Vintoniv K. The Ukrainian documentary and information resources in the virtual space of Canada: structure, information content and search methodology.

The thesis is the first comprehensive study in Ukrainian Archival Science and Documentation Science researching the virtual documentary and information heritage of Ukrainians in Canada. Scientific sources highlighting archival Ukrainika (Ukrainian documentary heritage abroad) in Canada and information support of archival affairs in Ukraine as well as information technologies usage in historical research and online resources of Canada are analyzed. The author characterizes the Canadian electronic (digital) archival collections and databases, created by Canadian libraries, archives, museums which are holding valuable information about the life and achievements of Ukrainian emigrants. Since a large amount of the Ukrainian documentary heritage in Canada was digitized and displayed online on the websites of different Canadian institutions, the Ukrainian materials in Canadian databases were found by entering the keyword “Ukrainian”. In the thesis the reference web resources about Ukrainian Canadians in the form of virtual encyclopedias, online dictionaries and portals are characterized as well as related genealogical web resources, falling under the same group and helpful while looking for lost relatives and friends in Canada. In the dissertation the comparative analysis of the structure and information content displayed on 124 Ukrainian organizations’ and 9 Ukrainian mass media websites in Canada is carried out. The websites of these organizations represent all aspects of the Ukrainian life in Canada and promote a positive image of the Ukrainian community in the Internet. The most common shortcomings of the websites under analysis are the following: lack of necessary information available on the web pages, outdated data, non-use of multimedia resources (photos, videos, audio recordings), absence of links to other web resources, and lack of news archives. As a result, we have updated the list of Ukrainian organizations’ websites in Canada to 278 links which we have found on different Canadian websites. The new list was emailed to the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Some new approaches for searching and using the Ukrainian web resources in Canada are worked out and suggested. The conclusions drawn enable to offer a set of practical recommendations for the further research such as: 1) creating the integrated portal “Ukrainian Canadiana”, combining all web resources concerning Ukrainians in Canada, which could enable both solving the issues of information dispersion and facilitating the search of necessary materials; 2) providing scientific research into archival Ukrainika in Canada, with special focus on materials represented in virtual exhibitions and databases. Since large volumes of Ukrainian Canadians’ documentary heritage is to be digitized, new opportunities for researchers in Ukraine are to be opened, in prospect; 3) in-depth structure and information analysis and generalization of the Canadian experience in creating virtual exhibitions, databases and websites in general and Ukrainian organizations’ websites content in Canada in particular, with its further applying in Ukraine.