Major New Work on Canadian Print Culture Donated to Dalhousie Libraries

 Two copies of volume one of a History of the Book in Canada/Histoire du livre et de l’imprimé au Canada were donated recently to the Killam Library by the researchers at Dalhousie University - one version published in English by University of Toronto Press and another in French published by Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. Drs. Fiona Black (Director of the School of Information Management) and Bertrum MacDonald (Associate Dean - Research, Faculty of Management) are members of the national editorial team leading the project. Dalhousie is one of six research sites operating across the country where students and postdoctoral fellows have been assisting with research and writing.

The first of three volumes, published in October 2004, documents the history of print culture in Canada from its beginnings in the sixteenth century to 1840. The project examines the role of print in the lives of Canadians, from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and posters, to books in all their variety. The five-year project will result, by 2006, in six volumes (three in English and three in French) and a suite of electronic resources.

The History of the Book in Canada project, which began in May 2000, is a substantial endeavour led by an editorial team of seven Canadian scholars. This research initiative, funded by a $2.3 million Major Collaborative Research Initiative grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, will make a major contribution to Canadian scholarship.

The Electronic Resources Website of the project is being built and is hosted at Dalhousie University. Unique among national book history projects, the website contains comprehensive bibliographic, geographic, and biographic data about Canada's print culture (http://www.dal.ca/hbic-hlic). The databases will be of interest to scholars in many subject areas, as well as students, teachers, librarians, archivists, and anyone curious about Canadian print culture.

 Media inquiries, contact:

Dr. Bertrum MacDonald, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Management, tel. 902.494.2472, Editor of Electronic Resources.

 Dr. Fiona Black, Director, School of Information Management, tel. 902.494.1901, Co-Editor, Volume 2, 1840-1918.

For more information on the History of the Book in Canada/Histoire du livre et de l'imprimé au Canada, please visit: http://www.hbic.library.utoronto.ca/