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...

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 Trenc...

The SCAA Blog (or “web log” for etymology enthusiasts) “Outside the Box” was created in 2016 and focuses on short pieces of written content. P osts 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 beco...

Photo Credit:Liam Richards - Saskatoon Star Phoenix 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

Your 2018 SCAA Board of Directors 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 offici...