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What's New

Library and Archives Canada Celebrates UNESCO's World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

Ottawa, October 26, 2007 - Library and Archives Canada invites Canadians to celebrate World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on October 27. The Day was created to bring global awareness to the importance of preserving audiovisual heritage because much of the world's sound recordings and moving images are vulnerable due to a natural aging process.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC), along with other audio-visual archives around the world, was invited to provide clips for a trailer film for UNESCO's annual General Conference, also to be held on October 27 in Paris. The trailer follows the conference theme, "Planet Earth: From Place to Space" and will be screened throughout the conference and a copy given to each delegate. LAC's contribution to the trailer includes clips of two early classic Canadian features: Back to God's Country (1919) and The Viking (1931); and a Canadian government travelogue, Gem of the Rockies (1933).

"Imagine the thousands of stories to discover in Library and Archives Canada's collection, through film, sound recordings, music and radio and television programs," said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. "These stories define who we are as Canadians; it is vital that we continue to preserve these key cultural records, not only for our own sense of identify and history, but for the benefit of future generations."

Library and Archives Canada collects and preserves Canada's documentary heritage, and makes it accessible to all Canadians. This heritage includes 71,000 hours of short and full-length films dating back to 1897, and 270,000 hours of video and sound recordings. LAC is also a founding member of the Audiovisual Preservation Trust of Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing access to Canada's audiovisual heritage. For a peek at some historic films held in LAC's collection, please go to www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/silverscreen/002030-1001-e.php.

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Information:
Louisa Coates
Senior Communications Officer
Library and Archives Canada
(819) 934-5721

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