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A characteristic of the Arctic Exploration is the large number of Journals and Accounts left to us by almost all the expeditions venturing North over the past three centuries. This material represents an invaluable record of the hardships and achievements of the many adventurers who, for a variety of reasons ranging from greed to missionary zeal, pushed their way into the most inhospitable regions of our planet. Publishing the accounts of an expedition were the top priority as they served to justify the expenditure of the project, enhanced the reputation of the participants, and provided the basis for seeking new sponsors.These accounts are literate and often beautifully illustrated with engravings.Early explorers narratives occasionally appear at Antiquarian Book sales fetching thousands of dollars.

The great University and Polar Research Institution libraries, which may have these books in their collections, have become very protective. They are not available for interlibrary loan or even local borrowing. Often they cannot be consulted even on the library premises and one is left reading a poor microfilm copy. There is a renewed interest in the Arctic literature as we try to understand the growth and spreading of modern civilization. In addition, the evolvement of northern people towards self government has created a new requirement for whatever written records can be found documenting their past.

The CD-Academia Book Company has embarked on a project to make available to researchers, historians and cultural workers in the North, a selection of Arctic narratives in digital format. It is our intention to publish three to four volumes per year. These digital books will be selected by an Editorial Board on the basis of the importance of the Expedition, the contribution to knowledge and the quality of the narrative and illustrations.

The standard reference to the Canadian exploration literature is the Bibliography of Canadiana by Stanton and Tremain, published by the Toronto Reference Library in 1937 and republished in 1957. Citations to the books published on CD-ROM have been extracted here for quick Reference.

A parital BIBLIOGRAPHY of references relavant to the titles published as CD-ROMs has been compiled. It is not a comprehensive list, but we will be adding to it as we learn of new material.

One of the best sources of bibliographic and other historical information is the National Library in Ottawa whose web site is a veritable cornucopia of authoritative information.

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