The Library and Archives Canada has undertaken the difficult task of digitizing records of soldiers from the First World War. The process is long and difficult as there are around 640,000 folders to be scanned. That is 640,000 folders and nearly every folder has many documents and that require precise scanning. It is estimated that when the task is completed, there will be four million images that will have been processed.
Each of the file folders will have been prepared one at a time, then each page is scanned. In the meantime the staff will have to remove clips and fasteners, while glue is removed from papers than are often more than a century old. Then there are the unique finds that the staff uncovers while going through the file folders. One staff member found shrapnel, and often there are personal photos that have just a few words or even no captions written on them.
Sylvain Belanger, the director-general in the stewardship branch of the Library and Archives Canada has commented that every time someone from their staff goes through a file, they find something different and almost always something interesting. They even found an American Social Security card in one of the file folders. Every soldier had something interesting about their lives that tend to give the staff pause when going through the details found in the folders.
In recent years, Library and Archives Canada had been criticized for keeping the collection locked away, as the documents were approaching the 100 year mark and becoming brittle. Also problematic, only two percent of the collection was online. Now, four percent is online and that number is growing. As they can and digitize the documents, the Library is also attempting to answer critics who claim that the services the Library was offering did not meet the needs of the people seeking access to World War I archives.
Six months ago, Guy Berthiaume was named the librarian and archivist of Canada. Berthiaume has stated his goal is not scan and digitize 100 percent of the documents from World War I, but rather to get about 15% online, then move on and scan and digitize other documents which do not have any presence online yet.
Although there are those who would like to see more from World War I digitized, 15% of all documents will allow far greater access for historians, students, and interested parties to discover more about the men and women who served during the Great War. Most would agree that this is a step in the right direction.
If you have your own documents to scan, whether old pictures, tax forms, or other documentation you want to protect for now and future generations, visit us and see how we can help you.