Early Canadiana Online (canadiana.org) is a digital library providing access to over 2 million pages of early Canada's printed heritage, dating back to the time when Canada was still known as "New France." This database features works publised from the time the first European settlers arrived in New France up to the early 20th Century.

For years, I used their easy-to-use and fully searchable database to locate documents that contained information about my black Canadian ancestors (LEE) in both French and English documents, and the best part was that I could print out entire books, if I wanted, from their website, on my own printer. As a non-profit organization, Early Canadiana Online (ECO) offered their database for a subscription fee that was about $60/year US, but about two years ago, they lost a major funding source and the subscription fee skyrocketed to about $1500/year, meaning that individual subscribers were no longer able to afford it, and I was unable to find any local institution that subscibed to this service (I live in California).

GOOD NEWS -- Ancestry.ca (the Canadian version of ancestry.com) has just announced that it is partnering with Early Canadiana Online (ECO) to digitize and bring online nearly 300 years of Canadiana.org's early historical records spanning from the 1600s to the 1900s. The new collection includes more than 6,200 publication titles and 1.6 million pages of family histories, local histories, biographies, civil service records and other early historical documents.

Ancestry.ca has made a contribution of C$93,000 to Canadiana.org to provide funding for its multi-year Early Canadian Periodicals Project which is available through Early Canadiana Online (ECO), Canadiana.org's digital library.
*** The Genealogy and Local History Collection to 1900 will be available online through Ancestry.ca within the next year. ****

For those of us with Canadian roots that date back to pre-Underground Railroad times, this is a MAJOR development in our quest to be able to research more and more of our history using digital equipment and databases.

Good luck in your research.

- Lisa B. Lee, PLCGS
Oakland, CA