Scope and Content Monthly ACA Newsletter
February 2026, Volume 7, Issue 02 |
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Click here if you are having trouble reading the newsletter.
The next Scope and Content will be published March 5th, 2026. If you have any comments or feedback, please contact the Communications Committee.
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Greetings, all. The countdown to February 9th is officially on. This is the day that our new Executive Director, Mab Coates-Davies, begins their tenure with the ACA! I am excited to work with Mab, who I know will bring a fresh perspective and commitment to advancing the mission of the ACA. Members can look forward to learning more about Mab in an upcoming issue of Scope and Content.
Although February is a short month, it is packed with meetings and events. In addition to regularly scheduled meetings, the Board and Committee Chairs will meet virtually on February 24 for a strategic planning check-in. At the fall Planning and Priorities (P&P) meeting, the Board and Committee Chairs decided to replace the Spring P&P with quarterly check-in meetings throughout the year to review progress on work plans. Moving to quarterly meetings will enable us to identify challenges as they arise and be proactive in solving problems. It will also foster collaboration between committees and the board, and ensure our goals remain relevant and realistic.
Sadly, my message this month ends on a grim note. Earlier this week I was dismayed to hear that due to federal budget cuts, Library and Archives Canada has permanently discontinued the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP). For the past 10 years, the DHCP has provided funding to more than 400 projects aimed at preserving and increasing access to local, regional, and national history. The elimination of this program will devastate small, underfunded archives that rely on this program to carry out their work.
The ACA will be sending a letter to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, the Honourable Marc Miller, expressing our concerns about the elimination of the DCHP. We also call on you, fellow archivists and archives supporters, to contact your Minister of Parliament with a letter of concern. Our Call to Action with information and template letters will be available here on the ACA website.
Thank you, everyone, for your commitment to the Canadian archival community!
Sincerely
Anna Gibson Hollow, President |
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ACA 2026 Conference: Call for Proposals
The 2026 ACA Annual Conference will take place virtually from June 8–11. The submission deadlines are as follows: Proposals Deadline (extended): February 14, 2026 Student Proposals Deadline: February 28, 2026
Poster Submissions Deadline: February 28, 2026
This year’s Program Team Co-Chairs are Jesse Carson and Alyssa Hyduk, who can be reached at program.team.2025(at)archivists.ca. Please visit the conference page on the ACA website for more details. |
Technology and Archives SIS Meeting – February 12th
Please join the Technology and Archives Special Interest Section (TaASIS) for a participant‑led conversation where members can meet to chat about archives and technology, share project updates, and collaborate with peers to identify and define community‑driven solutions to ongoing tech challenges.
This meetup is informal, flexible, and shaped by you! The meeting is open to everyone, and TaASIS members are especially encouraged to come out and take part in the conversation. The agenda will be circulated to TaASIS members and registrants the day before the meeting. To propose a topic or agenda item, please email TaASIS Chair Allie at TaASIS.Chair(at)archivists.ca.
- Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026
- Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (EST) / 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM (PST)
- Location: Virtual
Register for the meeting here. |
Introduction to Archival Description Workshop – March 5th
This workshop will provide participants with a solid introduction to archival arrangement and description. Participants will complete an arrangement exercise and a description exercise and will leave this 2.5-hour workshop feeling empowered to tackle the processing of records using a content standard such as RAD or DACS.
Instructors: Mary Grace Kosta and Jannah Toms.
- Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM – 4:30 PM (EST) / 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM (PST)
- Location: Zoom
Sign up for the workshop here. |
Access & Privacy Special Interest Section (APSIS) Meeting – March 12th
The ACA Access & Privacy Special Interest Section (SIS) will be holding a meeting for anyone interested in information access and privacy as a social value, citizen right, and as it pertains to your institutional holdings.
The SIS seeks to establish a foundation for archivists to openly connect and share perspectives on access to information, access and privacy practices, and archival access more broadly. If you’re interested in matters relating to the acquisition and management of personal information, or access more broadly as an archival duty, please feel free to join the group.
Topics of interest include access services and barriers to accessing archives, user experience and access to archives, access rights, understanding privacy, how access & privacy laws apply to public & private sector archives, and the various challenges that coincide with disclosure. Identifying steps and strategies for implementing privacy compliant business practices can also be considered.
The group will be open to tabling concerns of archivists related to privacy ethics & principles and access to information issues for general awareness and knowledge sharing.
- Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026
- Time: 1:00 PM (EST) / 11:00 AM (PST)
- Location: Virtual
Register for the meeting here.
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2026 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 Bluesky. 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, January 30th, and the theme was #ArchivesOnTheMove! Thank you to everyone who shared materials from their collections related to transportation.
The next ACA Hashtag Party will take place on February 26, 2026, and the theme will be #ArchivesBlackHistory! We are excited to honour and celebrate the diversity, histories, and cultures of Black people in Canada and to acknowledge the many everyday contributions of Black communities from across the country. On the day, share your best materials related to Black history and don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtag so we can re-share your posts.
The upcoming themes for the ACA Hashtag Parties will be:
- March 26, 2026: #ArchivesColourTheory (Celebrating art, design, and all things colourful in our collections)
- April 30, 2026: #ArchivesLabour (Honouring labour and workers' movements represented in our materials)
- May 28, 2026: #ArchivesCuisine (Sharing food and recipes from our archives)
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 feedback, or if you have initiatives that you would like the ACA Hashtag Party to support, please email us at communications[at]archivists.ca.
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Carr McLean Discount Available for 2026
Carr McLean is once again offering a discount for both individual and institutional ACA members for the 2026 membership year. This 10% discount can be applied to any order over $100 and is non-transferrable. The discount code will remain effective until December 31, 2026.
To obtain the code for the 2026 calendar year, please login to the members only site and go to the Member Benefits page. You will need to have an active membership to obtain the code. |
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If you are interested in volunteering for the ACA, please contact our Vice President, Angela Fornelli, at vicepresident(at)archivists.ca with a brief statement of your interest and experience.
The following committees are currently recruiting volunteers:
- Communications Committee
- Financial Review Committee
- Governance Committee, Membership Committee
- Professional Development Committee
- Public Awareness & Advocacy Committee
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Membership Committee Seeks Volunteers
The Membership Committee is seeking a new member! The membership committee promotes membership in the ACA, works on new services and benefits for members, and coordinates the popular Mentorship Program to help those new to the profession. If this sounds like something in which you would like to be involved, please submit an online application here. If you would like to learn more about the Membership Committee before you put your name forward or have questions about Committee activities, please contact Curtis Frederick, Committee Chair, at membership@archivists.ca. Thank you for considering joining! |
Student Volunteer Opportunity
The ACA Membership Committee is seeking an enthusiastic student member to join the committee to help shape engagement initiatives, support the mentorship program, and be a voice for students. This is a great opportunity to develop professional experience, build connections, and gain valuable experience with the ACA. If you are interested, please submit an online application here. If you have questions, please contact Curtis Frederick, Committee chair, at membership@archivists.ca. Thank you for considering joining! |
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In the Field: The ACA Blog
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If you’d like to submit a blog post, please read and complete this form. We look forward to your contribution!
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ACA@50 | In Conversation with Shelley Sweeney
In this 50th anniversary blog feature, Lily Liu chats with Shelley Sweeney—former Head of the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections and an ACA Fellow, among other accomplishments—for an insightful conversation. Read the full article here.
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Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) Funding Cut – ACA Call to Action
Early this week the ACA Board received an email from Leslie Weir, Library and Archivist of Canada, informing us that the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) has been permanently discontinued and that there will be reductions to the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) functions. These measures are the result of cuts in the federal budget.
The DCHP provides program funding that helps underfunded community-based organizations increase access to, and awareness of their holdings; and increase their capacity to keep and preserve Canada's documentary heritage. Over the past 10 years, the DHCP has provided $16 million in funding to support more than 400 projects aimed at preserving and increasing access to local, regional, and national history.
The ACA Board is sending letters to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages, the Honourable Marc Miller, protesting the elimination of the DHCP and the reduction to ATIP. We have also completed a call to action to restore the DCHP. Please visit our Call to Action page for the following resources: - a copy of the letter the ACA has addressed to the Honourable Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister Responsible for Official Languages, Marc Miller.
- A downloadable Call to Action Package (.docx) containing a statement from the ACA, as well as template letters from the perspective of an archivist and from the perspective of archive users and supporters. We encourage readers to reach out to their local MP to express their dissatisfaction with the cuts.
The ACA is exploring other options in the near future to raise awareness and dismay regarding these latest cuts.
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No job postings this month. 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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Do you have news you’d like the ACA to share via its social media channels? Contact the Communications Committee to give us the details! Communications(at)archivists.ca
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The next issue of Scope & Content will come out on
Thursday, March 5th, 2026. See you then!
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Contact Us
Suite 1912-130 Albert Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
Email: aca(at)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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