The proposed Island Archives Centre at the Robertson Library will house, protect, and offer access to all of PEI's contributions to our local and national heritage. This will occur through the digitization of historical records and images of items held in libraries and museums, as well as artifacts and documents contributed by individuals.

Current Robertson Library initiatives include:

IslandLives
A flagship project digitizing the Island's local, architectural, and personal histories to create a living encyclopedia of PEI's heritage. Almost 400 PEI community histories are being digitized, resulting in 50,000 digital page images.

IslandNewspapers
Digital versions of PEI's historic newspapers from the first issues to the 1950s. Original page images will be linked to the searchable full text, providing the first complete online history of the Island...

Islandora is an open-source project under way at the Robertson Library. Islandora combines Drupal and Fedora software to create a robust digital asset management system that can be used where collaboration and digital data stewardship are required, for the short and long term. Islandora provides a key service through its VRE (Virtual Research Environment), a special website used by researchers at UPEI and elsewhere to steward research data. An increasing number of institutions around the world are using Islandora for their own repository systems.

The UPEI Robertson Library is proud to join with the publishers of The Island Magazine, the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, in making this digital archive of our province's premiere historical publication freely available to all. Since its inception in 1976, The Island Magazine has become an integral part of Prince Edward Island's heritage, publishing thousands of articles on our social, cultural, and natural history.

Readers can browse through the 62 issues of the magazine online, from the 1976 fall issue to the fall/winter of 2007.

The Robertson Library opened a new language lab on September 14, 2009, with funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Thirty Mac computers with a comprehensive computer training program and auditory equipment assist students with learning English as a second language.

The Library is hoping to assist and partner with local groups, including the PEI Newcomers to Canada Association, to extend outreach to the Island community.