University librarian Lynn Copeland

The trials and tribulations of Canada’s first waves of immigrants will soon be available to all Canadians — and young students around the globe — thanks to a unique Simon Fraser University-lead initiative to digitally catalogue the historic experiences of long-ago newcomers.

SFU is living up to its credo, “Thinking of the World,” with an interactive online multicultural program designed to preserve the history and heritage of Canada’s minority groups. 

“We are committed to sharing this expertise and making information available to the general public, worldwide,” says SFU President Michael Stevenson.

A $500,000 federal grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Culture Online program enabled SFU Library to kick start the historic catologue, which will be available on the Internet as early as June. 

Called, “Multicultural Canada”, the umbrella program will be used to collect and digitize newspapers, magazines, audio tapes, photographs, local histories, speeches, letters and oral histories that currently reside in a variety of locations.

As a leader in digitization and online access to collections, SFU Library is ideally situated to spearhead Multicultural Canada.

University librarian Lynn Copeland told the Asian Pacific Post that the program is designed to help new and would be immigrants to learn and have the opportunity to hear the experiences and even tribulations of first immigrants who are now accomplished Canadian citizens.

“SFU Library already processes a lot of digitalized data to make it more user-friendly,” Copeland said.

Copeland noted that while the full version of the digitalized data is still in the works, a prototype has already been uploaded to www.multiculturalcanada.ca and can currenlty be accessed by the general public.

The completed collection and educational materials will be available at no cost to users in both English and French by June 2008. 

The collection will be continuously enhanced with additional content and new interactive tools as they become available. Specific resources are being developed for K-12 teachers, students, community members and academic researchers. 

“We are extremely pleased that the Department of Canadian Heritage is supporting this initiative to digitize unique cultural materials from minority groups,” says Copeland.
“By making them available online we will help citizens better understand and appreciate the multicultural heritage of their country, and the global world we inhabit today.”