Newspaper Indexes & Vertical Files
What are the Vertical Files?
The Vertical Files were created and maintained by librarians and archivists at the Provincial Archives in Victoria from the 1950s to the 1980s. Originally, they consisted of manila file folders, arranged alphabetically by topic, kept in metal filing cabinets in the Reference Room of the Archives. The Vertical Files contained newspaper cuttings on a wide range of topics, obituaries of prominent figures and local pioneers, as well as ephemera (e.g. hotel restaurant menus, brochures, railway tickets, etc.) and miscellaneous research notes prepared by the Archives staff over the years.
The Vertical Files were indexed in a card catalogue that was interleaved with the Archives' Newspaper Index, c. 1858-1982. The index cards were kept in traditional wooden cabinets also located in the Reference Room of the Archives.
It was easy to thumb through the card catalogue drawers and to identify topics, and it was easy to distinguish between items in the Newspaper Index (c. 1858-1982) and items in the Vertical Files. Newspaper references appeared in black type, while references to items in the Vertical Files appeared in black type preceded by a red asterix [*].
In the 1980s, the British Columbia Archives decided to close the files, to close the card catalogue indexes, and to dispose of the filing cabinets and catalogue drawers which took up a fair amount of space in the Archives reference room. Fortunately, however, much of this material was microfilmed.
Newspaper clippings and typescript notes in the Vertical Files were copied on to 164 reels of 16 mm. microfilm.
The catalogue cards that had comprised the Vertical Files and Newspaper Index (c.1858-1982) were microfilmed and copied on to 921 sheets of microfiche.
Unfortunately, when the information from the Vertical Files and the Newspaper Index (c. 1858-1982) was transferred to black & white microforms [i.e. to 16 mm. microfilm and microfiche], key distinguishing features were lost. The red asterix [*] was no longer distinctive, and the relationship between the microfilm and the microfiche was not readily apparent.
The following steps described here may be helpful in identifying and reconnecting the information within these archival records.