Recently I've been reading and reflecting on numerous facets of Indigenous language preservation and revitalization. Residential schools, colonialism, and general assimilation practices have all contributed to the loss and endangered states of many Indigenous dialects. Despite this loss or impending loss there are a number of projects across Canada which are working to record and … Continue reading Language Preservation and Digital Resources
Community Knowledge and Active Listening
This week I am spending a lot of time outside of the archive. The archive is hosting a group of concurrent education students as part of a trial summer institute experience. The basis for this summer institute is providing an education setting that focuses on experiential learning in relation to Aboriginal heritage and Northern Ontario. … Continue reading Community Knowledge and Active Listening
Conceptualizing Rural History
Last week a co-worker who is currently reading up on the history of her city asked me if I had ever been interested in the town history of where I grew up. This simple question had me stumped. The majority of my life I have lived outside of town, and didn't readily identify with a … Continue reading Conceptualizing Rural History
Small Scale, Big Impact: NYC Taxi Driver Oral History
The January/February issue of the Society of American Archivists' Archival Outlook featured an interesting piece on the New York City Taxi Driver Oral History Project. This oral history project was started in 2010 by Samantha Gibson and Margaret Fraser and aimed to record, document, and archive oral history interviews of NYC cab drivers. Fraser notes … Continue reading Small Scale, Big Impact: NYC Taxi Driver Oral History
Making Oral History Relevant: The Legacy Project
The Legacy Project began in 2004 with Karl Pillemer Professor at Cornell University. Pillemer began by collecting 'practical' advice from elderly people in America by having them answer "What are the most important lessons you have learned over the course of your life?" This initiative resulted in over 1500 people over 70 years old describing … Continue reading Making Oral History Relevant: The Legacy Project
Oral History and the Act of Listening
Photo Credit: ky_olsenThe October-November issue of Canada's History featured an interesting article titled "Guided by Voices" by Mark Abley. This article focused on the oral history practices, using Concordia University's Life Stories of Montrealers Displaces by War, Genocide, and Other Human Rights Violations project. (A great project that is well worth checking out if you're … Continue reading Oral History and the Act of Listening
100@100: Profiles of Centenarians
The Current on CBC has an interesting ongoing feature this year, which focuses on centenarians in Canada. The program 100@100 aims to speak to 100 Canadians over 100 years old in 2011. The program seems to have slowed down for the summer, but the Current has managed to speak with 29 centenarians so far. So … Continue reading 100@100: Profiles of Centenarians
Lessons learned
December 21st's #reverb10 prompt was:Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)The advice I would give myself for the year ahead is to be open to opportunities … Continue reading Lessons learned
Relevancy and Local History
I work with local history collections on a daily basis and I am constantly surprised by the gems held by small museums and libraries. Over the past eight months some of the more interesting bits of history I have come across include: wartime ration cards, an agricultural society minute book from 1905, land allotment maps, … Continue reading Relevancy and Local History
The medium makes the history
As part of our public history class we will all be conducting an oral history later in the semester. In preparation for our oral history interviews we recently had a class in which we discussed the benefits, practices and pit falls of doing oral history. The impact of actually hearing an oral history vs. reading … Continue reading The medium makes the history