ community magazines, newsletters, and items of historical significance. Material has been digitized in support of the Edmonton Queer History Project, an innovative university-community project designed to help celebrate the people, places, and moments that have helped to build Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.

University of Alberta History

The University of Alberta's rich and varied history is partially captured through these digitized materials, showcasing governance, student life, and campus activities from 1908 to the mid-2010s. Combined, these resources provide a comprehensive historical overview of the university's history spanning over a century. The collection includes:

Maps

This collection includes maps, atlases, aerial photographs, and other cartographic materials digitized from Canada’s largest academic map collection, the William C. Wonders map collection .

The collection also contains contemporary and historical maps from all over the world including:

Government Information

This collection contains a mix of contemporary and historical government publications. It is divided into two distinct areas: British Parliamentary papers, containing documents related to the British colonies from 1830 to 1899, and publications from Government of Alberta ministries and agencies which focus specifically on education and environmental resources.

Alberta Historical School Resources

This collection includes educational resources and curriculum guides used in Alberta primary and secondary schools (K-12) from 1885 - 2008. Of special note is the Wiedrick Collection of Alberta Schools Historical Textbooks listed on the Alberta School Curriculum Historical Bibliographies 1885-1985 (Elementary and Secondary). These item records include approval statements and dates, which show when and for which subjects they were used.

Print versions are housed in the University of Alberta Library Research & Collections Resource Facility (RCRF). They can be requested via the Library catalogue and viewed by appointment.

Bruce Peel Special Collections

This collection contains items from Bruce Peel Special Collections, which houses a world-class collection of more than 100,000 rare books and select archival materials.

Please visit the Bruce Peel Special Collections website to see their digital exhibitions and to learn more about how to access the physical material.

Highlights of this digitized collection include:

Circumpolar

The Circumpolar pamphlets collection comprises a variety of ephemeral and unpublished documents, including government and institutional reports, some of which are by and about Northern indigenous communities. This unique collection of just over 3,000 items was initially collected by the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies Library in the 1960s - 1980s.

In 1990, the Institute changed its name to the Canadian Circumpolar Institute, and the collection was transferred to the University of Alberta Library. The boundaries of the collection are geographic, with an emphasis on North American arctic and sub-arctic regions.

Information, including maps, about the northern portions of the Canadian provinces and Canadian Indigenous peoples, Greenland, Siberia, Scandinavia, Antarctica, and cold regions are also included.