As if there wasn’t enough to attract a history buff to the Timmins Public Library this Saturday, there’s more.
Starting at 2:00pm is the Local History Discovery Afternoon. Reference librarian Karina Douglas-Takayesu says the original newspaper in the gold mining camp, the Porcupine Advance, is now on line and can be searched. It covers the years between 1912 and 1950.
“And we have an index that correlates with that and we’re just about finished doing the index that’s based on about 53,000 handwritten 3 x 5 cards that are typed up online, one at a time,” says Douglas-Takayesu.
On Saturday, there will be a demonstration on how you can match an image from the newspaper to the article, birth announcement or whatever you’re looking for.
As a test, Douglas-Takayesu looked up “aurora borealis”.
“I was curious to see if there was any significant Northern light events that might have actually been written in the newspaper,” she says, “and when I put the search in, yes, sure enough, there were all sorts of articles as well as at that time, based on the knowledge when they were researching what the Northern lights were in the 1920s and 30s. That was really interesting.”
Saturday’s event is free, but you’re asked to pre-register so that the library has enough refreshments for everyone.