Sept 11th, 2018
1.Den Otter, A. A. Civilizing the wilderness : culture and nature in pre-confederation Canada and Rupert’s Land. n.p.: Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, c2012., 2012. Thompson Rivers University Catalog. Call #: FC 3206 .D45 2012
Key terms used: In advanced search; History, Print Books and then “pre-confederation Canada”
2. i. Sainte-Marie among the Hurons / by Wilfrid Jury and Elsie McLeod Jury ; illustrated by Julius Griffith and Paul Buchanan.
ii. Adventurers in the New World : the saga of the coureurs des bois / Georges-Hébert Germain ; scientific director, Jean-Pierre Hardy ; original illustrations by Francis Back.
3. Curtis, Bruce. “Administrative infrastructure and social enquiry: Finding the facts about agriculture in Quebec, 1853-4.” Journal of Social History 32, no. 2 (Winter98 1998): 309. Academic Search Complete.
Key terms used: In advanced search; Scholarly (Peer reviewed) Journals then “pre-confederation
Canada” and “towns”
4. Pope, Joseph, Sir. Confederation : being a series of hitherto unpublished documents bearing on the British North America Act. n.p.: Toronto : Carswell, 1895., 1895. Thompson Rivers University Catalog.
Key terms used: In advanced search; Canada; Primary Source Documents; Publication Date 1898- 1911
5. I started off this assignment looking to see if I could find a book on the early settlements or villages in pre-confederation Canada. Early on I realized that it would be quite difficult to find an entire book on just settlements and villages alone. So then I opened up my search to just pre-confederation Canada hoping I could find any title or abstract with some kind of hint towards any infrastructure. Then from there I assumed at least some part Civilizing the wilderness would delve into information about how settlements and villages were set up in pre-confederation Canada.
I believed peer reviewed journal articles that are entirely about settlements and villages might be easier to find. Which was not the case either. I ended up coming across an article about agriculture in Quebec, since agriculture was the main industry back in pre-confederation Canada, I thought there might be some kind of linkage to settlements hidden inside this article. I knew that in pre-confederation most people still lived rural farming lives but at in this time period people were beginning to sell their crops and to do this they needed kind of settlement.
I found the most trouble to happen with trying to find a primary source. The biggest problem with this is that there isn’t any original documents from pre-1867 because the typewriter did not come out for another 10 years. This would make most sources quite hard to transfer into an easier legible or online format. I also found that some primary sources that were transferred into a newer format were hidden in a bigger text or article making it harder to find them.
If there was anything for me to take away from this assignment it would be that I need to read deeper between the lines of titles and abstracts. I just need to remember that a title is just a title there is more to piece of work then its title. I also found that when it comes primary sources one needs to dive far deeper into other texts or articles because firsthand accounts or interviews could be littered throughout. Looking at a textbooks references can truly help one find more information on a specific topic.