Special Interest Section for Indigenous Archives
Monthly Meeting
At the January 27 and February 24 meetings, those gathered agreed that a monthly meeting to discuss SISIA at the annual conference, goals for the group, to learn more about collaborations, how the Reconciliation Framework is supporting work, and to share initiatives that folks are working on and would like to share.
Join Lisa Mullins and Lorne Shapiro, co-chairs who are supporting the work to reinvigorate SISIA.
If you have past documents you wish to share with the group, please reach out to the ACA Secretariat to add them to support the work of SISIA.
The ACA Governance Committee meets monthly the first Tuesday of each month.
Nominations Open for the ACA Board of Director Elections
Online Form
Nominations Open January 30 - April 5, 2023, 11:59 pm (PT)
The Nominations and Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the following ACA Director (Board) positions that are up for election:
· Vice President (2 year term)
· Secretary (2 year term)
· Director at Large (2 year term)
The term of office for these positions is two years and will begin the first week of July following the AGM, which takes place on June 14th, 2023 on Zoom. You may RSVP here: ACA Annual General Meeting - 2023
The slate of candidates will be presented to the Board once nominations have close, April 5, 2023. Online voting will open June 1, 2023 following the Members Input Session. You may RSVP here: Members Input Session
Nominations close, April 5, 2023 (11:59 pm PT).
All members in good standing will receive an online ballot via email. Institutional members should ensure that their designated delegate is clearly identified and up to date in their membership profile. If you need support entering your delegate name or updating your form, please reach out to the ACA Office.
See here for a full description of the Board positions and the commitment required for each elected position.
You may download the nomination form for signature here and submit your nomination form, online using the link below:
20230130_nomination form ACA directors.pdf
See also the ACA Nominations and Elections Policy here.
Directors must be individual members in good standing. Institutional members may have their designated delegate nominated for the Director-at-Large position. Nominations must be supported by five (5) ACA members. Those nominated must also provide a brief biography that will be made available to ACA members in advance of the online voting period, will be posted on the ACA website and available on the electronic ballot.
The ACA welcomes more diverse and inclusive representation in the composition of its Board and Committees and encourages the nomination of all qualified individuals including women, members of racialized communities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
Questions should be directed to Alice Albarda (NAAC.Co-Chair2@archivists.ca) or Shannon Hodge (NAAC.Co-Chair1@archivists.ca), co-chairs, Nominations and Awards Committee.
The ACA Professional Development Committee meets monthly the first Thursday of each month.
ACA's monthly digital newsletter, Scope and Content published.
Share your news with the ACA
A form for promoting your news, events, and more through the Association of Canadian Archivists' official channels.
https://archivists.ca/Submit-Member-News-Social-Media
A note on Equity Commitments and ACA Communications
The ACA office will be closed Friday April 7th and Monday April 10th, 2023 and open again the 11th of April.
The Municipal Archives Special Interest Section would like to invite all ACA members to a very special MASIS meeting with Olesia Stefanyk, the Director of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine, Lviv and Oksana Melnyk, Archivist Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine, Lviv on April 12, 2023 at 9:00 AM EST/6:00 AM PST.
The meeting will include two short videos and a presentation by Ms. Stefanyk and Ms. Melnyk about the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine and the ongoing work being done in a time of war to protect the valuable records held at its repository.
Please submit any question you may have ahead of time to the executive.director@archives.ca
Due to the time difference between Canada and the Ukraine the ACA will be recording the meeting for those unable to attend.
Oksana Melnyk has been working in Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine, Lviv as an archivist for the last ten years. Work in the Archives reading room with the researches of different age, from the countries all over the world (Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Hungary, France, Vatican, Canada, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Australia), having different goals of their research (trying to get birth/marriage/death certificates, land property documents, the oldest documents that proved their ancestors came from that village, information about military service in Austro-Hungarian army, finding information in professional sphere) has given a good knowledge of where people may find information about their ancestors in the archival documents. Having a diploma of English department of Ivan Franko National University and experience of teaching English in Poland gave knowledge of English and Polish. She also knows German and Latin a bit.
Olesia Stefanyk graduated from Lviv Ivan Franko University, Ukrainian Language and Literature department in 1995.Olesia had been working as a Junior Research Fellow and a Head Researcher in Document Storage department from 1993 till 2006. Due to her being responsible, organizational skills and creative ways of implementing her duties in 2006 Olesia Stefanyk became a Deputy Director and in 2019 a Director of State Historical Archives of Ukraine, Lviv. She represented Archives at scientific international conferences in Poland, Turkey and Armenia. Document preservation, digitalizing and the usage of information of documents preserved in National Archival Fond are considered as Archives priority tasks by Olesia Stefanyk. She is learning new approaches of Archives development and is using them sucсessfully in her work. Olesia Stefanyk considers Archives to be the heart of society and this is the reason why she is trying to save documents preserved in Archives storehouses from the very first days of war started by russian federation against Ukraine.
The ACA Nominations and Awards Committee (NAAC) is currently inviting nominations from the Canadian archival community for the following honors:
Information on each award as well as the nomination process can be found on the Honours and Awards page: https://archivists.ca/Honours-and-Awards
Closing date for nominations is April 14th, 2023.
For more information, contact: Alice Albarda (NAAC.Co-Chair2@archivists.ca) or Shannon Hodge (NAAC.Co-Chair1@archivists.ca), co-chairs, NAAC.
Date and Place of Presentation
Awards shall be bestowed at the Awards Celebration during the ACA Annual Conference in Charlottetown, PEI June 28 to July 1, 2023.
The Earthly Paradise: Recent Botanical Acquisitions McMaster University Library
You are cordially invited to a free virtual lecture: 20 April 2023 at 12 pm EST / 9:00 am PST
Register using this link. Please feel free to share this invitation with other interested parties.
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a dizzying proliferation of new European books on botany. Driven by interrelated sociopolitical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technological developments, the era was a golden age for sumptuous and lavishly illustrated tomes addressing every conceivable plant-related subject — pharmacology, taxonomy, horticulture, and sylviculture among them. In a heady environment rife with innovation, political and religious controversy, and outright plagiarism, creators and collectors collaborated and competed to take the study and appreciation of plants to new heights — and new audiences.
In recent years, McMaster University Library has acquired several significant works in this tradition, including early editions of Gerard’s Herball, John Parkinson’s Theatrum Botanicum and Paradisi in Sole, Ulisse Aldrovandi’s Natural History, Castore Durante’s Herbario Nuovo, John Evelyn’s Sylva, and a scarce English translation of the Amsterdam Pharmacopoeia.
Join Myron Groover, McMaster’s Archives and Rare Books Librarian, for an intimate look at these stunning artefacts and the contexts in which they were created.
This lecture is hosted by McMaster University Library’s Archives Alive program in partnership with McMaster University Alumni.
Community archiving
Special Interest Section for Archives of Religious Organizations
The Society of American Archivists defines a community archives as “documentation of a group of people that share common interests, and social, cultural and historical heritage, usually created by members of the group being documented and maintained outside of traditional archives.” Join the Association of Canadian Archivists – Special Interest Section for Archives of Religious Organizations for a panel discussion on community archives.
Date: Thursday, May 25, 3:00 pm EST/EDT
The Archives:
The Panelists: Simon Patrick Rogers is the special collections archivist at the John M. Kelly Library at the University of St. Michael’s College and a founding member of the TINI Music Co-op, a community archiving project to promote DIY archival documentation and information resources for Toronto area musicians, archivists and music enthusiasts. He has published numerous articles on diverse topics including archives, municipal history and architecture, music, literature, and the field of monetary appraisal.
Long-time naturalists Winifred and David Wake have been the volunteer archivists for Nature London since 2006. A registered charity with no paid employees, the 500-member club has roots going back to 1864. The archive was established in 1966 and now holds the equivalent of about 20 banker’s boxes of material. Winifred and David continue to learn as they work to establish the archive on a more professional footing and seek ways to accommodate digital holdings.
Dez Nacario is the Archivist for the Huron Diocese of the Anglican Church in Canada. The V.M. Cronyn Memorial Archives collects records from churches, parishioners, clergy, and from the Synod activities of the Diocese of Huron. The collection encompasses over 200 churches, both active and inactive, across Southwestern Ontario from the early 1800s to present day. While churches are responsible for the care of their active records, Canon Law compels them to send records of historic value to the Archives for safekeeping and to make them available to interested researchers.
Kathy McVady was born in Chicago and came to Madonna House in 1966, making Promises in 1968. Most of her apostolic life was spent in a Madonna House mission house in Winslow, AZ, and in Barbados, West Indies. During that time, she learned from a distance what field houses needed to provide for the ongoing work at Madonna House Archives, and when she was reassigned to Combermere in 2015, she began working at St. Sergius Archives, becoming the Department Head in 2016.
Kathleen Winter was born in Dublin, Ireland and came to Canada as a young child. She has been active in the Catholic Women’s League serving as Secretary and President of St. Bonaventure Council of the Catholic Women’s League and on Calgary Diocesan Council as Resolutions, Education and Health, Spiritual Development Chairpersons and President Elect and Organization. In 2015 she started cataloguing the Catholic Women’s League records at the Calgary Catholic Pastoral Center.
Members Input Session
2023 May 31 Online via Zoom
Join the ACA Board of Directors on Wednesday May 31, 2023 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT for the Members Input Session. This meeting will take place online, via Zoom. Supporting documents will be available online in the May 2023 Bulletin.
Institutional members are reminded to ensure that a designated delegate has been entered into your membership profile to ensure your delegate receives the details about ACA meetings. Members will have an opportunity to share their input and ideas during this meeting.
ACA Annual General Meeting
2023 June 14 Online via Zoom
Join the ACA Board of Directors on Tuesday, June 14, 2023 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT for the Annual General Meeting. The meeting agenda will include board reports, an update on ACA activities, including committees, SISs and Student Chapters. Members will also have an opportunity to review ACA audit documents and the ACA budget material.
This meeting will take place online, via Zoom. The agenda and supporting documents are available online in the June 2023 Bulletin.
The results of the 2023 election will be announced and members will be able to meet the new ACA 2023-2025 board members.
Institutional members are reminded to ensure that a designated delegate has been entered into your membership profile to ensure your delegate receives the online voting link and information regarding the AGM.
ACA 2023: Belonging - Considering archival bonds and disconnects
City: Charlottetown
Dates: June 28 to July 1, 2023 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott, Prince Edward Island
Format: In Person
Accommodation
For more information about accommodation and the room block, see here: 2023_Conference Accommodation
Conference Rates and Important Dates
At-a-Glance and Selecting Sessions
Over the next several weeks, the Conference At-a-Glance will be updated with additional information or minor details as they become available. We will have a .pdf version of the conference program and program details will be on the website by April 15, 2023. Please note that the conference registration form asks you to select sessions you plan on attending. If you do not know at this time, you can indicate that you do not know. The Secretariat can assist you with editing your selection as may be needed.This information will help the team plan for session and event attendance.
Social Activities
This year's annual conference is taking place a little later than it has been in the past. The Host Team has planned activities that will provide opportunities to enjoy with family and colleagues at the end of each day. In the coming weeks, watch for blogs, emails, and updated information about restaurant suggestions, tours, and ideas to extend your stay.
Conference App
Again this year, ACA 2023 has a free, official app via the Whova platform. There will be a virtual 'swag bag' that will provide conference attendees with access to discounts at local venues and activities. Stay tuned for more details.
The App will be live April 15, 2023. At that time, you will be invited to download Whova to your desktop or mobile device, and you will be able to:
For the first time since 2019, the ACAF will host its annual auction to raise funds to support bursaries, travel grants, and scholarships for ACA members, emerging professionals in particular. If you have an item you wish to donate or if you wish to craft, create, or make an item for auction, please reach out to the ACAF Secretariat: acaf@archivists.ca. Tax receipts will be issued as outlined by CRA guidelines. We will be using the FollowMyBid app again this year so that folks not able to attend in person will be able to be part of the auction.
Trade Show and Exhibitors
There are also opportunities to be part of this year's trade show. You can register here: ACA 2023 Trade Show - Exhibitors
Advertising and Sponsorship
This version of the annual ACA annual conference will attract more than 225 archivists and record keepers working in the archives and communities across Canada, the USA and internationally.
Conference sponsorship allows you to reach this influential group of professionals, leaders and decision-makers.
See here for more information: Advertising, Sponsorship and Support - ACA 2023: Belonging - Considering archival bonds and disconnects
Introduction to Archival Digital Accessibility
Pre-Conference Workshop
Today, more than ever before, those who work with archival digital materials rely on websites, images, PDF documents, audio, and video, to connect with researchers and the public. Lowering barriers to make digital materials more accessible is crucial for the one out of five Canadians, who identify as having disabilities. As well, some of the 1.3 billion people worldwide may also be using Canadian archival digital materials.
There is also provincial and Federal accessibility and human rights legislation across Canada that may require many of us working with archival digital materials, to identify and lower barriers for people with disabilities. Lowering barriers makes access easier and more inclusive, and provides a sense of belonging for those of us who have disabilities. In this workshop, learn the basics on how to start identifying and lowering barriers. The first part of the workshop will focus on 'why' digital accessibility is important for people with disabilities, and what legislation may apply to your work. This will include information on who may be accessing your digital materials, and what technologies may be used. There will be one or two live demonstrations of some popular technologies. The second part of the workshop will focus on the basics of the 'what' and 'how'. You will learn practical tips that can be used right away, to help make digital materials more accessible and inclusive. The workshop is geared to a beginner and intermediate audience. No technical expertise is required, just have an interest in the subject.
What You Will Learn:
Outline
Costs:
ACA Members: $ 50.00
Non-Members: $ 75.00
ACA Members - students / precariously employed: $25.00
ACA Members - subsidized: $ 0 (please reach out to the ACA Secretariat for the application).
Workshop Facilitator:
Lisa Snider is CNSA MemoryNS Support Specialist and AABC MemoryBC Coordinator. She is a digital archivist, and since 2010, has worked with digital and hybrid collections in North America, including at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Lisa's passion in life is working with website, document, audio, video, and social media accessibility. She shares her knowledge with others to lower barriers, and make digital materials more accessible for people with different disabilities. Lisa has worked with, and helped create, accessibility legislation across Canada. She has worked with digital accessibility since 1999, and collaborates with Microsoft to improve their product accessibility.
Annual Conference: June 28 to July 1, 2023
Why sponsor this national conference?
In 2020 and 2021, the ACA pivoted to host two successful online conferences. In 2022, the ACA hosted its first ever hybrid annual conference. In 2023, for the first time since 2019 (Toronto), the ACA annual conference will take place in person at the Delta PEI, located on the water close to many amenities and sites to see.
Exciting marketing opportunities are provided that will enable your organization to:
Obtain valuable exposure and prominence with current and potential clients
Increase corporate and organizational visibility
Show your organization's commitment to supporting the diverse community of archivists and record keepers and the important work undertaken to preserving the records of today for future generations.
Four conference sponsorship levels to choose from … with benefits and recognition for your organization
Sponsorship Levels
Acknowledgements and Advertising Opportunities
Whova Conference App: This year, the ACA will be using Whova, a networking and engagement conference app to support this year's conference. All supporters will be listed in the app. We will also be using banners to highlight the support of our sponsors.
Conference Programs: Published prior to the annual conference, the Program contains detailed descriptions of sessions and social events. It is posted on the web, reaching all delegates and is accessible to the international archives community.
Please contact the ACA Secretariat with any questions you may have.
ACA 2023 - Belonging - Considering archival bonds and disconnects
“Artificial Intelligence and Archives: the I Trust AI Research Project.”
When: June 28, 2023, Delta PEI Charlottetown
Time: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM AT
Capacity: 50 participants
The ongoing availability, accessibility, and trustworthiness of public records is under threat, due to sociotechnical changes that have left our public institutions staggering under an overwhelming abundance, complexity, and lack of control of records. Without automated means of processing, we will increasingly lose control of public records, and ultimately, the public will lose trust in archives. However, implementing automated solutions - especially Artificial Intelligence solutions - raises a whole new set of costs and risks, from the expenses involved in implementing systems, to the risks of privacy breach, bias and discrimination, and loss of discretion. This workshop will explain the fundamental ideas on which AI is based, discuss types of AI tools available, and identify both the advantages and issues presented by their use on records and archives. It will then outline the way the new InterPARES project, I Trust AI, aims to determine how the records and archives community can develop its own AI tools based on archival principles, and leverage them to support society's demand for trustworthy public records. Finally, it will present some of the studies that are being carried out by the I Trust AI researchers, and their outcomes to date, and will involve the workshop participants in the analysis and discussion of such outcomes.
Learning Outcomes
The participants will learn to:
Muhammad Abdul-Mageed is Canada Research Chair in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning. His research focuses on deep representation learning and natural language socio-pragmatics, with two main goals: (1) development of `social’ machines for improved human health, safer social networking, and reduced information overload; and (2) use of machine learning as a vehicle for making discoveries with and about human language. He is currently leading several funded projects, including InterPARES Trust AI, and has been funded by SSHRC, NSERC, CFI, Google, Amazon, AMD, among others. Luciana Duranti is a Professor at the UBC School of Information, where she teaches archival diplomatics, appraisal, preservation of digital records, and history of recordkeeping. Her research aims to find solutions to digital record issues that can be universally applied. Since 1998, she has been the Director of InterPARES (International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems), a multi-national and multi-disciplinary research project studying the long-term preservation of authentic electronic records, which is now in its 5th phase. She has been the lead investigator also for other SSHRC-funded projects, such as Records in the Clouds and Digital Records Forensics. Corinne Rogers is the Project Coordinator for InterPARES Trust AI (UBC, 2021-2026), a multidisciplinary, international partnership researching the uses and applicability of Artificial Intelligence in archival workflows to ensure trust and trustworthiness of records and data. She is an adjunct professor in the UBC School of Information, where she teaches diplomatics and digital preservation. She was most recently a Systems Archivist at Artefactual Systems, lead developers and organizational home to open source projects for digital preservation, AccessToMemory (AtoM) and Archivematica. Peter Sullivan is a Graduate Academic Assistant working under Luciana and Muhammad. His research focuses on Speech Processing, particularly Automatic Speech Recognition and classification (State Detection, Language and Dialect ID). Prior to returning to academia, he was a high-school Computer Science teacher, and brings with him his passion for demystifying complex technologies. Tracey P. Lauriault is Associate Professor, Critical Media and Big Data, School of Journalism and Communications, Cross Appointed to Digital Humanities, and board member of the Institute for Data Science at Carleton University in Canada. She a founder of the field critical data studies, open data and Open Smart Cities. As a data and technological citizen, she examines large and small data and technology systems to make them more just, inclusive, equitable and environmentally sustainable. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1847-2738
ACA's 48th Annual Conference Belonging - Considering archival bonds and disconnects
Trade Show - Exhibitors
In Person and Virtual Options
Please see here for a link to accommodation: https://archivists.ca/2023_Conference-Accommodation/
Format: In Person The 2023 Trade Show will take place on Thursday, June 29 and Friday June 30, 2023 at the Delta, PEI in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. This year, we will be meeting in person. We are expecting more than 225 delegates from across Canada, the USA and internationally to attend in person. The Trade Show offers an excellent opportunity if your firm is seeking to demonstrate your products or services to leading archivists. • Exhibitor Booth provided within Whova app • Link to Exhibitor Booth page disseminated via ACA Conference social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram,LinkedIn) • Opportunity to submit a brief (max. 3 minute) pre-recorded video re: services and/or products for inclusion on the conference Whova platform • Conference registration for 2 Exhibitor representatives, access to sessions, and all conference refreshment breaks and lunches on June 29 and June 30. • Cost: $1200.00 per booth flat fee
The ACA recognizes that it may not be possible for exhibitors to attend in person. Exhibitors may also interact with conference attendees using, Whova, the ACA's conference app.
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