If you’ve ever tried to search Hansard, the federal government’s written record of every parliamentary debate, you know that even though it’s been digital for a long time, historical records were notoriously difficult to review. That’s because when Canadiana digitized it, it was as pictures and not text. A University of Toronto team of political scientists, computer scientists and historians decided to do something about it.

In 2013, [Christopher] Cochrane teamed up with two postdoctoral researchers, two PhD students and Graeme Hirst, professor of computer science at U of T Scarborough, to create LiPaD: The Linked Parliamentary Data Project.

LiPaD has digitized and made searchable Canada’s parliamentary debates dating back to 1901. It also created and designed a website to make the documents more accessible to the public, a project headed by PhD student Tanya Whyte.

A huge thank you and congratulations to this team for making this part of Canada’s legislative record available to everyone.

Full article available here.

h/t KnowItAALL, AALL’s daily newsletter

Please note: The library will be closing early on Thursday, April 17th at 11:00AM for a special event.  Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.

The Winnipeg Court Complex will be closed April 18th and April 21st. Manitoba Law Library staff will not be onsite during the holiday, but will be available by email on Monday, April 21st. Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.

Please note: The Winnipeg Law Courts will be closed April 18th and April 21st. The Library is closed Friday. Manitoba Law Library staff will be available by email on Monday, April 21st. Regular library service will resume Tuesday, April 22nd at 8:30AM.