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Susan Goods © Canadian Museum of Nature
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Susan Goods © Canadian Museum of Nature
Library
The collection is particularly strong in the fields of the Canadian Arctic, ornithology, systematics and taxonomy. Our collection specializes in the subject areas of interest to the museum, including biology, biodiversity, botany, conservation and care of collections, ecology, mineral sciences, natural history, wildlife and zoology.
The library contains
- more than 35 000 books
- 2000 periodical titles, of which 100 are current subscriptions
- museum publications
- Rare Book Collection
- microforms, cassettes, CD-Rom, CDs, DVDs.
The Rare Book Collection consists of 4000 pre-20th century monographs, manuscripts and periodicals that cover expeditions, natural history and biological and Earth sciences dating back to the 1500s.
Online Library Catalogue
Browse the online catalogue of the museum's library holdings. The online catalogue contains all library holdings catalogued since 1978. Pre-1978 materials must be accessed manually through the card catalogue.
Visitors Are Welcome
Members of the public and academia, as well as employees of federal and provincial governments are welcome to use our library's collections.
The library is located at our research and collections facility in Gatineau, Quebec. The address and information for making an appointment appear below.
Loans
All museum staff, volunteers and associates can use the library collection and borrow material. Members of the public are welcome to use library material on site.
Reference materials, rare books and the latest issues of serials are for use only in the library.
Interlibrary Loans
The interlibrary loan service allows museum staff to borrow material from other libraries and provides loans to external users through their own library. Interlibrary-loan request forms must be completed to access this service.
Serials (Journals and Periodicals)
The library subscribes to approximately 100 journals in natural history. Current issues of serials are displayed at the front of the library for one month. Bound and unbound volumes of serials are shelved in call number order on the first floor. The serials are searchables in the online catalogue.
Reference Services
The library staff provides basic reference services.
Other Services
A photocopier and scanner are available for use in the library (fees may apply to external users).
The Archives
The Canadian Museum of Nature's archives hold three collections: the Archives, the Nature Art Collection and the Photograph Collection
Archives
The Archives hold approximately 1.5 kilometres of shelf space of unpublished documents, mostly institutional records. The institutional records offer insight into the past and present activities of our exhibitions, research, collections and administration. The archives hold files that document the museum's history and the museum's mandate—they tell us stories about field trips, discoveries, exhibitions, our natural world and more.
Nature Art Collection
Besides the beautiful and exactingly naturalistic backgrounds of the dioramas on exhibition in the museum, our nature art collection includes more than 1800 items such as oil paintings, watercolours, photographs, drawings, decoys, sculptures, carvings, tapestries representing artists such as Grondin, Landsdowne, Ely Kish, Malak Karsh and Belzaire.
Photograph Collection
Photographed mostly by the museum's staff, this collection consists of more than 275 000 slides, photos, negatives and glass plates. This collection represents images of the natural world, with an emphasis on Canadian material.
Some material is available for reproduction. More information.
General Information
Contact Us
Library: 613.566.4734
Archives: 613.364.4047
Email: cmnlib@nature.ca
Fax: 613.364.4026
Library and Archives Hours
Open by appointment
Monday – Thursday
9 am – 4 pm
Location
Canadian Museum of Nature
1740 Pink Road
Gatineau, Quebec
Google map.
Mailing Address
Canadian Museum of Nature
Library and Archives
P.O. Box 3443, Station D
Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4
Canada