I like poking around in HC. There's the thrill of discovery - what will I find today - but once I find something, I automatically want to know more about it. This is when we need to find our way back to LAC. There are other ways to search LAC - by collection title or mikan number to name two - but using the reel number gives more targeted results. Multiple results for a single reel reference number means there are multiple collections on one reel.
Tag: research tips
Don’t overlook free digital records with my Library and Archives Canada / Heritage Canadiana hack, part 1
This weekend, I noticed more than one reel digitized at HC with no indication at LAC. Maybe at some point in the future, LAC will sync seamlessly with HC and the two will work simultaneously. Until that happens, check for the "secret" reels.
Explore the new Library and Archives Canada site (Oct 2022)
... Before, you went to Library Archives Canada's site, and then you went to the siloed databases. Like if you wanted "Immigrants before 1865," you search there. And then if you wanted "Russian Immigrants," you'd search there. So it was extremely difficult to find anything at Library and Archives Canada. And what was missing was a central collection search. Well, guess what, there is now a central collection search...
My trip to the archives: how I prepare and what I found
Like you, I spend inordinate amounts of time researching obscure documents at odd hours. (Truthfully, sometimes it's research and sometimes it's getting lost down rabbit holes.) If only everything was online. I read archival finding aids like a Christmas wish list: I want this, and this, and this too. My curiosity is far bigger than my budget (to pay external researchers).
What if the record is wrong?
It may come as a surprise to learn that not all historic records are accurate. Here's my unofficial ranking of genealogy records, with an example.
An extraordinary, ordinary life: Dorothy Gibson
The story of Dorothy Gibson and her life as a journeyman printer, living through WWII and the Great Depression
The Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property – genealogical documents for Japanese Canadians
I tell you about the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property - what it was, who was in it, where the docs are, and how to navigate thousands of records.
Reader’s choice – the top 10 list for 2019
I look at my top 10 best read blog posts and reflect on what made them the best.
Travels in China – the Heritage of Cantonese Migration Tour, 2019
FAQs about the Heritage of Cantonese Migration Tour, 2019
Travels in China – the Overseas Chinese
One of the more startling revelations from the trip was learning about the Overseas Chinese - that's us. We folk of Chinese origin, we whose ancestors migrated from Sze Yup/Wuyi, China from about 1850-1949, we who are Chinese-something, be it Chinese Canadian, Chinese Hawaiian, Chinese Malay, Chinese South African, Chinese Thai, Chinese Singaporean and about 100… Continue reading Travels in China – the Overseas Chinese