York University libraries, in seeking to expand its digitization efforts, donated funds in 2008 and 2010 to the Internet Archive to promote the digitization of its collections. Today, as the scanning project nears completion, over 2050 items have been made available on the Internet Archive website. These items are now available to York users and the global community without access restrictions. As an added benefit, selected rare archival materials are available without being exposed to the threat of degradation through use. For the York community, instant access to these resources is available through links that have been added to our library catalogue records. These links are also available through WorldCat, a global catalogue of library collections.

York University is one of 26 Canadian libraries who have partnered with the Internet Archive's satellite scanning centre, housed in Robarts Library at the University of Toronto. The proximity of this location made it feasible for York’s Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections to part briefly with some of its rare treasures for digitization.

Selection of items for digitization by the Internet Archive involved identifying monographs in the public domain, and then cross-checking each item against online resources to ensure that they were not already digitized by other projects. We concentrated our efforts in digitizing French language monographs, Canadiana, Hymnals, and East Asian monographs. Special care was taken to select items from the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections including selections from the Yolton, Gibson, Lambrionos and Canadian Pamphlet collections. These collections are described below:

A gift of John W. Yolton, professor of Philosophy, the Yolton Collection focuses on early editions by or about Scottish philosopher John Locke, and is considered one of the finest collections in the world. Yolton's wife Jean was of vital assistance in his collection of the material, often combing antique bookstores for rare editions. Professor Yolton, even after leaving in 1978 for a post in the United States, maintained his contact with York University. In 2003 he returned to complete his donation of antiquarian books to York’s archives.

The Gibson Collection was established in 1994 when Robert Chalmers Gibson, after almost fifty years of collecting rare books and manuscripts, donated his Canadiana collection to York University. It is particularly strong in early Canadian travel narratives and geographic treatises.

The Canadian Pamphlet Collection is an eclectic assortment of printed Canadian ephemera, broadsheets and pamphlets. Dating from the 18th century to the present, the collection covers a wide variety of subjects that include social and political issues, speeches, commemorative programs, religious treatises, local tourist publications, and advice manuals to farmers, women, tradespersons and immigrants.

The Lambrinos Collection is a recent acquisition of historical Canadian school textbooks and children’s literature collected by Sheila Thibodeau Lambrinos. Although much of the content has already been digitized by other institutions, the format of items, and the unique ephemera by teachers and students (including coin rubbings, extra illustrations, and intra-student communications), make these items fascinating historical objects of Canadian youth culture.

— Andrea Kosavic, Digital Initiatives Librarian & Anna St. Onge, Archivist, Digital Projects & Outreach