Scope and Content Monthly ACA Newsletter
December 2023, Volume 4, Issue 12
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Click here if you are having trouble reading the newsletter.
Scope and Content will be published January 11, 2024. If you have any comments or feedback, please contact the Communications Committee.
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This time of year is always such a busy one; we have just come through Canadian Thanksgiving with Halloween right on its heels, and the next thing coming down the pike is the holiday rush. And as we watch fall turn into winter, the contemplation of “Peace on Earth – Good Will to All” seems even more poignant this year. My hope for the coming year is for us, all of us, to have more compassion not just in our daily lives and to our loved ones but also to those who we don’t quite understand or have different views from, that we look at others and not just see the differences that divide us but also those similarities that bring us together.
The ACA Board works to try to bring a diverse group of people who have a passion for records, archives, and history together for common endeavours. ACA committee members use that passion to drive those endeavours for the betterment of the Association as a whole, and while it is sometimes hard to see where we can make a difference, the ACA is one of those places that we can. We may not be saving the world, but we are working towards having things in place to ensure we don’t leave it worse off and, perhaps more importantly, that we support those who are trying to preserve their histories. I may be a broken record at this point, but I can only encourage our members to find a space within the ACA where your voice can be heard and make a difference by volunteering for committees.
Have the happiest of holidays, whatever you may celebrate at this time of year, and let us meet in 2024 with a renewed sense of purpose.
Angela Fornelli
vicepresident@archivists.ca
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As Chair of the ACA Foundation, it brings me great joy to announce our new partnership with Artefactual Systems, which will increase the accessibility of the ACA conference to students and emerging professionals! This agreement, set over a two-year period, will provide the funds necessary to bring one student presenter to the 2025 in-person conference and will subsidize student registration for the 2024 virtual conference.
The ACA Foundation Board is very grateful to Artefactual for their generosity, and we look forward to working with them in the coming years!
Additionally, the 2022 draft audit for the ACA has been approved by the Board of Directors and will be submitted upon receipt of the finalized copy from the auditor. I would like to remind members that the audit will be available, in full, in the upcoming edition of The Bulletin.
I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season and hope you all have a “cool yule”!
Always yours,
Kyle Pugh, Treasurer
treasurer@archivists.ca
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"Alibi Produced when party stopped work, November 1910," Photograph by Arthur H Holland, Northern BC Archives and Special Collections, 2014.10.1.141
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New Social Account
The ACA is now on Threads! Follow us at aca_canada to see everything we’re up to and start a conversation with us.
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ACA Hashtag Party
You’re invited to the ACA Hashtag Party! On the last Thursday of every month, the ACA Social Media Team organizes a hashtag party, which takes place virtually on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). There is a different theme for each month, which we announce on social media and Arcan-l in advance. On the day of the party, you can share materials in your collections related to that theme, tag us and use the hashtag, and we’ll re-share your post. The goal of the parties is to engage more with institutions across Canada, see what kinds of materials other institutions have, and promote weird, fun, and interesting items from your own collections. Last month’s party took place on Thursday, November 30, and the theme was #ArchivesActivism! We really valued this opportunity to remind ourselves and each other of the impact that Canadian archives have had on social justice movements throughout history.Thank you to everyone who participated. The ACA Hashtag Party will take a pause in December to give our volunteers a break, but we’re excited to host you again in the new year! The first few dates and themes for 2024 ACA Hashtag Parties will be as follows: - January 25, 2024: ArchivesScience
- February 29, 2024: ArchivesBlackHistory
- March 28, 2024: ArchivesFeast
- April 25, 2024: ArchivesVolunteers
Keep an eye on future issues of Scope and Content and on all our social media accounts to learn more about what we’re interested in for each of these themes! For any questions, or if you have initiatives that you would like the ACA Hashtag Party to support, please email us at communications@archivists.ca.
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New and Revised ACA Policies
The Governance Committee is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved several new and revised policies related to significant aspects of the ACA’s operations. More than an exercise in good governance, the approval of the revised policies represents a step forward in embedding the ACA’s equity commitments into its operational framework.
The Board of Directors recently approved the following policies: Fee Subsidy; Financial Management; Gifts, Donations and Sponsorship; Membership; Reserve Fund; and Travel and Accommodation. Of these, the key policy surrounding the ACA’s equity commitments is the Fee Subsidy Policy, which lays out the process for subsidizing fees for membership as well as professional development opportunities. This process broadens access to the ACA’s programs and services to members experiencing economic precarity as well as to potential members who bring unique perspectives and specialized knowledge who would not normally be able to join the ACA. Establishing these elements within the policy demonstrates the ACA’s ongoing commitment to developing a talented, capable, and supportive profession that is truly representative of Canadian society.
The Committee is currently working on an Honoraria Policy as well as a Conference Planning Policy to guide these aspects of the ACA’s operations. These policies, as well as all future policies, will be written with the ACA’s equity commitments in mind to ensure that the ACA’s operations incorporate these principles at their core.
To view these and other ACA policies, please see the Policy and Codes page on the ACA website. If you have any questions about the activities of the Governance Committee, please contact executive.director@archivists.ca.
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ACA Mentorship Program
Enrolment for the 2024 Mentorship Program opened on November 15!
Please consider signing up as a volunteer mentor to connect with someone newly entering the profession and to offer your insight into archival issues, working environments, and career development. If you’re an ACA member, we welcome archivists and information professionals with a range of job titles and institutional backgrounds to become a new mentor.
To find out more about the program and if you’re eligible to become mentors or mentees, visit the ACA website .
Any questions can also be directed to Mentorship Program Coordinators Nicole Aminian and Kyle Pugh at mentorship.program@archivists.ca.
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Nominations and Awards Committee (NAAC) Volunteers Needed
The ACA is looking for volunteers for the Nominations and Awards Committee to be a part of the process to recognize and celebrate ACA members.
The mandate of NAAC is to manage the ACA Honours and Awards program as well as to support the succession of qualified members to serve on the ACA Board of Directors and its committees by facilitating the transparent search, nomination, and election process.
If this sounds like something that would be of interest to you and if you are an ACA member in good standing, please contact Angela Fornelli, Vice President of the ACA (vicepresident@archivists.ca), or fill out the ACA Volunteer Form here! |
ACA Governance Committee: Volunteers Needed
The ACA Governance Committee is embarking upon a membership renewal phase and requires several new members in the upcoming months.
The role of the Governance Committee is to assist the Board of Directors in creating an operational framework for the ACA that provides transparency, is accountable to the membership, and achieves the strategic aims of the ACA.
While this assistance may take the form of advice to Board members on governance-related issues, the work of the Committee is primarily focused on the development and revision of policies, procedures, forms, and other documents that guide the work of the ACA’s Board and Committees. The Committee meets monthly for approximately an hour via Zoom to discuss governance issues and review the policies drafted by Committee members.
If you are interested in joining the Governance Committee, please visit the Volunteer with Us page on the ACA website for more information. If you have questions about the Committee’s mandate and activities, please contact Ian Forsyth, Co-chair at iforsyth@sfu.ca.
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Renew Your Membership This Fall
Renew your 2024 ACA membership early and you’ll be entered in our annual Early Bird Prize Draw. Membership runs January-December, so you’ll be covered for next year.
Remember: Membership with ACA includes access to Archivaria, the Mentorship Program, discounted rates on workshops and the Conference, and more. Members can also help lead our Association by participating on Committees and the Board of Directors, as well as having voting power at our AGM. So why not renew early?
Prizes for Early Bird renewals have been announced, and winners will be drawn by the ACA Secretariat in January.
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ACA Web Archiving with Archive-It
The ACA Board and Website Working group are pleased to announce that, as of this past October, the ACA and ACAF websites are now being crawled via the web archiving platform Archive-It. The Board hopes this initiative will support members wishing to reference past iterations of the two sites. While the Website Working Group is still in the early stages of establishing procedures, a testing process, and creating internal documentation, initial crawls are now publicly accessible via the following links:
The Board would like to extend a huge thank-you to the Internet Archive, who have graciously provided the ACA with a Sponsored account to undertake this work! Archive-It Sponsored accounts provide organizations complimentary subscriptions to web archiving tools, perpetual data storage, and the ability to share collections publicly. Sponsored accounts go towards supporting volunteer, citizen, and non-institutional efforts to archive web-based materials of critical importance.
To learn more on the Archive-It and Internet Archive, click here.
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ACA@UBC Conference – Call for Participants
The student chapter of the Association of Canadian Archivists at the University of British Columbia (ACA@UBC) invites any interested archival or information studies students from all universities around the world to participate in its 15th annual conference, which will be held on February 16, 2024. The 2024 Conference is titled “Archives and the Environment: Land, Colonialism, and the Climate Crisis” and will consider presentations related to this theme.
Student presentations will take the form of lightning talks and do not have to be about a completed project – ongoing projects, ideas for future projects, and your experience as an archives or information studies student are welcome.
If you are interested in participating, please visit the ACA@UBC website to learn more about the conference and submission requirements. The deadline to submit a proposal is December 11, 2023.
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Joan Mitchell Travel Award
The Joan Mitchell Travel Award seeks to promote and support original, scholarly research in the Laurier Archives and Special Collections. The Travel Award of $1000 supports researchers wishing to travel to the Laurier Archives and Special Collections to conduct research in any of the archival collections. Graduate students and established scholars are invited to apply. The Joan Mitchell Travel Award honours Joan Mitchell, Laurier’s first Head of Archives and Special Collections.
To apply, please forward a letter of application describing the proposed research project, plans for publication, and the collections to be consulted at the Laurier Archives and Special Collections as well as a curriculum vitae and one letter of reference.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Laurier Archives and Special Collections to learn more about the collections when preparing their applications. Laurier Archives and Special Collections staff members are not on the Adjudication Committee.
Applications should be submitted to libarch@wlu.ca.
Application deadline for the 2024 award is January 22, 2024.
Click here for more information.
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Carr McLean Discount Available for 2023
The Carr McLean
10% discount is available for both Individual and Institutional ACA
members for the entire membership year. This discount can be applied to
any order over $100 and is non-transferrable. Contact the ACA Secretariat at executive.director@archivists.ca for the new discount code that will remain effective until December 31, 2023.
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Archivaria 96 (Fall 2023) is now available online. It will also be available on Project Muse within the coming days. The print issue is in production and will be mailed to members and subscribers in the next few weeks. In accordance with our one-year rolling access window, the entire content of Archivaria 94 (Fall 2022) is now available to all readers on our website.
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SAA – Archivists of Religious Collections Section: Lunch and Learn
The Society of American Archivists – Archivists of Religious Collections Section invites you to their last Lunch and Learn webinar for 2023: How to start an archive.
Date & time: December 13, 2023 at 3:00 pm ET
Register here for the Zoom webinar.
Presenter: Ellen Scheinberg, Heritage Professionals, Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Ellen Scheinberg is president of Heritage Professionals, a consulting firm specialising in archival, museum, and information management services. Her clients have included government entities, educational & health institutions, corporations, non-profits, clubs, private donors, along with archives and libraries. The projects the firm is currently engaged in are fairly eclectic, ranging from setting up new archives to creating exhibitions, digitization strategies, and space assessments for clients.
For recordings of previous Lunch and Learn sessions, visit this YouTube channel.
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Australian Society of Archivists:Keeping Archives Online Learning Series
Thinking about taking an ASA online course through their Keeping Archives Online Learning Series? Check out the ASA Webinars here, developed as a means to introduce folks to course content. Webinars presented include:
- Webinar: Trauma-Informed Archives – Course creators Nicola Laurent (Vice President of the ASA; Find & Connect web resource, University of Melbourne) and Kirsten Wright (Find & Connect web resource, University of Melbourne) discuss how a trauma-informed approach to managing archives is a useful model to consider for professional practice.
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Webinar: Indigenous Recordkeeping and Archives – Course creator Kirsten Thorpe (Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research (JIIER) at University of Technology Sydney) introduces the Indigenous Archives and Recordkeeping module that has been developed by the Australian Society of Archivists in collaboration with Jumbunna Research at the University of Technology Sydney.
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Webinar: Out-of-Home Care Records – Course creators Kirsten Wright (Program Manager, Find & Connect web resource) and Nicola Laurent (Vice President of the ASA; Senior Project Archivist, Find & Connect web resource) are joined by Frank Golding (Vice President of CLAN) and Simon Froude (Director, State Records of South Australia) to discuss why records are important to people who grew up in care, what organisations can do to improve access to these records, and how CAARA has responded to the recordkeeping recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
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NEDCC Webinars and Workshops
Multi-session courses in the upcoming months:
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January 22, 2024: Fundamentals of Photograph Preservation Course (6 sessions)
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February 20, 2024: Preservation 101 Course (10 sessions)
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June 6, 2024: Writing A Disaster Plan Course (2 sessions)
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National Film Board of Canada Documentary of Interest: Beyond Paper
SYNOPSIS
At a critical moment in the history of the written word, as humanity’s archives migrate to the cloud, one filmmaker goes on a journey around the globe to better understand how she can preserve her own Romanian and Armenian heritage, as well as our collective memory. Blending the intellectual with the poetic, she embarks on a personal quest with universal resonance, navigating the continuum between paper and digital—and reminding us that human knowledge is above all an affair of the soul and the spirit.
Watch now online (free of charge) in Canada.
Beyond Paper (Oana Suteu Khintirian, NFB)
2022 | 2 hrs 11 min
Watch the trailer here and the film here.
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Archives & Things podcast
Melissa J. Nelson’s podcast, Archives & Things, is back with the last episode of the year! In this bonus episode, she speaks with Elaine Young, Program Officer, Communication and Information at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) and Cody Groat, Chair of the Canada Advisory Committee of CCUNESCO. Elaine and Cody speak with Melissa about the Canada Memory of the World Register. Find the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Black Memory Collective
Join Us!
In November 2023, the Black Memory Collective was launched to create a community for Black archivists, memory workers, and researchers who engage with the archives in Canada.
According to the 2021 census from Statistics Canada, Black people make up less than 1% of the total number of working archivists in Canada. there is a vibrant and diverse community but many of us are unaware of each others' work. There is a need to bring people together.
Why are we focused on archives? Archives play a role in community activism, collective healing, and Black consciousness. As we reconnect with our past, we reaffirm our identities and the presence of our ancestors. There are radical possibilities for documenting, activating, and imagining with Black archives. Black archival practices and memory work can transform our future.
Our private spaces include a Slack group, Zoom chats, and in-person meet-ups across Canada. These spaces are for us to connect, socialize, and share our work. We believe it is important to create safe and affirming space for Black people to just be. Join us on Instagram and register as a member with the following link.
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Merchandise: The Foundation is excited to say that we have added our purchasable merchandise to the ACA store! If you’d like some archives swag, the materials can be found here. Great for all your upcoming holiday gift-giving!
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British Columbia History Digitization Program (BCHDP)
The British Columbia History Digitization Program (BCHDP) is now accepting applications for project funding. The program, initiated by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre in 2006, provides matching funds to support digitization projects that make unique British Columbia content freely available. Since its inception in 2006, the BCHDP has awarded more than $2 million of matching funds for more than 250 projects.
Prospective applicants should be a registered charity or qualified donee listed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If an applicant is not a registered charity or qualified donee, a community organization that is a qualified donee may be permitted to act as a financial intermediary. If you have further questions or concerns about this requirement, please contact the BCHDP Coordinator.
In the context of de-colonization and reconciliation, the BC History Digitization Program will consider applications from Indigenous organizations for projects that will not result in public access to the digitized material. IKBLC recognizes that open access is not always ethical or appropriate for Indigenous content. Indigenous applications will be evaluated according to the same criteria in all other aspects of the project applications but will not be required to provide public access to the digitized content.
Applications are due by Friday, December 8, 2023, at 5:00 pm PT. Information about the application process as well as the guidelines and application form are available on the BCHDP website.
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The Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) – Update
It is hard to believe that I have now been part of the CCA since August 2023. There is still a lot to learn, and there are still many folks that I have not had the opportunity to meet or talk to about CCA activities and future work. If you have any questions or suggestions, please reach out at execdirector@archivescanada.ca.
CCA’s AGM is normally held annually in the fall. For the 2023-2024 year, our AGM will take place on February 22, 2024, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, ET, chaired by Yves Lapointe. For the fiscal year 2024-2025, the AGM will take place in November 2024, returning to the third quarter AGM.
With support from the Council of Provincial and Territorial Archives, CCA’s Archives Advisory Services Working Group (AAWG) has developed a guide, links, and resources for non-Indigenous archival institutions in Canada working with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and their documentary heritage. The output of this project is available in English and French, via dedicated pages on CCA’s new website. This project complements the work of the Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives Truth and Reconciliation Taskforce, which is working on compiling resources to assist Indigenous communities who want help with their archives. Together, these resources will provide practical advice and will encourage members of the archival community in Canada to develop the skills and knowledge needed to make connections with their local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. This work is to encourage archives to undertake work towards putting the Reconciliation Framework into action, answering the question of "where do we even begin with steps towards Reconciliation?"
The 2024-2025 Campaign for Young Canada Works has officially launched! Interested employers can access resources for the campaign online: https://archivescanada.ca/young-canada-works/ and the application process is prepared online as well. There are tutorials, tips for obtaining a YCW account and a YCW Q & A section as well. The YCW-CCA team meets regularly with Heritage Canada to provide updates regarding challenges employers have experienced with extraordinary delays in their hiring process during COVID. YCW staff have worked one-on-one with employers to help them realise their approved positions. CCA continues to advocate on behalf of community members to address the age limits for participants given circumstances faced by many students. We will continue to provide updates on these efforts.
On November 22, 2023, the AtoM Foundation held its Annual General Meeting. Anna Dysert (McGill University) was re-elected to another term on the Board of Directors, and Pablo Durand Baquerizo, archivist at the Jefe Archivo Histórico Arquidiocesano in San José, Costa Rica, was elected to a first term on the Board. An update is forthcoming from the Foundation, which will give some highlights from the AGM and detail projects and volunteer opportunities for the coming year. The Foundation is still seeking additional nominations to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors. Please reach out to the CCA Secretariat if you wish to be added to an Access to Memory User list for future communication.
The National Archival Appraisal Board (NAAB) has offered the 4-day Masterclass sessions in two locations during the Fall, 2023 (Ottawa and Saskatoon). There are two classes planned for Library and Archives Canada in January (EN) and February (FR). NAAB is also planning a hybrid Masterclass, anchored in Halifax and the Public Archives of Nova Scotia with Patti Bannister, Archivist of Nova Scotia, and Joanna Aiton Kerr, Archivist of New Brunswick, co-teaching with several guest speakers. Class will take place February 26–29, 2024 at the Nova Scotia Archives. Those unable to travel would be able to join sessions via video conferencing. This format presents an opportunity for those with limited budgets, travel restrictions, health concerns, or other commitments that may impact their availability.
In October 2023, NAAB began its webinar series with three webinars completed and a fourth scheduled for February 7, 2024. Over the next several months, the NAAB Board and Secretariat will be working together to provide opportunities for more community members to access NAAB documentation, resources, webinars, and training.
The Canadian Cultural Property and Export Review Board (CCPERB) remains very much on NAAB’s radar. NAAB appraisers continue to work with institutions for CCPERB appraisals. NAAB webinars, updated resources, and dialogue among community members will provide opportunities to strengthen communication and representation. See the NAAB website for past newsletters. Non-Members will have a 1-year embargo on newsletters. Issue 8 will be released shortly, making Issues 1-6 available to the wide community.
Jo McCutcheon, Executive Director
Canadian Council of Archives |
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Submit your job opportunity here and it will be posted to the ACA website. We will also share this opportunity on our social media channels.
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Digital Archivist, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario Deadline: December 11, 2023
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Archival Technician, Richmond County Historical Society, Melbourne, Québec
Deadline: December 18, 2023
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Archivist, Villa Maria Pastoral Centre, St. Paul, Alberta Deadline: Until position is filled
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Do you have news you’d like the ACA to share via its social media channels? The Communications Committee has created a form you can use to give us the details!
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The next issue of Scope & Content will come out on
Thursday, January 11, 2024. See you then!
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Contact Us
Suite 1912-130 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
Tel: 613-383-2009
Email: aca@archivists.ca
www.archivists.ca
The ACA office is located on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
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