UPEI Published Data
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Alexander MacKay Phenology Dataset
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Nova Scotia, This dataset includes data transcribed from records collected in the early 1900s.
From 1900 to 1923, an influential inspector of schools in Nova Scotia, Dr. A.H. MacKay, recruited a number of knowledgeable teachers around the province to use their students to observe 100 natural occurrences each year, and report them in a standardized way. This is the science of phenology - the study of the seasonal timing of life cycle events. These observations included the appearance of blooming wildflowers, cultivated plants, migratory birds, mammals, amphibians plus the freezing of lakes and rivers, appearance of frost and snow, number and severity of thunderstorms, hurricanes, etc. In addition, the timing of human agricultural practices was also recorded, including calving, seeding, potato planting, and haying. Tracking the timing of naturally occurring events helps show trends in the effects on biota and human activities as a result of climate change and weather variability.
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Atlantic Canada Newspaper Survey - Dataset
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Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, The Atlantic Canada Newspaper Survey (ACNS) project was designed to provide a machine-readable database of goods and services offered for sale in important east coast regional newspapers before 1900. This newspaper research database has as its focus nine broad categories of commodities based upon Statistics Canada’s “Trade of Canada Commodity Classification”. In the 1980s work on the database was supported by the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The project received SSHRC funding in 1986-1987 as part of its Research Tools Program. In June 2013, the Canadian Heritage Information Network was no longer able to host the database due to accessibility issues. CHIN exported the dataset and provided a copy to UPEI in the hopes that it would be useful.