Hello AAO,
The Summer 2024 issue of Off the Record is now available. It's a perfect accompaniment to the fine weather that has arrived!
The issue is available to AAO members here.
This issue features an update from president Sarah McDougall, an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock, and bios to introduce you to the new editors. We want you to know us, where we come from, and what we hope to pursue in our time running OTR! Following, we have a wonderful new Feature on a community memory work titled Memory Workers at Work. This issue, we hear from the Black Memory Collective.
Our membership spotlight is with recent iSchool grad Lenora Huynh. This issue rounds out with the perspective of the user: Naomi E. Norquay tells her account of using the Grey County Archives and the impact of budget cuts. Finally, Alex Hoare from the Archives of Ontario provides some reflections on the McMichael Canadian Art Collection exhibit “People of the Watershed,” which features AO archival records.
Happy reading!
Isobel and Simon
The AAO is requesting your feedback on our website. Our short, anonymous survey asks for your input on our website's design, navigation (both desktop and mobile), and any general feedback you may have. This survey is open to members and fellow friends of the archives.
Your responses will help us refine and improve the site. Please complete the survey by Friday, May 17, 2024.
Link to survey
AAO Board of Directors Election 2024 Nominations are open
Nominations are currently being accepted for three (3) positions on the Board of Directors of the AAO. Each term will commence upon election at the AAO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held virtually on May 10, 2024, during the AAO 2024 conference.
Volunteering on the AAO Board offers an invaluable professional development experience. It provides candidates with an opportunity to network with other professionals in the field, develop their leadership skills, and to apply their existing knowledge and skill set to the service of Ontario’s archival community.
The positions that are currently open for nominations include: Vice-President/President Elect: Three-year term (May 2024 - May 2027)
The Vice-President/President Elect (VP) serves as the deputy to the President, and provides assistance in all aspects of Board planning and policy decision-making. Along with the President, the VP may represent the AAO at meetings with the Association's stakeholders and within the broader Canadian archival community. Specific duties include:
Director Without Portfolio: Two-year term (May 2024 - May 2026)
The Director Without Portfolio position provides assistance in the general governing of the affairs of the Association. Specific duties may therefore include:
Chair, Institutional Development Committee: Two-year term (May 2024 - May 2026)
The Institutional Development Committee Chair acts as the representative for the AAO institutional members at a Board level. The person in this position must be the head of an archival institution and will be elected by special ballot by AAO Institutional Members in advance of, or at, the AGM, as per article 6.10 of the AAO Constitution.
Specific activities include:
You are invited to contact the following current Board members with any questions about the available positions:
Nominations can be submitted by downloading and sending the nomination form via email, to the AAO Office at aao@aao-archivists.ca, using the subject line "Nominations 2024", and direct your message to the attention of the Nominations Committee.
Nominations must be received by the AAO Office by close of business on Friday, May 3rd, 2024.
Sincerely,
Sarah McDougall
President, 2023-2024
president@aao-archivists.ca
The Archives Association of Ontario
The MAIG Executive have reviewed the constitution for the Municipal Archives Interest Group and have proposed amendments that will be voted on at the Annual General Meeting on May 6, 2024. In summary, the amendments include the following:
Summaries of the duties for each position are as follows:
MAIG Nomination Form
Please join the Municipal Archives Interest Group at our upcoming virtual AGM on May 6th, at 1:00 PM EST. The AGM agenda package is available below:
We would like to provide a friendly reminder that nominations for the Chair and Vice-Chair positions are due on May 1st. We are also requesting that those attending the AGM please review the proposed amendments to the constitution before the meeting. Download the Proposed Amendments.
Please RSVP to Gina Dewaele at gdewaele@elgin.ca by May 1st to receive a link to the meeting. We’re looking forward to seeing you all virtually!
MAIG Executive
The Spring 2024 issue of Off the Record is now available to AAO members here: Current Issues.
This issue features an update from AAO President Sarah McDougall followed by an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock. Next we have a Member Spotlight with County of Prince Edward Archives Manager Krista Richardson. We close with an article by Rachel Arseneau about her time in the music collections at Wilfrid Laurier University Archives and Special Collections.
We’ll be accepting submissions for the Summer issue until June 20th, 2024. For more details, please see the Submissions Guidelines page online.
Finally, we'd like to introduce the new editors of Off The Record, Isobel Carnegie and Simon Vickers. We've already heard some of their exciting new ideas for OTR and we're looking forward to the direction they take things. Thanks to everyone for your continued readership and submissions.
Best,
Adam & Arvind
The AGM will be followed by a casual Open House where you can give your input on what events and activities you'd like to see for the upcoming year! Please register for the AGM on Eventbrite.
Positions available include:
The TAAG executive is elected for a two-year term, which will last from April 2024-March 2026. If you are interested and would like to nominate yourself for one of these positions, please contact TAAG with a short bio by March 31, 2024, at taag.chapter@gmail.com. Elections will be held at the TAAG Annual General Meeting.
This year’s Archives Awareness Week (AAW) will be held from April 2 to April 5, 2024! The theme this year, “Access your Archives”, will be a warmup for the upcoming conference.
Throughout April 2024, the AAO Instagram will also take part in the annual Archives of Ontario-led #ArchivesAtoZ social media campaign to promote the Archeion service and descriptions in the database. See Danielle Manning’s listserv announcement for more details about the campaign and consider joining.
As part of AWW, we are bringing back our featured Instagram reels from you! On Thursday, April 5, 2024, the AAO will publish a series of short vignettes submitted by membership via our Instagram account. We are asking volunteers to submit recorded (sound and video) answers to any or all of the following questions. Examples from your collections will be encouraged!
Follow @archives.assoc.ontario on Instagram to watch!
As per tradition, the AAO will be hosting a Twitter Takeover event. On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, a roster of guest archivists will take over the AAO Twitter account @AAO_tweet to answer your questions and comments related to work in the archives. Let us know if you would like to book a one hour slot! Teams are welcome!
We encourage members to program events and engage in social media initiatives. If you would like us to promote your own AAW event, please let us know prior to March 15, 2024 so that we can include it in next month’s newsletter and feature it on our website.
If you would like to participate in any of these activities, please contact Tiffany Ribeiro at webadmin@aao-archivists.ca prior to March 15, 2024.
Posting about events? Use the #2024AAW hashtag!
Check out the Archives Awareness Week page for more information.
As a part of Archives Awareness Week, we are asking for your donations in support of the Shirley Spragge Bursary program, which provides financial assistance for students, new professionals, or archivists in financial need to cover the registration and travel to the AAO's annual conference.
The larger the fund grows, the more budding archivists it can help. Those early-career connections and experiences are invaluable, often leading to new connections, new jobs, or even the confidence, inspiration, and resolution to stick with a profession that can be difficult to break into.
So this Archives Awareness Week, consider offering a hand-up to those following in your professional footsteps. And, if you're hosting an event or have a newsletter, consider promoting this fundraiser to your community! You never know who is willing to help out.
Visit the bursary page for more information or donate now! Donations over $20 are eligible for a tax receipt.
Dear AAO,
The Fall 2023 issue of Off the Record is now available and we hope it brings some more archival warmth to your chilly, autumn day! It’s available to AAO members here: Current Issues.
This issue features an update from AAO President Sarah McDougall, an article by John Yolkowski and Shernett Bennett from the Humber College Archives reflecting on their journey towards the official opening of the space on November 8th, 2023, a membership spotlight on Archives of Ontario Archivist Melissa Nelson, and closes with some AAO statistics updates and an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock.
And if you’re interested in submitting to Off the Record, you can start sending your original submissions and cover art to otr@aao-archivists.ca. We’ll be accepting submissions for the Winter issue until January 3, 2024. For more details, please see the Submissions Guidelines page online.
Adam Cavanaugh & Arvind Kang
The MAIG Executive is pleased to present the 19th edition of the MAIGazine! For this edition, the Executive put a call out for articles related to “community connections”. After several pandemic years of unfortunate but unavoidable disconnect with the communities we serve, municipal archives are bouncing back and developing innovative ways to reach new and existing audiences. The submissions this year detail a variety of ways archives are enhancing accessibility to their collections via digitization and online engagement, the ways in which we support each other as colleagues, and an important discussion of the necessity to protect the valuable records in archival holdings when faced with threatening uncertainty. Thank you to everyone who submitted articles and news for the 2023 edition.
For more information about MAIG or to view previous issues of the “MAIGazine” please visit our page on the AAO website: http://aao-archivists.ca/maig.
If you have comments or suggestions on how to improve future issues of the “MAIGazine” feel free to contact our Executive. In the meantime, please enjoy the 2023 edition!
We’re very excited to announce that this year’s MAIG Open House will be hosted by the Bruce County Archives at the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre! Please join us and our gracious host, Deb Sturdevant, on Friday, October 20th in Southampton, Ontario, as we explore museum exhibits, the collections and facilities of the archives, the Historic Saugeen Métis Interpretive Learning Centre (HSMC), and Aunt Annie’s Cottage. As always, a delicious lunch will also be provided by local caterers. The annual Open House Meeting is a great opportunity to connect and network with your municipal archive colleagues from across the province.
Visitors to the HSMC learn about the historic Métis community who lived, fished, hunted, trapped, and harvested the lands and waters of the Bruce Peninsula, the Lake Huron proper shoreline and its watersheds. Artifacts on display include Métis clothing, tools, bead work, wampum and more. Aunt Annie's Cottage was the home of Angelique “Aunt Annie” Longe, a Métis woman born on the banks of the Saugeen River in 1844. The home is one of the oldest in Southampton.
Please note: Some locations will be accessed by foot, so please wear good walking shoes, and be prepared for rain.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, September 27th to: Gina Dewaele, MAIG Secretary-Treasurer: gdewaele@elgin.ca or call 519-631-1460 ext. 154. Please make note of any dietary restrictions or allergies with your RSVP.
When: Friday October 20th, 2023 - 10:00 am – 3:45 pm
Where: Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre (33 Victoria St N, Southampton, ON)
Agenda: 10:00am-12:00pm • Welcome and Tour of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre, including the Archives.
12:00pm-1:00pm • Lunch and Conversation
1:00pm-2:15pm • Tour of the Historic Saugeen Metis Centre and Aunt Annie’s Cottage
2:30pm-3:45pm • MAIG Meeting
I look forward to seeing everyone in Bruce County in October
Warm Regards,
Megan Lockhart, MAIG Chair
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705-1 Eglinton Ave. EastToronto ONM4P 3A1aao@aao-archivists.ca(647) 343-3334
705-1 Eglinton Ave. East
Toronto ON
M4P 3A1
aao@aao-archivists.ca
(647) 343-3334