I recently was working with an audio recording from the Cowessess Indian Residential School. The recording was in the form of a seemingly professionally produced record featuring a musical ensemble of Cowessess IRS students. The recording was produced to celebrate the 1967 Canadian centennial. This particular item got me thinking about the handful of other … Continue reading Centennial Celebrations at Residential Schools
Archival Research Requests: Finding Balance
A lot of my job is driven by research requests. These requests come from a range of audiences: academics, community members/scholars, genealogists, production companies, authors, students, and others. I love the challenge of a particularly insightful research question and the sense of accomplishment that comes when you figure out a particularly tricky question or manage … Continue reading Archival Research Requests: Finding Balance
Friday Reading: Gender and Outreach
A weeks end look back at some of the archives, public history, and library world readings that I've been pondering on this week. Gender in Libraries: "If You Give a Librarian A Cookie" a great post by Dani Brecher Cook on the gendered work, the challenges of letting gender expectations control actions, and the need to … Continue reading Friday Reading: Gender and Outreach
Look Back and Look Forward
Unlike in some previous years this December I didn't participate in reverb or any similar end of year reflective writing practice. But I do want to look back at some of things that made 2015 a memorable year and my plans for 2016. Looking Back: My article, “Community Archival Practice: Indigenous Grassroots Collaboration at the … Continue reading Look Back and Look Forward
Meaningful Student and Internship Work
Since starting at Algoma University in 2010 I've supervised and worked with a number of students, interns, co-op placements, and volunteers. At any given time I might be working with 3-6 different individuals who are working in the archives on a part or full time basis. I enjoy this part of my job. But it … Continue reading Meaningful Student and Internship Work
Accession Best Practices
Chaos --> Order recently featured a great post, "What We Talk About When We Don't Talk About Accessioning", by Rachel Searcy. The post argues for the importance of thoroughly documenting accession work and the need for archivists to talk more broadly about accession practices. I couldn't agree more. One of the long term projects I'm … Continue reading Accession Best Practices
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba officially opened this week. The first day of opening focused on the history of residential schools, reconciliation, and steps for the NCTR going forward. The second day of he opening emphasized education and included the launch of the NCTR website. Work on the … Continue reading National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
Journal of Western Archives: Native American Archives Special Issue
The current issue of the Journal of Western Archives focuses on Native American Archives. The articles are open access and on a range of topics including tribal archives, decolonizing archival practice, developing training opportunities for Indigenous archivists, and the challenges faced by archives holding contrived photographs of Indigenous people. I'm still working my way through … Continue reading Journal of Western Archives: Native American Archives Special Issue
Roundtable On The Future of RAD
On October 23, 2015 the Archives Association of British Columbia held a Roundtable on the future of the RAD (Rules for Archival Description). The roundtable was also available as a webcast and participants could send questions via email or following using the hashtag #rethinkRAD. I stumbled across the hashtag on twitter and ended up watching … Continue reading Roundtable On The Future of RAD
Archives and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Workshop
I recently facilitated a workshop on Archives and the TRC as part of Huron History Day: An Active History Pre-Conference for High School and First Year Students. The workshop focused on the history of residential schools, the unique challenges of residential school archives, the TRC, and reconciliation more broadly. When planning this workshop I was … Continue reading Archives and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Workshop
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