Rehousing, Digitizing, and Cataloguing the J.M. Baillargeon Lantern Slide Collection: Capturing 19th Century Canada in Magic Lanterns

<p dir="ltr">In partnership with the special collections at Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries, this applied thesis investigates preservation techniques for the J.M. Baillargeon lantern slide collection. The Photographic Historical Society of Canada (PHSC) received a collection of lantern slides from Rev. Joseph Marc Baillargeon, including his commercial slides mainly labeled "Canadian Pacific Railway" (CPR) or "Canadian National Railway" (CNR). Baillargeon's images depict his diverse interests, from sportsmanship to flora, with a focus on rural areas in Ontario, Quebec, and Western Canada. It applies three preservation techniques—rehousing digitization and item-level cataloguing—to the 316 hand-coloured black and white commercial lantern slides from the collection. In addition, it proposes a preservation plan in order to improve future care and facilitate easy access for researchers and scholars to the collection.</p>