On September 9, members of the local media, supporters, and project sponsors gathered in the MMBC gallery to welcome Nauticapedia into the Maritime Museum of BC’s permanent collection.
MMBC Board Treasurer Tim Rendell, and Robert G. Allan (Robert Allan Ltd.)
The virtual encyclopedia and database contains an astonishing number of entries, including photos, videos, articles, and vessel histories.
At the latest tally, the Nauticapedia includes:
- 96,099 vessel histories
- 16,979 images
- 14,846 records of shipwrecks and marine disasters
- 58,604 biographies of mariners (with an additional 4,049 images)
This is an incredible milestone for the MMBC, and for donor John MacFarlane–this is the largest single donation in the history of the Museum.
Presenters included the founder of Nauticapedia, John MacFarlane, who regaled all with examples of the incredible marine and nautical stories found in the database and photo files. He explained how important it was to preserve and use his life’s work for the future.
From the MMBC, Board Treasurer Tim Rendell led the presentations, with Board Chair Wendy Moreton sharing the importance of preserving heritage digitally for greater access.
Sponsors Philbrook’s Boat Yard Ltd. and Robert Allan Ltd. were represented by Philbrook’s owner Drew Irwin, and Executive Chairman of Robert Allan Ltd., Robert G. Allan.
As MacFarlane said during the press event, work on Nauticapedia is “a magnificent obsession.” Work is underway with computer scientists from the University of Victoria to develop an updated site dashboard and infrastructure. More project details will be shared as the work progresses.
Preserve maritime heritage, digitally!
Support Nauticapedia at the Maritime Museum of BC with a one-time or monthly donation. Nauticapedia donors ensure that site infrastructure and upgraded assets are future-proofed for this one-of-a-kind digital collection.
Photo: MMBC Archives 977.001.0027
Media
Check out media coverage of this Nauticapedia event.
