It’s that time of year again – seriously, how has it been a year? Yesterday was #AskAnArchivist Day and although I kind of agree with @EiraTansey that the participants are likely made up mostly of[…]
Tag: archives
Teaching with Documents: Using Archives to Educate
Exciting archival publishing news! The Archives Society of Alberta has just released its inaugural issue of Fonds d’Archives. This new online, open access, scholarly journal is an exciting departure from other archival publications in Canada and the[…]
How to save money by making your own archival boxes
So I know what you’re thinking. Why would you need to save money by building custom archival phase boxes? Archives are just rolling in cash, right? Of course they are, but just to be on[…]
Incredible Archives – the fascinating and the fun
My Archives is about as traditional as it gets. We preserve the historical memory of a city government as well as the community records that document the economic, political, and social history of the city.[…]
Reflections on the ACA@UBC Symposium
During my master’s years, I had the privilege of co-organizing the Carleton University Underhill Graduate Student Colloquium with Jenna Murdock Smith, friend and fellow archivist. Established more than 20 years ago, the Underhill Colloquium provides[…]
Artists and the Archives
Archivists often complain about a lack of everyday awareness of our profession and the societal importance of preservation and access to recorded memory. I am the first to lament the blank stares I get when[…]
Inventive Ways of Using Archives to Engage with the Past
Before I dive into this post, I want to mention that the City of Coquitlam Archives is hiring! We are looking to recruit a permanent, full-time, Archives & Records Officer. The successful applicant will split[…]
Interview with an Archivist
Recently, I was approached by an archival masters student from the University of Texas at Austin, Chido Muchemwa. Her assignment was to talk to an archivist to gain insight into his or her daily work and the general[…]
Lest We Forget: Archives in the Classroom
When I worked at Library and Archives Canada (LAC), I was aware of the Lest We Forget Program and the work being done to introduce students to working with archival records, but it wasn’t until[…]
An Archival Girl in an Artifact World
Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of participating in the “Ask the Expert” session at this year’s BC Museums Association Conference in beautiful Whistler, BC. Having never attended a non-archival conference, I was excited to hear about[…]
Captcha: The Link Between Robots and Archives
This summer I had the pleasure of spending a weekend on a houseboat. The “RV of the Sea,” my friends lovingly called it. My fellow shipmates included several friends of friends who were new to[…]
Disaster! How Archives Face the Unthinkable
Inspired by the work that has been done by the Archives Society of Alberta’s Flood Advisory Programme, I wanted to write about how archives prepare for and handle disasters. So I started by googling “flooded[…]
Then and Now: Archival Mashups
Everyone loves a good “Then and Now” comparison. We marvel at or lament the changes to a place. These comparisons help us to imagine what came before and help us to understand what exists in our[…]
Catch ’em all! Pokémon in the Archives
A worldwide phenomenon like Pokémon Go is fascinating to me. Two weeks ago, we were all quietly going about our business, blissfully unaware that our lives were about to change. OK- perhaps a tad dramatic, but[…]
Archival Backlogs: Tackling the Mountain
I have had the great privilege of starting a municipal archives. With grand intentions and a touch of naiveté, I set out to process everything that came in before acquiring the next fonds or collection. One[…]
Raising Awareness of Archives in Canada
I think it’s safe to say that the archives profession has a branding problem. It is a rare occasion when my answer to the question, “What do you do for a living?” doesn’t elicit blank stares[…]
Many hands make light work? Crowdsourcing archival description and transcription
I get asked regularly whether I am digitizing everything in my archives’ holdings. There is an expectation that everything is digitized and accessible without having to physically enter an archives. But digitization is just the beginning.[…]
Starting an Archives Blog – Diving in!
I recently attended the annual conference of the Association of Canadian Archivists in Montreal, Quebec. The same thing happens to me every year after attending this conference. I am inspired and I get excited. When I get[…]