From the early experiments of Bell and Marconi to a leadership role in telecommunications today, Canadians have both created and used audio-visual records to win a battle against its geography and to communicate its shared experience as a nation. The Canadian Pacific Railway's use of early films to promote immigration in the West, William Aberhart's skill in building a political movement through radio broadcasts in the 1930s, the government's decision to create our own broadcasting and film agencies, and Saturday night hockey broadcasts exemplify this appreciation.

The National Archives acquires and conserves all forms of moving images and recorded sound of national historic significance produced by government departments, film and broadcasting companies, corporations and individuals. Ranging from documentary to drama and from current affairs to popular entertainment materials, the audio-visual collection serves as one of the country's richest sources of national memory. The collection encompasses more than 300,000 hours of film, video and sound recordings. Under certain conditions, the majority of the audio-visual holdings are available for consultation at the National Archives and copies can be made once copyright permission has been obtained.

The National Archives has acquired through bequests, donations, and planned acquisition, over 300,000 hours of film, video and sound recordings that deal mostly with Canada.

This search tool allows you to consult about 265 000 descriptions of audio-visual documents that represent about thirty-five per cent of the holdings held by the National Archives of Canada.

Descriptions are written mainly in the language of the creator-donor, with most descriptions in English. Description standards have changed over the years and the amount of detail about each document will vary from one description to another. Also, databases are constantly evolving and corrections, additions and deletions may be made at any time.

Two search screens allow you to browse through the database: the default General Search screen and the Detailed Search screen that appears by clicking on that button. Check boxes and a multiple choice list allow you to refine your search.

General Search Screen

With this screen you can enter any term or set of terms separated by the appropriate logical connectors (consult The Search Syntax link for more information). This is an integrated text search system. When the search is initiated, all fields within the database are searched.

For example:

Type King for hits on this name, whether the subject of a film, the name of a producer, a place name, etc.

The check boxes under the heading To Limit the Search allow you to limit your search to films, videos or sound recordings.

The Number of references by page option allows you to change the number of references appearing on the results page for the duration of the search in progress. By default, the number is set to twenty.

Detailed Search Screen

The detailed search screen has the same attributes as the general search screen but offers specific field search capability as well.

A search by Title allows you to find a document using one or more words in the title.

For example:

Type house for titles of films, videos or sound recordings that include this word.

A Fonds/Collection search allows you to find descriptions of documents in a given collection. Use the specific name of the collection if known. For example, the records of a government department will be identified by it's name. Please note that a fonds may appear under several distinct accessions but generally an accession deals with one particular fonds.

A search by Accession number allows you to find descriptions of films, videos or sound records acquired by the National Archives at a specific time period. The exact accession number must be known in advance but it is possible to obtain this number by conducting a general search.

For example:

Type 1985-0292 to obtain descriptions of documents with this accession number, the National Film Board.

A Consultation copy number search will locate an item based on the consultation number cited in publications or elsewhere.

For example:

Type V1 8603-0018 (make sure to type the exact digits including zeros), to obtain a description of the document. Some numbers are no longer in the database because the items are no longer under our care or there are copyright problems. If the consultation copy number does not appear in the database, contact us for information.

A search by Key Words allows you to find any term or set of terms separated by the appropriate logical connectors (consult The Search Syntax link for more information). When the search is initiated, all fields within the database are searched.

For example:

Type in King for hits to this name, whether the subject of a film, the name of a producer, a place name, etc.

The check boxes under the heading To Limit the Search allow you to confine your search to films, videos or sound recordings.

The Default Operator between fields option allows you to change the connector between the search fields only, and not between terms that you enter within a field.

Enter in the appropriate field whatever terms you feel best describe the document. It can be a film's title, a general description, a producer's name, a place name, etc.

Unless you are looking for a specific film, video or sound recording, conduct your search using limited terms. Truncate if necessary, ? replaces characters, and $ replaces a chain of characters, to allow for possible misspelling. If the search brings up too many references, you can reduce the number of hits by using the appropriate logical connectors.

For example:

If you type Sm?th, you will obtain Smith, Smyth.

If you type pollu$, you will obtain pollutant, polluant, pollueur, pollution, etc.

Logical connectors AND, OR, ADJ allow more precision (follow The Search Syntax link to learn more).

For example:

Typing in NFB OR National Film Board, will broaden your search to provide you with documents illustrating or created by this institution, whether identified by its full title or acronym.

If you type war AND ship, you will get all descriptions combining these two words.

Type in war ADJ ship, and you will obtain all occurrences of these two words together, in the order you typed them.

If possible, search in English and in French. Descriptions are currently produced in the language of the creator-donor, but this has not always been the case. Most descriptions are in English only. Titles remain in their original language, and are only rarely translated.

For example:

First, type ship, and then navire, the results will not cancel each other out.

Be careful with dates. You will only retrieve dates that correspond strictly to what you have specified.

For example:

Type 1940-1950 for descriptions with this specific phrase, if there are any, but you will not get anything for the years 1941, 1942, 1943, etc. Use truncation to improve your results.

Type in 194$ for better results.

As the database contains descriptions of old documents, do not use only modern or current words and terms when entering your search.

Also use outdated expressions and words whose meanings have changed over time to your results:

For example:

Settlers, sauvage, savage, eskimo, apothecary.

Be aware that artists often anglicized Quebec place names:

Trois-Rivières becomes Three Rivers.
Pointe-Lévis becomes Point Levi.

Your search results will be posted as a summary list from which you will be able to obtain more detailed descriptions.

Results Summary List

The results summary list, sorted by column, contains information that will allow you to rapidly assess how relevant the documents are that you found. Please note that information within square brackets generally reflects the National Archives' hypotheses from clues found within the document. Each page of the list describes 20 documents, which is a default value that you can change. You can export the results to a diskette or to your own computer.

The first column is linked to the detailed description (see below). Clicking on the icon will bring you to the detailed description.

The Title column provides the document's title; sometimes it is abbreviated. The complete title appears in the detailed description.

The Date of production column provides the document's exact or approximate date of production. The release date will be found in the detailed description.

The Access Right column provides information on access to the document, if applicable. Follow the Restrictions link for more information.

The Copyright column provides general information on holders of copyright.

The Reference number and Consultation Copy provides numbers needed to consult or order a copy of the document. The statement No consultation copies available indicates that a consultation copy must be made before you can consult or order a copy of the document.

Detailed Description

From the summary list, you can consult one detailed description at a time. The detailed description includes all or some of the sections described below. If the information seems insufficient or unclear, for example, because of misspelling or errors, you should contact the reference services of the National Archives for more information.

Item number (ISN):

Source database identifier (i.e., internal sequence number). This number must be included in all requests for consultation or reproduction.

Title:

This is the complete title of the film, video or sound recording, as entered in the database, generally as it was described in the lists that accompanied the accession. More specific information may be added within parentheses.

Media:

Original medium of production. (F = film, V= video, S = sound recording.)

Description:

Description of the content of the document or series. An indication of the type and language of the document is also included.

Date:

Production and release dates.

Country of production:

Country of creation of the document or series.

Creator:

Names of corporate entities or persons ultimately responsible for the creation of the document. The credits associated with the production, sponsors and cast may also be included.

Distributor:

Individual or corporate name and origin of the current distributing entity.

Fonds/Collection:

Title of archival fonds or collection associated to the document or series. An archival fonds represents the whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, automatically and organically created and/or accumulated and used by a body in the course of that creator's activities and functions.

Accession number:

Administrative control number assigned to each incoming group of documents when being deposited at the National Archives of Canada.

Catalogue or original numbers:

Donor catalogue number supplied by depositors, and used to further identify audio-visual documents.

Subject headings:

Name of individual or corporate body responsible for the creation of the material, or subjects covered by the document.

Consultation:

Specific terms and rules related to the consultation of the document or series. These terms and conditions are usually fixed by the donor.

Reproduction:

Details related to the copyright holder of the document. Consultation and/or reproduction of some documents may not be permitted.

Remarks and Notes:

Any additional pieces of information related to the item: information about the donor or a person to contact in case of multiple donors, particular instructions, information related to the fonds or collection, or complementary information on copyright.

Consultation Copy:

Vault shelf number of the document. A consultation copy must have been done before to be allowed to consult a document. This number must be included in all requests for consultation or reproduction.

The link to Physical description provides information on the physical extent of the media (i.e., originals, master copy, reference copy, etc.). Many elements include technical information mainly used by staff members of the National Archives to order and locate documents. If the information seems unclear, you should contact the reference services of the National Archives for more information.

To consult or to order a reproduction of an audio-visual documents, please indicate the following information in you request:

Item number (ISN);
Title;
Accession number;
Consultation copy number (a consultation copy must have been done before to be allowed to consult a document).

Consultation of original audio-visual documents is not permitted. Only consultation copies can be viewed, and they are to be examined on site, at the National Archives of Canada, upon appointment.

For more information about the reproduction and consultation services offered by the National Archives of Canada, please follow the Obtain copies and Consult records links.

Reproduction of archival material is subject to the Copyright legislation and its regulations. This is a highly complex area for both archives and researchers and has a profound effect on the way that the National Archives delivers its services to researchers for protected material.

Copyright can be owned or held by an individual or a group of individuals, a corporation, the Crown, or the public. The terms of protection can vary subject to the author, the nature and the disposition of the material in question, and other considerations. The National Archives of Canada holds a variety of material for which the ownership of copyright may be uncertain due to the mixture of public and private material, or published and unpublished works. One of the major difficulties for both archives and researchers is in identifying and locating the copyright owners.

It is recommended that researchers consult the Copyright Act and seek legal advice where questions regarding the interpretation of copyright arise. You may consult the Copyright Act on-line at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html