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SCAA response to PAS amalgamation

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 of Saskatchewan will be maintain…
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FOSA update Nov.13

From time-to-time we welcome the input from our friend the Interim Gopher, Bill Armstrong, of the Friends of Saskatchewan Archives (FoSA) in contributing stories and additional insights to "Outside the Box."

"Greetings, FOSA-ites. One of the ways the Friends assist the Provincial Archives is gathering information from photos held in the Archives' row of file cabinets at the Hillsdale location in Regina. This information is then entered into the database that accompanies the photo when it is digitized, giving viewers more information and context about the photo.

The gopher stumbled across an article about a project to digitize the mammoth collection of the New York Times, with help from google. http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/11/the-new-york-times-is-digitizing-more-than-5-million-photos-dating-back-to-the-1800s/
In place of Google, the Friends have stalwart volunteers, primarily Helen Morrison and Lynn McCaslin. At the recent From the Prairies to the Trenches event the…
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Outside the Box: What is the SCAA “BLOG” anyway?

The SCAA Blog (or “web log” for etymology enthusiasts) “Outside the Box” was created in 2016 and focuses on short pieces of written content. Posts can be submitted for sharing on the Outside the Box blog by any individuals associated with Archives in Saskatchewan. Topics may include archival experience, theory, and practice, as well as provincial heritage and history.
In many fields, “Blogging” is one of the most popular ways of communicating and spreading information and news.There are literally millions of “blogs” on line. You can find links to some interesting archival blogs at the end of this post.
Archive “Bloggers” often write from a personal perspective and share ideas and experiences with other like-minded readers.It allows a way of interacting and connecting with individuals working in various Archives in Saskatchewan and the world.
To be a successful “Archive Blogger”, there is really just one requirement: a passion for Archives J
Why should I become an “Archive Blogger”… Bloggin…
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Meet Jeff O'Brien!

This lovely article about Saskatoon's most recognizable archivist was run in the Star Phoenix on October 5, 2018, in recognition of the opening of the traffic bridge. In the interview, O'Brien talks about archival work, and the experience of interacting with the past through archives. Assistant archivist Ken Dahl also makes an appearance, and historian Bill Waiser offers his perspectives on the city archives and Mr. O'Brien. Check out the full piece here: https://thestarphoenix.com/life/bridges/bridges-cover-jeff-obrien
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SCAA Board update September 2018

Greetings Everyone, One great suggestion from our outgoing board was that we update you after some of our Board Meetings so that everyone is informed about the activities of the board and SCAA as a whole. We just had our initial board meeting this past Tuesday in Saskatoon so I thought I would kick things off by creating a blog post. This year we welcome two new members to our board, Ailsa Hedley Leftwich from Saskatoon and William Shepherd from Swift Current. Returning to the board are Bonnie Dahl, Stevie Horn, Tim Hutchinson, Tammy Buziak, Leesha Cowan, and myself. It was great meeting some new faces and catching up with everyone from last year. I would also like to thank two former board members Joe LeClair and Crista Bradley for all their hard work over the past couple of years. We began the day with an orientation session in the morning. This provided an overview of SCAA and all of our activities for our new members prior to our official board meeting in the afternoon. We concl…
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ICYMI: It's IN SAIN !

Thought I'd give a little recap of my talk on some of the newer features on the Saskatchewan Archival Information Network since last year's upgrade to AtoM 2.4 software.

Those who may have been put off of using it in the past by an unfriendly user interface will find the new interface a bit more easy to navigate


The newest iteration of SAIN is intended to be more user friendly, and to allow individual institutions more opportunity to personalize, and to use the database as their own online Institutional Repository, should they so choose.


As you can see here, one new feature is that each institution is allowed its own unique icon, which automatically lets users know what institution the finding aid or photograph they are looking at came from. There are also accessioning tools built in to this version, to facilitate the use of SAIN as an Institutional Repository.  Another exciting new feature in the updated SAIN (and probably the one we are the most excited about at the Universi…
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150 stories timeline unveiled at National Indigenous Peoples Day

The City of Regina Archives unveiled its 150 stories timeline during National
Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, a day dedicated to honouring our First Nations, Métis and
Inuit peoples.
The interactive timeline provides an Indigenous perspective from pre-contact to
present day. The stories share the wisdom and personal reflections of Indigenous
residents of Regina and surrounding areas.
This oral history project is an initiative of the City of Regina Archives. It reflects the
history of Regina and Canada through 150 memories, histories and experiences
shared by members of our Indigenous community. The timeline creates an ongoing
archival resource for the community. It provides an opportunity to listen to the
experiences and perspectives of Indigenous peoples and to open conversation
around the difficult times in our shared history.
Grant funding for this project was provided by the Saskatchewan Council for
Archives and Archivists, the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Cultur…
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