Look first in the Gabriola Museum library. You might be surprised.
Government reports: annual reports to the Ministers of Mines, Lands, and other responsibilities were filed from as early as the 1880s, if not before. Copies are held in the BC Archives as well as in many government department libraries. They contain detailed information about Crown lands throughout the province.
Newspapers: The Nanaimo Harbourfront Library has microfilm on the second floor, including The Nanaimo Free Press back to 1874, and the Victoria Colonist back to 1858. The Free Press is also available at the Malaspina College Library, where copies are much cheaper. The BC Archives, in Victoria, has copies of most small provincial newspapers on microfilm, as well as Nanaimo and Victoria papers. It does not have Vancouver papers, which can be found in the Vancouver Public Library. It does not have the Nanaimo Herald, which can only be found in the BC Legislative Library. The Victoria City Library also has local newspapers on microfilm.
News clipping files from BC papers: At BCARS, Nanaimo Harbourfront, and other libraries, usually on microfiche. Copies of file cards in alphabetical order (people, places, events -- from the earliest Colonist to mid-20 cen. (NB: If you are looking for information on Henry Jones, these files will tell you only that there is an article about him in the Colonist of April 5, 1869, page 3. You will then have to go to the Colonist microfilm for 1869 to find the article.)
Directories: Many publishers (Mallaindaine, Henderson, Hibberd, etc.) Listings of names, addresses, occupations and tourist information from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Available at the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library as microfilm, and at the Victoria Public Library, the Victoria Archives, and the BC Archives as hard copy.
Local History in British Columbia by Maureen Cassidy, 1983: An excellent publication by the BC Heritage Trust -- a guide to researching, writing and publishing for the non-professional is the title but the odd professional has found it handy, too! It is (or was) available free of charge from the Hallmark Society in Victoria, may be available through the BC Arts Council. It contains a good bibliography of similar resources.
Western Canada since 1870, by Alan Artibise, 1978 (UBC Press). This is a very useful bibliography of books and articles, although limited by its date.
The Northwest Collection of the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) contains complete collections of the BC Historical Quarterly and the BC Historical News, as well as books by many early historians. The Reference Library contains many genealogical resources. Both are on the second floor of the Harbourfront branch.
British Columbia in Books, an annotated bibliography by Mary Lou Cuddy and James J. Scott, was published in 1974, so now 30 years old. Available in the Gabriola Museum library.
Aboriginal Mapping Network: Data - http://www.nativemaps.org/data.html
(tells you where mapping data is available, but some of the links are outdated)
Archives of Canada: http://www.archivescanada.ca
ArchiviaNet (Library and Archives Canada):
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html.
Another useful newer database on ArchiviaNet are the maps of "Indian
Reserves -- Western Canada," with nearly all 1,500 of
them digitized as high-resolution images.
Automated genealogy: Searchable 1901 and 1911 Canada censuses http://automatedgenealogy.com/index.html
The Beaver online index:http://www.historysociety.ca/beaver/index/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.FA_dsp_home/
BC Archival Information Network: http://aabc.bc.ca/aabc/bcguid16.html
BC Archival Union List: provides access to descriptions of records held at 174 publicly-accessible archives in BC: http://aabc.bc.ca/aabc/bcaul.html
BC Archives (Victoria): http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca. Including:
The Quick Guide to Land Records: http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/general/guides/Land_Records_quick_guide.pdf
The Preemption and Homestead Claims research guide:http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/general/guides/preemptions-homesteads_research_guide.pdf
The Genealogy page:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/textual/general/genealog.htm
(also describes the "Crown Land Grant Records, 1851-1930."
BC Cemeteries Finding Aid:http://www.islandnet.com/bccfa/homepage.html
BC Genealogical Society: http://www.bcgs.ca/ A diverse selection of links, utilities and tips.
BC Geographic Names Information System: http://ilmbwww.gov.bc.ca/bcnames/
BC Government mapping sites: http://maps.gov.bc.ca
BC Historical Disciplines and Subjects: First Nations: http://victoria.tc.ca/Resources/bchistory-disciplines-1stnations.html
BC History Internet/Web Site: http://victoria.tc.ca/Resources/bchistory.html and its successor, the BC History Portal: http://www.bchistoryportal.tc.ca (some URLs on both may be outdated)
BC Land Title & Survey: www.ltsa.ca
BC Lists: Links to census data, voters' lists, directories, newspapers, petitions, etc., etc. Emphasis on last quarter of 19th century and Vancouver Island. www.rootsweb.com/~canbc/bc.htm
BC Statistics: www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca
City of Victoria Archives (includes an excellent guide to researching your property history): http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/archives/
Crown Land Registry spreadsheet of HBC grants for southern Vancouver Island: https://tantalis.clrs.gov.bc.ca/HudsonBayGrantWebpage.xls NOT CONNECTING
Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure: http://www.geoconnections.org
and GeoGratis: http://www.geogratis.org/
(Canadian source of free remote sensing and map data).
Canadian Register of Heritage Sites (at the moment there are only 105 entries for BC): http://www.historicplaces.ca
Dictionary of Canadian Biography online: http://www.biographi.ca/EN/index.html
Early Canadiana Online: www.canadiana.org/eco
Forests (provincial government reports):http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/reports.htm
Land Information BC: http://www.gov.bc.ca/bvprd/bc/keyInitiativeHome.do?action=landInfoBCUser: New central access point in the government portal for land information. [Well, it was new in 2004 -- guess the name has been changed again. If anyone finds where it has gone, please let us know--I've invested 20 minutes in trying to find it already.]
Library of Congress: Chronicling America: http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/index.html. 25 online searchable US newspapers from 1900-1910.
Malaspina College (a good online resource page for local history sites): Includes searchable enumeration records from 1881, 1891 census for Vancouver Island, database of directory entries for Nanaimo district and land titles for the same period. http://www.mala.bc.ca/history/Content/Resource/Online.htm
Online Cadastre (Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management): http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/sgb/IMF/
Paper of Record (FREE!) A searchable archive of historical newspapers from around the world. Includes two Victoria and two New Westminster papers covering 1861-1889) http://www.paperofrecord.com/
RBCM Web: http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
Simon Fraser University archives: http://www.sfu.ca/archives/
Texada Heritage Society: http://www.texadaheritagesociety.com/
University of British Columbia archives: http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/
University of Victoria archives: http://gateway.uvic.ca/archives/default.html
Vancouver Island Regional Library online databases. Your library card number is your password. Not all are available online, some must be accessed from the library: http://www.virl.bc.ca/Online_Resources/databases.htm
Ancestry.com -- available only from libraries (including Gabriola)
Canada's Heritage Since 1844 -- search The Globe & Mail back 161 years.
The Canadian Encyclopedia Online -- a good place to start.
The Encyclopedia of British Columbia Online -- easy to use.
Who Killed ... Robinson: http://web.UVic.CA/history-robinson/ Archives from Saltspring Island relating to the murder of a black settler in the late 1800s. See how to hook people into doing history.
Several databases at the Gabriola Museum are fairly easy to use. The old computer at the front desk downstairs is the simplest and most convenient.
You can search the Nanaimo Free Press from 1874 to 1894 for any name or subject.
Use the Quick and Dirty Search to look through a variety of small databases including census records, voting lists, cemetery listings, petitions, birth, marriage and death notices -- all relating to Gabriola.
The Newspapers database lets you search the Sandstone News, the Gulf Islands Guardian and the Flying Shingle for the 1960s and beyond