Resources to find an artifact
Where can you find primary sources?
Original documents can be found in a variety of places, from library, archive, and museum collections, to government websites, online databases, newspapers, and even your family records. Depending on the subject focus and topic of your research, you might find relevant resources in TMU Library's online databases, physical collections on campus. local archives, or other online resources. For this assignment, we've put together the following is a curated list of links to sources that focus on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion topics, particularly as they relate to education, children, and Canadian society.
Sources from Libraries and Archives in Canada
Library and Archives Canada
- Library and Archives Canada Discover the Collections: Browse the online collections by topic.
- Black History in Canada : a guide to published, archival, and online resources
- Indigenous Heritage: A guide to tools, information. exhibitions, and resources on Indigenous people in Canada, including residential schools.
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Early Chinese Canadians, 1858-1947: Guide to collections, resources, and exhibitions in Library and Archives Canada.
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Ethno-Cultural Groups: On this page you will find links to various resources relating to Indigenous and immigrant groups in Canada.
Archives of Ontario
- Immigration Records: This database is an index to the four volumes of assisted immigration registers created by the Toronto Emigrant Office between 1865 and 1883
- Resources Relating to Black History at the Archives of Ontario: Browse online exhibits from the Archives of Ontario.
- Researching Franco-Ontarians at the Archives of Ontario: Guide to selected resources related to Franco-Ontarians
- Research Guide 235 Records Related to Multiculturalism and EthnoCultural Communities in Ontario: PDF with highlighted collections
- The James Bay Treaty - (Treaty No. 9): Online exhibition with digitized materials related to the James Bay treaty
Toronto Public Library (TPL)
- Freedom City: Uncovering Toronto's Black History : A virtual exhibit from Toronto Public Library. Includes timeline.
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Digital Archive: Explore photos, maps, manuscripts, digitized books and more from Toronto Public Library. Search the digitized records with general keywords related to EDI topics.
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Plum Blossom from the Bitter Cold: Selections from the Chinese Canadian Archive. Selected portions of an exhibition at the Toronto Reference Library.
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The First Black Doctor in Canada: Anderson Ruffin Abbott: Online Exhibition
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Toronto Orphanages and Day Nurseries: Online Exhibition
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Pathways: Following traces of Indigenous routes across Ontario: Selections from an exhibition at the Toronto Reference Library.
City of Toronto Archives
- Black History in Toronto: A sampling of artifacts from the City Archives.
- Chinese History in Toronto: A sampling of artifacts from the City Archives.
Community Archives
- Ontario Black History Society Archives: Virtual learning portal from Ontario Black History Society Archives featuring people, burial places, places worships and settlements.
- Arquives: Canada's LGBTQ+ Archives: search collections and exhibitions online.
- Rise Up!: A digital archive of feminist activism
- Myseum of Toronto: Digital exhibitions that features the history, spaces, culture(s), architecture, and the people, that represent Toronto’s unique place in the world.
Databases with primary sources:
The TMU Library has access to a variety of databases that provide online access to digitized primary sources related to many subjects.
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
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Search by keyword (i.e. Ontario, Canada, Africville, underground railroad, etc.) to find historical newspapers and images that focus on Black history in Canada. - Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Black Thought and Culture contains the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, letters, speeches and other material. - Canadiana This link opens in a new window
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Canadiana is a bilingual digital library of primary (source) documents of early Canadian printed publications including books, annuals and periodicals. Over 1,300 sources (including 350 titles from outside the U.S.) are indexed and abstracted. Of these, 600 are available in full text.
Formerly known as Early Canadiana Online. - Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
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Early Encounters in North America contains over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters. Particular care has been taken to index the material so that it can be used in new ways. For example, you can identify all encounters between the French and the Huron between 1650 and 1700. - North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Browse content using the Advanced Search feature; select Place Discussed to limit to content related to Canada. - North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
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North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories includes 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information, so providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, the series provides a rich source for scholars in a wide range of disciplines. - Oral History Online This link opens in a new window
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Oral History Online provides in-depth indexing to more than 2,500 collections of Oral History in English from around the world.
The collection also provides keyword searching of more than 271,000 pages of full-text by some 9,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to some 3,000 audio and video files and over 17,000 bibliographic records.
