Canadian Libraries and Archives with Locations and Establishment Years

4,798 records of Canadian libraries and archives compiled for a Royal Society of Canada expert panel report in 2014. The data includes names, institution types, locations, and establishment years, originally used to power a mapping and timeline application. Multi-branch library systems are represented by a single entry unless a branch is in a different community.

Use Cases

• Map the geographic distribution of libraries and archives across Canada based on the latitude and longitude coordinates.
• Analyze historical trends in the establishment of cultural institutions based on the year_established field.
• Compare the prevalence of different library types (Academic, Public, Special) across provinces and territories.
• Study the relationship between community population size and the presence of library or archive facilities.

Strengths

• Contains 4,798 records providing a broad snapshot of Canadian libraries and archives.
• Includes 17 variables covering name, type, location, and establishment year.
• Data was created for a formal Royal Society of Canada expert panel report, suggesting a curated source.

Limitations

• Data is from 2014 and may not reflect recent openings, closures, or relocations.
• Branch libraries are generally not represented, which may undercount service points in large urban systems.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred from the description.

Provenance

Source

Canadian Writing Research Collaboratory (CWRC) staff at the University of Alberta.

Collection Method

Originally compiled in Google Sheets and converted for use in a SIMILE Exhibit mapping and timeline application.

Time Range

Snapshot as of June 2014; establishment years for individual institutions vary.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-30 04:10:16; freshness should be verified as the underlying data snapshot is from 2014.

Geography

Canada, with records likely covering all provinces and territories.