AAO News

The Board of Directors has begun to develop the AAO's 2020-2023 Strategic Plan and we want to hear from our members!

The Strategic Plan Working Group has drafted a set of five strategic objectives and we want input from our membership. Have we captured the essence of the AAO's priorities? Is there something we missed or should focus on instead? Please visit our Strategic Plan 2020-2023 Member Feedback page to view the slide presentation and provide input. 

Member feedback will be accepted until July 31, 2019. 

Thank you! 

On behalf of the AAO Conference Planning team, I am pleased to announce that the full program for the 2019 AAO Conference is now available on the website. For a printable version, click here.

In this document you will find session descriptions, locations of events, and biographies of our plenary speakers.

For information on traveling to Belleville, social events, conference sponsors, the code of conduct, and other pertinent information, please see the Conference page.

For AAO members attending the conference, please note that you will have an opportunity to learn more about, and contribute to, the AAOs 2020-2023 strategic plan. Please plan to attend the AAO Board Update taking place at 5pm in the Link Lounge on Thursday, May 9th.

We are looking forward to welcoming delegates to the AAO conference in Belleville next week. 

For those who are driving to Loyalist College, free parking is available for conference attendees in lot P1 (see plan), which is close to the Link Lounge location of the event.

Free bus travel is available on Belleville Transit buses for the duration of the conference on presentation of your conference badge.  There is a transit map and schedule online at this link and we have copies of this in your conference packs.

A Belleville Transit bus will be making a special morning run on the Thursday (9th) and Friday (10th) for those staying in the Country Inn and Suites or at the Travelodge, picking up outside these hotels at 8:15 and 8:30 respectively.

For the conference banquet, a Belleville Transit bus will collect delegates from Loyalist at 6pm, from the Travelodge at 6:15 and from the Country Inn and Suites at 6:30, arriving at the Signal Brewery at 6:45. The bus will return at 10pm.

On behalf of the local arrangements committee, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable journey to Belleville. Please contact Amanda Hill of the Local Arrangements Committee at ahill@belleville.ca, if you have any questions. 

Colleagues,

Please find the 2019 revision to the 2000 Institutional Standards, as discussed at last year's Institutional Forum.

As described in the Preface, this document is an update of that early work, designed to serve as an aspirational document, setting out norms for archival institutions in Ontario. It will be brought forward next week at the AGM for acceptance by the membership.

Your comments are appreciated.

Warmly, 

Paul J Henry CA SIG

Chair
Institutional Development
Archives Association of Ontario

To the AAO membership,

The Archives Association of Ontario’s Communication and Advocacy Committee (CAC) has addressed the Government of Ontario’s recent funding cuts to the Southern Ontario Library Services (SOLS) and the Ontario Library Service--North (OLSN) in this letter.

We remain ardent supporters of our GLAM colleagues and proudly add our voice in support of the great work they do for the citizens of Ontario.

Sincerely,

Bailey Chui

Chair, Communications and Advocacy Committee, 2019-2020

James Roussain

President, Archives Association of Ontario, 2019-2020

Hello AAO,

As springtime seems to drag its heels, here's to hoping that this fresh issue of Off the Record will encourage the flowers to bloom and the trees to bud! 

The Spring 2019 issue is now available for members.

This issue features news and updates, a member spotlight interview with Ellen Millar, articles by the AAO's Iona McCraith on security and Lisa Snider on searching tips for Archeion, and feature contributions from Rebekah Mitchell on a volunteer-driven photo rehousing project, and by John Smart on the crucial role of the Friends of the City of Ottawa Archives in a fight for funding in 1996. 

The equally sunny Spring 2018 issue is also available for everyone.

Happy reading!

Grant 

Dear AAO members,

It is with great pleasure that the AAO Nominations Committee announces the following slate of Directors put forth to the AAO Membership for election at the Annual General Meeting in Belleville on May 9th, 2019. Please note that the new position of Web Administrator is contingent upon membership approval at the AGM.

Vice-President/President Elect: Jennifer Grant

Jennifer Grant is an assistant archivist at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University Libraries. She previously worked in Corporate Records and Archives at the Law Society of Ontario. Jennifer has a MISt (2008) with a specialization in archival studies from the University of Toronto.

Secretary/Treasurer: Jessica Barr

Jessica Barr is the University Archivist and Records Manager for the University of St. Michael’s College, where she is responsible for the official records of the University. She also manages the University art collection, the records of the Faculty of Theology, and the records of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

Director Without Portfolio: Samantha Shields

Samantha Shields is a Photographic Archivist with Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and a member of the AAO’s Professional Development Committee. She holds a BAC (Honours) in Psychology and Art History from Queen’s University and earned her MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. Sam’s interest in the Archives sprouted while researching early Canadian photography during her undergrad. Her primary interests of research are the archival processing of born-digital photographs, and the exploration of using machine learning for assisting with image indexing and description.

Web Administrator: MacKenzie Gott

MacKenzie Gott is the Heritage Collections Officer at the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. She has worked in private, public, and non-profit settings as an information professional since graduating with a MA from York University and a MI from the University of Toronto. MacKenzie joined the Archives Association of Ontario in April 2016 as a member of the Communications and Advocacy Committee; she became the web administrator in September 2017 and since then she has revamped the website, co-wrote the social media policy, and published content on social media.

Nominations from the floor will also be accepted during the AGM.

See you at Belleville!

As part of its celebration of Archives Awareness Week, the Archives Association of Ontario is pleased to release the third edition of the Ontario Archival Accessions Register.

Based on a survey of accessions received across the province in 2018, the OAAR presents basic information on newly acquired records, including the collecting institution, the record creator, a brief summary of the scope and content of the accession, outside covering dates, associated subject headings, reference codes or accession numbers, extent, and information on the relationship of the accession to existing holdings and descriptions (where applicable).

The OAAR was developed as part of the AAO’s Provincial Acquisition Strategy to provide a common place for archives in Ontario to share accessions information in a spirit of openness and transparency intended to encourage cooperation and collaboration in archival acquisition. The data is also made available to allow for analysis of collecting patterns and trends, enabling the archives community to identify gaps in the archival record as we work toward ensuring our collective holdings are representative of the whole province and all its people.

This third edition of the OAAR includes contributions from 17 archival institutions, together providing information on nearly 600 individual accessions received in the last calendar year. The range of participating archives is once again diverse, including municipal archives, community archives, university and college archives, museum archives, specialist archives and the Archives of Ontario.

Download the 2018 OAAR from the AAO website and see what archives in Ontario have been collecting.

Please join the MAIG Executive in the beautiful city of Belleville, for our Annual General Meeting. The afternoon meeting will take place at Loyalist College (Link Lounge), with light refreshments and exciting municipal updates. 

When: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 from 1:30 -3:20

Where: Loyalist College (Link Lounge) | 376 Wallbridge Loyalist Rd, Belleville, ON, K8N 5B9

We look forward to seeing you in Belleville!

~ For more information about MAIG, or to subscribe to our Listserv, please contact us at: maig.listserv@gmail.com ~

Donate items to this year’s Silent Auction!

The 2019 AAO Conference will be hosted at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario.

We are looking for members to donate items such as (but not limited to):

• Artwork
• Archival supplies
• Baked goods 
• Books (related to the profession)
• Hand crafted pieces
• Pottery
• Gift Baskets

Funds raised from this auction will go to the AAO Shirley Spragge Education Fund, to encourage the continuing education of archivists in Ontario. Your donations are greatly appreciated. A donation to the silent auction will support this fund and honour the memory of a respected colleague. All items donated will receive a tax receipt.

If you are interested in donating to this year’s silent auction, please contact Kim Kerr and Carol Cooper by sending an e-mail to silentauction2019aao@gmail.com.