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CAIN : THE CANADIAN ARCHIVAL INFORMATION NETWORK
Cheryl Avery, Vice-Chair of the Canadian Council of Archives and University Archivist at the University of Saskatchewan
One year and one month since its launch, The Canadian Archival Information Network has received over 4 million visitors - with an increase in use from 4,639 visits per day from its launch in October 2001 to over 13,000 visits a day in November 2002.
Fifty-five percent of CCA member institutions (396 of 716) have submitted fonds-level records (not including the National Archives and the National Library). There are currently nearly 50,000 fonds-level records in the database, from every province and territory. Canadian archives have contributed over 206,336 digitized images, found in 208 virtual exhibits and photograph databases, to the site.
Ninety separate institutions (not including councils or associations) received grants between 2000 and 2002; while fonds-level contributions from over 300 additional institutions indicate that the CAIN Co-ordinator and Outreach projects have been extremely effective in ensuring participation.
Initial figures from these institutions suggest that:
- 34 % of all fonds are now described on CAIN; and
- 44 % of all fonds that are processed and RAD-compliant are on CAIN
All types of archival institutions have successfully applied for project funding for fonds-level descriptions or digitization, with university and college archives or special collections departments the most active (29.1%), followed by historic societies and museums (20.8%), associations and councils (14%), provincial archives (11.6%), municipal and religious archives (10% each), and others (4%).
[These are national statistics reflecting usage of the CAIN site.]
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