Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives

Welcome to our New Website!

For the last year, we have been working hard on a project funded by Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program, entitled ‘Daniel McLachlin’s Legacy: Exploring the Lumber Era of the Ottawa Valley.’

Our project was focused on digitizing and making accessible the important records that document Daniel McLachlin and the McLachlin Bros. during the lumbering era of the Ottawa Valley in the 19th and early 20th century.

These improvements have created the framework for a much higher capacity for digitization in the future.

Here is a breakdown of what was accomplished:

Digitization

Funding allowed for us to send many McLachlin Bros. business ledgers and some smaller maps to our partner, Image Advantage, for external digitization. It also allowed for us to purchase in-house digitization equipment, including a new flatbed scanner and a digital camera. All in all, we were able to digitize:

25 McLachlin Bros. ledgers (11,606 pages)

42 maps

547 letters of correspondence (1,204 pages)

35 photographs

1 previously unpublished manuscript by Charles Macnamara (144 pages)

Almost all of these digitized items are now available online. Still to come is an 1890-91 Shanty Accounts Ledger, and more of our larger and more fragile maps that couldn’t be sent offsite.

Website Update

In order to show off our newly digitized material, we partnered with Andornot, our online services provider, to update the look and feel of our website and add some exciting new features. Highlights include:

New Exhibition of McLachlin Material

Our new online exhibit is a portal through which you can look at all of the digitized material, including records that were already digitized before the project but that relate to the theme. We have divided it up by type of record and made them available for you to peruse.

View the exhibit here.

Image Zoomer for Map Details

These maps have been digitized at such high resolution that we implemented a way to better show them off. They can now be viewed in close detail. On the record for each map, there is a button labeled ‘Zoom In.’ Here is a great example of just one of them, a McLachlin Bros. fire insurance plan from 1905. A full list of all of the zoomable maps is available as a new 'quick access' link.

Updated Search Site

Our search site now has more features and is easier to use. You can:

Choose from two new 'quick access' options - one to see all items from McLachlin's lumber era and one to see the zoomable maps
See a rotating carousel of featured items
Provide feedback on individual records more easily
Click a ‘More like this’ button to see related records
General search will now include results from all PDF documents attached to records

Interactive Places of Interest Maps

In addition to digitizing our historical maps, we created a few of our own. We now have the ability to create themed maps with pins based on our historical records, photographs, local buildings and historical events. It’s an interactive and engaging way to connect with your local history.

Right now, we have one map about the lumbering era, and one with general local historic sites and locations. This is just the beginning, as new pins will be added on a regular basis!

Blog

We now have a better way to keep you updated on our news and events, as well as a place to spotlight items, write about our heritage, and generally deliver historical content to you!