What is CONNECT? A short history

The CONNECT project grew out of the Canadian HIV Resource Centre Network (CANNET), which existed from 1995-2000. The goal of CANNET was to increase access to information, and improve HIV/AIDS resource centre operations. CANNET activities included a quarterly newsletter, publication of bilingual training manual, and the delivery of Canada-wide workshops.

In 2001, five former CANNET members came together to build a bilingual, web-based union catalogue that would unite their HIV/AIDS collections. These organizations were the AIDS Committee of Toronto, AIDS Vancouver, the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Information Centre (as of March 2008, no longer in operation) (a program of the Canadian Public Health Association), and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. The purpose of CONNECT was to increase awareness of each partner's collection, and improve the national coordination of HIV/AIDS information delivery.

Work on the CONNECT database and website began in earnest in late 2005 when funding for the project was finally secured by the Canadian Public Health Association through the Canadian HIV/AIDS Information Centre. The project was launched in December 2006.

The AIDS Vancouver Library closed on 30 September 2009, but the CONNECT Collection on this site still contains references to online resources supplied by the Library before it closed.

Technical information

The CONNECT database uses the retrieval software TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO which were provided by Inmagic, Inc.

Acknowledgements

This project was made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada.