APLA 2017 Conference

The Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island, has identified a number of in- house books with interesting ownership stories. With the http://booklives.ca/ Project, UPEI has created a name-searchable, accessible, online database tracing the stories and historical details of the book and their owner(s). This project will resonate with book lovers, historians, archivists and genealogists. By creating this unique database, we are providing a new primary document platform to identify subjects for genealogical and/or historical research. Some of these books hold tangible artifacts, notes, poems, and personal reflections that cannot be found in government-ordered documents, such as census records and birth/marriage/death registrations. The book is a relic that not only contains an inherent narrative but it also holds the stories of its previous owners– making the book an evolving artifact of history. Learn about this new primary source (held within your own library stacks) and hear some of the stories of book lovers from the past. Sarah E. Fisher works as a Circulation Technician and Project Manager at the Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island. She has a Master of Arts degree in Early Medieval Studies from the University of York, in England, with a focus on Pictish stone carvings and the art and paleography within illuminated manuscripts. Her personal interest in genealogy and her love for old books has lead her to spearhead the BookLives.ca project at UPEI, which links the artifact of the book with the lives of its previous owners.