Local history, natural history, women’s studies, cinema studies, environmental archives, a northern art collection and a photographic collection are all represented in the Portal. To date there are over 6,025 pages of full-text documents (PDF), 3230 images, and 71 videos.

The content found within the Portal is an exciting part of the digital collections growing across Alberta, Canada, as an extension of the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library (LHCADL) initiative. The goal of LHCADL is to provide digital information resources for teaching, learning and research. It is a goal that AU Library is committed to.

AU Library seeks to digitize and preserve the legacy of the past for future learners. The library has employed cutting edge technology, such as the Atiz book scanner and Second Life, as well as established multimedia technology, to create collections that are immersive as well as visual. Key features include audio, video, images, interactive narratives, virtual worlds, Google maps, along with extremely detailed search capability.

Partnerships are the basis for the growth of collections within the Portal. The majority of the collections resulted from collaborations within the AU community. However, external collaborations have been vital too, resulting in the creation of the Karvonen Films Natural History Collection; the Martha Kostuch Archives, an important repository documenting environmental activism in Alberta; and the Muskwa-Kechika Artist Camp Collection, a virtual gallery designed to raise awareness of one of North America’s few remaining intact wilderness areas.

The collections found within the Portal site will be of interest to academics, environmentalist, artists, students, and lifelong learners and are a vital, multi-disciplinary resource.

The link to the Portal is here: http://digiport.athabascau.ca/