Canadian Studies Library Resources
General Resources
- Canadiana Online This link opens in a new windowCanadiana online is a full-text searchable database that includes books, journals and government publications documenting Canadian History. The e-book collection, spans three and a half centuries of Canadian documentary history, holds rich primary materials exploring a wide range of subjects and disciplines. 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. The Serials collection includes a wide range of daily and weekly newspapers, specialized journals, and mass-market magazines, as well as city directories and annual reports from churches, schools, and corporations. Specialized publications include trade or industry journals as well as many men’s, women’s, student’s and children’s popular magazines. Early periodicals are an invaluable source of information for researchers in all fields, as they offer a remarkable record of thought and opinion on diverse issues. Lavishly-illustrated journals open a captivating window onto early Canadian society and culture through their articles, advertisements, cartoons, drawings, and photographs. The Government Publications collection includes over 1.7 million pages of historical pre-1920 colonial, provincial and federal government documents. This collection includes government acts, bills, committee reports, court rules, debates, journals, ordinances, a selection of official publications from France and Great Britain, sessional papers, regulations, royal commission reports, voter’s lists, and treaties.
- Archives CanadaThe gateway to archival resources found in over 800 repositories across Canada.
- Canadian EncyclopediaMore than 35,000 entries in English and French on all aspects of Canadian history and culture.
- Library and Archives CanadaCanada's national collection of books, historical documents, government records, photos, films, maps, music... and more
- Local Histories This link opens in a new windowConsists primarily of books and books on microfiche. Both general province-wide histories and histories of specific regions and communities are available. The content of the collection is based on A Bibliography of the Prairie Provinces to 1953 with Biographical Index compiled by Bruce Braden Peel and Alberta, 1954-1979 A Provincial Bibliography compiled by Gloria M. Strathern. In addition, a number of histories produced after these bibliographies were created have been added to the collection.
Please note that the language, terminology or visual content in this collection reflects the context and culture of the time of its creation, and may include culturally sensitive information. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the University of Calgary, but is available in its original form to facilitate research. For questions or comments regarding sensitive content, access, and use related to this collection, please contact digitize@ucalgary.ca.
- Peel's Prairie ProvincesFrom the earliest days of exploration in the prairies, this collection includes a vast range of material dealing with every aspect of the settlement and development of the Canadian West.
- Southern Alberta Newspaper CollectionDigitized newspapers from the University of Lethbridge Library
Parliament of Canada
Parliamentary debates online
There are 2 places to look for this. One is for the historical debates up to the 1st session of the 35th Parliament (January 17, 1994 to February 2, 1996. This may be found at: http://parl.canadiana.ca/. The other, which carries the information forward to the present time is at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Default.aspx?Language=E. In both cases, you need decide if you want the debates, journals or committees of the House of Commons or the Senate and you need to decide which session of Parliament you want to search. It's a bit awkward but eventually you get used to searching it.
For a full description of Canadian Parliamentary Publications please see GOVINFO: Canadian Parliamentary (Legislative) Publications
Canada Gazette: Our print holdings for Part I start in 1974 and Part II start in 1955, so we no longer have any access to the Canada Gazette, from 1893 to 1955 when our print holdings begin. Our print Part I is index only from 1955-1974 while Part II (Regulations) starts in 1955.
There is a print copy at the Alberta Law Libraries at the courthouse that can be used by anyone during their business hours (8:15am-4:00pm).
For an archived database of Canada Gazette browse the Canada Gazette archives..
For searchable database for Canada Gazette from 1998 onward you can browse the Canada Gazette webpage.
- House of CommonsLinks to latest activities, debates and legislation
- Senate of CanadaLinks to the latest works, debates and legislation
- LEGISInfoLEGISinfo is an essential research tool for finding information on legislation before Parliament. LEGISinfo is a collaborative effort of the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.
- ParlVU - Recordings of ParliamentAudio/Visual and audio recordings of recent sessions of Parliament.
Federal, Provincial and Territorial Government Information
- Canadian Research IndexProvides citations and abstracts for publications issued by the federal government and the governments of the ten provinces and three territories, including policy papers, statistical reports, annual reports, and research papers.
- GOVINFO: Canadian Federal Government InformationFocuses on Canadian federal government publications and documents and included information about the collection at U of C. Information is general and does not provide information on specific types of government publications like treaties, legislation, etc.
- Gallop PortalIndexes full-text and bibliographic content from the electronic government documents of 10 Canadian jurisdictions
Federal Government Department and Agency Websites
Alberta Legislative Assembly
- Alberta HansardDebates in the Alberta Legislative Assembly back to 1975 online.
- Alberta Hansardfrom LCR digital collections
- Alberta Hansard in Print1972 - Present.
- Alberta Scrapbook Hansard in onlineScrapbook Hansard is an historical collection of newspaper clippings and a few speech transcripts covering Alberta's legislative debates from 1906 to 1971.
Library staff began compiling articles as early as 1937 in order to retain a record of what transpired in the Assembly. Coverage includes the Throne Speech and debate, budget speech and debate, discussion of various bills introduced and passed in the House, and reports on the legislative discussion regarding issues of the day.
This collection is a valuable resource for researching the early history of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta prior to the creation of Alberta Hansard, the official record of the Legislative Assembly, in 1972. Articles will be added as they become available. - Alberta Orders in CouncilOrders in Council are the instrument by which the Lieutenant Governor in Council makes its orders. These orders may or may not be a Regulation, as defined in the Regulations Act. You can search by Year, Month, Originating Ministry/Department, Description, Legislative Authority and/or Order in Council number (3 digit number. You can also receive updates delivered right to your desktop using our Orders in Council RSS Feed.
The current collection of Orders in Council on the Alberta Queen's Printer website dates back to June 1998. Alberta Queen's Printer continues to update this collection as orders are released, including recent additions related to COVID-19. Find the full collection of Orders in Council, here
Legislation and Court Cases
- Canadian Legal Information InstituteCanLII provides free access to Canadian case law and legislation on the Internet via a uniform search interface. Coverage is more extensive than official court and legislature websites.
- Justice Laws WebsiteWelcome to the online source of the consolidated Acts and regulations of Canada. The consolidations are generally updated every two weeks
- Q P Source ProfessionalQP Source Professional is a fully searchable database of the current text of Alberta's statutes and regulations, Registrar's Periodical, and Spring and Fall Sitting legislation. It also includes Rules of Court and Practice Notes, the Alberta Gazette (1996 to present) and Orders-in-Council (1967 to present), as well as a variety of other legislative related publications.
- The Law LibraryThe Law Library can be a great source of help.
Diaries, personal narratives, letters and private correspondence
Additional Library Information on Primary Resources
- Primary source descriptionsVarious research guides describe discipline related primary sources
- Newspapers and News Media GuideThis guide is intended to get you started in your research for newspapers and news media sources. It covers both current and historical sources in all formats for Canadian newspapers as well as international newspapers and news media
- Last Updated: Feb 14, 2024 11:28 AM
- URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/guides/canadianstudies
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