Attitudes of the Canadian Research Community toward Creating and Accessing Digitized Facsimile Collections of Historical Documents

Abstract

A study commissioned by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions produced some interesting secondary findings about the attitudes of the Canadian research community towards digitized facsimile collections. In written responses to a questionnaire designed primarily to elicit advice about the subject content and focus of future projects, and in structured follow-up interviews, many respondents demonstrated a marked ambivalence towards the concept of digitized collections. Furthermore, if faced with a choice between fully searchable text and digitized facsimile images with traditional points of access (subject, author, title, etc.), there appears to be a preference for the latter means of access.