Outside the Box

Greetings everyone, From November 26 - 30, I ventured north to Whitehorse, Yukon to present a 2-day workshop on basic digitization as well as participate in the Yukon Council of Archives (YCA) "Archival Summit." I have been to the Yukon only once before for the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) Conference in June of 2012, the picture on the left is the view out my hotel window back then and I have had alleys and parking-lots since, as in Edmonton this year, pictured on the right. ;-) ACA Whitehorse 2012 ACA Edmonton 2018 So, I was prepared for dark cold in late November and few chances at a great view, but the sun rose at about 9am and set around 3:30pm and did get to enjoy some spectacular views.  However, For someone who goes to work in the dark, works in a basement office and goes home in the dark any view is fantastic! Whitehorse airport 2018 On my arrival, a little after midnight on Monday morning, I was greeted by another Saskatchewan transplan...

 So I've recently made the transition from archival assistant at the University of Saskatchewan Archives and Special Collections, to Special Collections Librarian at the Local History Room in the Saskatoon Public Library. The move has me re-thinking some of the relationships between archival and library materials. In the larger archive at the University, it was easier (though not always easy) to draw a line: this goes into our library special collections; that is archival. But in the more intimate and public-oriented space of the Local History Room, I am reminded that from the perspective of most researchers those distinctions mean very little. Information is information, and if it is the information you are looking for it doesn't really matter how it was organized or what format it takes. From behind-the-scenes, these things do matter, of course, and the reason for that is access. Some materials are simply better dealt with one way and others another. If every page in an ...

In response to the on-going debate over the decision to amalgamate the offices and services of the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, PAS, the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists, SCAA, board has drafted this statement. Please be advised that several members of the SCAA board identified as having a conflict-of-interest and were not involved in the drafting of this message. With the closure of the Saskatoon office of the PAS many are concerned about the continued preservation of documentary heritage in that part of the province, and the impact this change will have on heritage researchers and professionals province-wide.  We at the SCAA wish to reaffirm our commitment to the support of the archival community in Saskatchewan.  The SCAA has over 55 institutional members and countless individual-members across the province--including the PAS—and we will continue to do our utmost to work with those members to ensure that the culture and heritage...