Monographs

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The Monographs collection, spanning three and a half centuries of Canadian documentary history, holds rich primary materials exploring a wide range of subjects and disciplines. With a projected 84,000 titles by completion, this resource is the most comprehensive full-text searchable set of historical monographs currently available for the study of Canada. Topics range from major historical events to the development of institutions, laws and science; from Canadian literature to philosophical treatises; from agriculture to politics, trade and tariffs.

Size: 84,000 titles

Selection criteria: Monographs contains Canadian imprints (monographs and pamphlets) to 1920; in addition, selected works published outside the country, either by Canadian authors or relating to Canada, were included for digitization. An advisory board composed of scholars and library collection specialists established and guided collection development efforts.

Contents

Monographs is comprehensive, with titles selected and digitized from the holdings of more than 200 libraries. Between 2003 and 2016, Canadiana strengthened and updated this research collection by adding monograph titles identified and located by scholars as well as by titles recently acquired by major Canadian repositories. Onsite surveys of libraries, archives, and uncatalogued special collections have brought to light both rare and previously unknown imprints.

Collection highlights:

  • All monographs microfilmed by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM)
  • All monographs available on Early Canadiana Online (ECO)
  • Recently digitized monographs never before published by Canadiana
  • Areas of collection strength include women’s history, indigenous history, exploration and anthropology, immigration, Canadian literature, genealogy and local history, military history, law, politics, and medicine
  • Religion occupied a major place in 19th century society and publishing, a fact reflected in the breadth of religious publications collected within
  • Titles in 47 different languages, including in 14 Indigenous languages