Association for Manitoba Archives blog

Manitoba Day Awards 2024

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 20:17:08 GMT

On June 4th, 2024, the AMA hosted the 2024 Manitoba Day Awards ceremony in Marshall McLuhan Hall at the University of Manitoba. We welcomed over 60 attendees to the event, including the many nominees and winners. Thank you all who came to make this a fantastic evening for the Manitoban archives community! We hope to see you all for next year's event!

Below you can find a copy of the event presentation and photos from the event, including photos of the presenters, winners, nominees, and those accepting on their behalf. Thanks to Al Thorleifson for providing the photos!

List of Winners: Manitoba Day Award

Presentation: Manitoba Day Awards 2024.pdf

AMA Newsletter - January-April 2024

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 09 May 2024 17:31:44 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Blake Mueller

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont and Erin Acland

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Special Initiatives: Brian Hubner and Chris Kotecki

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Renewing and Starting Membership online

A reminder that membership renewals were due on April 1, 2023. Please follow the instructions below to renew online. Please contact the AMA at ama1@mts.net or Digital Initiatives at webmaster@mbarchives.ca if you have any difficulties.

Membership renewals can be completed by logging into the website clicking on "View profile" in the top right-hand corner of the page. In your profile, click on the "Renew to [date]" button. Update your information in the fields that appear as needed and click the "Update and next" button. Review your information and click the "Pay online button" to finalize your renewal in PayPal.

Upcoming Events

Rupert’s Land Colloquium

The Rupert’s Land Colloquium will be held in Winnipeg on May 23-25, 2024. This year’s program includes a day trip to Clearwater on Friday, May 24 where there will be a panel discussion on historical border conflicts and peace treaties as well as a trip to Star Mound. For more details, see https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/rupertsland/colloquium/2024-colloquium.html Those interested in attending only the trip to Clearwater should contact Sarah Ramsden at sarah.ramsden@gmail.com.

Manitoba Day Awards

Held on Tuesday June 4^th from 6:30-9:30 pm at the University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus, Marshall McLuhan Hall, 65 Chancellors Circle. The evening is to award the 2023 and 2024 winners from the 22 nominations for the Association for Manitoba Archives’ Manitoba Day Award for works which include the significant use of Manitoba archives in their creation.

Light drinks and fare will be provided. Please register for the event here.

News about our Members

Direction Générale – Centre du Patrimoine

La Société historique de Saint-Boniface (SHSB) cherche une direction générale dynamique pour diriger ses opérations et guider sa croissance. Ce rôle implique la modernisation et la professionnalisation de l’organisme pour le 21e siècle, ainsi que diverses responsabilités. Si vous êtes passionné par le patrimoine et que vous souhaitez contribuer à son avenir tout en jouant un rôle central dans le développement du Centre du patrimoine, cette occasion s’adresse à vous.

Veuillez faire parvenir vos curriculums vitæ et lettre de motivation à: Janelle Robin, conseillère en recrutement à jrobin@peoplefirsthr.com

Si vous avez des questions liées à ce poste, veuillez communiquer avec Janelle Robin au 204 938-4034.

Art of Ectoplasm: Encounters with Winnipeg’s Ghost Photographs

Archivists in Manitoba will be interested in the book published by the University of Manitoba Press entitled the Art of Ectoplasm: Encounters with Winnipeg’s Ghost Photographs (2023), edited by Dr. Serena Keshavjee. The book explores the archives created by the Hamilton family which reveal their coping strategies after the death of their three-year-old son Arthur during the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation receives $5M donation

The Winnipeg Foundation is donating $5 million to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation toward building the NCTR a new home to house archival records. Read more about the project and donation here.

Brandon Sun Archives find a new home in Winnipeg

When the Brandon Sun sold its old building at 501 Rosser Ave., their new home did not have the space to house their newspaper archives dating back to the late 1800s. The Manitoba Legislative Library arranged for the newspapers to be picked up, catalogued and preserved. Read more about the Brandon Sun’s newspaper archives being relocated here.

Archives of Manitoba

On April 12^th and 13^th hundreds attended an open house at the Archives of Manitoba that featured an array of maps. The display of maps highlighted the development of mapping across western North America and the Arctic in the 1700s and early 1800s.

Exposition George Forest - la Société historique de Saint-Boniface

L’année 2024 signe le centième anniversaire de la naissance de Georges Forest. Pour marquer l’évènement, la Société historique de Saint-Boniface présente un portrait de l’activiste franco-manitobain qui, on l’oublie trop souvent, était aussi un Métis engagé. Georges Forest est surtout connu pour ses revendications en faveur des droits linguistiques des francophones du Manitoba, mais un tour d’horizon de ses faits d’armes montre un personnage pleinement engagé dans la revendication d’une société juste à tous les égards.

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - December 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 16:34:37 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Blake Mueller

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont and Erin Acland

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Special Initiatives: Brian Hubner and Chris Kotecki

Student Member-at-large: Position vacant

Holiday photos

We hope all our members had safe and happy holidays. Wishing everyone the best in 2024! Check out these photos from our members.

Front page of Christmas sheet music (c.1940s). From the St Philip’s (Norwood) parish fonds, Archives of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land.

Christmas tree in front of City Hall, 1966. City of Winnipeg Archives, Public Works Collection.

News about our Members

Curious about commodes?

Health Sciences Center Archivist, Emma Prescott was featured in a Winnipeg Free Press article about having Brandon University students research the provenance of museum items, including bedpans, for a public history class with Professor Rhonda Hinther. Check out the article here https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/2023/12/15/curious-about-commodes

Language warnings at Manitoba Archival Institutions

Heather Bidzinski was featured in a CBC article about the use of outdated language in archival records, and the importance of collaboration with Indigenous communities. Check out the article here https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/outdated-hurtful-historical-language-archives-manitoba-1.7062426

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.netand we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - November 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:28:03 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Blake Mueller

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont and Erin Acland

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Special Initiatives: Brian Hubert and Chris Kotecki

Student Member-at-large: Position vacant

AGM Report

The board would like to extend their sincere gratitude to all members who attended the Annual General Meeting on November 16th. Valuable suggestions and feedback were provided by members and the board will work with the aim of implementing positive changes. The board would like to thank our outgoing board members, Mary Horodyski, Katrin Nielsdottir, and Andrew Morrison, for their hard work and dedication. We would also like to thank the volunteers we had over the year, your enthusiasm and support do not go unnoticed. Lastly, the board would like to welcome our newest members Brian Hubert, Chris Kotecki, and Erin Acland.

News about our Members

A Story for Every Mile

Pembina Manitou Archives has released a new publication titled A Story for Every Mile. A Story for Every Mile is an illustrated history of the Boundary Trail National Heritage Region of Southern Manitoba. It is a social history; it tells the stories of ordinary people, through their own memoirs and stories. The book includes over 500 photos, many in colour, and many of which have never before been published. The principal author, Ed Ledohowski, spent several years compiling the material before the book’s publication this past spring. For more information on ordering the book please visit the Pembina Manitou Archive Facebook Page here.

150 Winnipeg

On November 8th, on the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Winnipeg, the City announced the renovation of the Carnegie Library, located at 280 William Avenue, as a Winnipeg 150 legacy project that will make it the home to the City Archives.

The anniversary of incorporation included the launch of a new Winnipeg 150 Anniversary Exhibit on the City of Winnipeg Archives’ Winnipeg in Focus database. The exhibit highlights records held in the City Archives related to the early years of Winnipeg’s history as a City. Check out the exhibit here.

The November 8th event also included the launch of the Winnipeg 150 Community Celebration Grant Program. Museums, archives, galleries, and other organizations within Winnipeg, which incorporate the 150 theme of Our shared stories. Our shared future into their programming can apply for grants of up to $5,000. Funding for the grants is subject to Council’s approval of the 2024-2027 multi-year budget. Click here to learn more about the Winnipeg 150 Grant Program.

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.netand we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - September 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:39:10 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Katrin Nielsdottir

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: We are hosting an introduction to MAIN Workshop on November 15^th check below for details.

Education and Advisory Services: We’re working on some exciting upcoming events! Stay tuned for updates.

Finance and Grants: Stay tuned for updates!

Indigenous Relations: The Indigenous Relations committee welcomes new members! In particular, we are looking for one or two people to act as Chair or Co-Chair. Please email indigenousrelations@mbarchives.ca for more information or if you have any questions.

Information and Outreach: If your organization holds archival materials, and could benefit from support, please email us today at advocacy@mbarchives.ca and we can set up a time to discuss your archival needs.

Membership Committee: If you have any issues with renewing membership, please contact webmaster@mbarchives.ca

Student Member-at-Large: Stay tuned for updates!

Upcoming Events

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Events

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is hosting events from September 25^th until September 30^th, including Daily Lunch & Learns with 50-minute sessions beginning at 12:30 p.m. each day.

Register here for Thursday and Friday: https://nctr.ca/education/coming-soon-truth-and-reconciliation-week-2023/trw2023-gen/

Video recordings of the sessions are posted online at https://www.youtube.com/@nationalcentrefortruthandr92/videos

Orange Shirt Day is September 30^th, wear orange to recognize the legacy of the residential school system and join Wa-Say Healing Centre in a Healing Walk taking place at Oodena Circle, Forks Market at 10 a.m. A Powwow will take place in Canada Life Centre at 1 p.m. until 5:30. Both events are free to attend and open to all.

For more Orange Shirt Day events across Manitoba, please visit https://scoinc.mb.ca/2023nationaldayfortruthandreconciliation/

Space and Storage online discussion

The AMA will be hosting an online discussion October 25 about archival storage and space issues. Further details will be coming soon by email – hope you will join us!

Introduction to MAIN Workshop November 15th, at 6:30 pm

This workshop, hosted by Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch from the AMA Digital Initiatives Committee, will be a basic introduction to using the Manitoba Archival Information Network (MAIN) database. The workshop will go over a basic instruction on how to use and navigate MAIN, how to add authority records, and archival descriptions, including child-level descriptions.

News about our Members

University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections

UMASC, in co-sponsorship with the Survival Research Institute of Canada, held a symposium Study of Psychic Phenomena: Mediumship, Spirit Guides, Tables Levitations, Ectoplasm, and Photography to coincide with the launch of Serena Keshavjee’s The Undead Archive exhibition. Participants had the opportunity to view original photographs and documents from the Hamilton Family Fonds.

Ogniwo Polish Museum

Ogniwo Polish Museum announces the opening of its new exhibit, “They Left a Legacy,” a series of vignettes highlighting some of the individuals and groups that have shaped the Polish community in Manitoba, on October 14^th, 2023. https://polishmuseum.com/whats-on/exhibit/

1417 Main Street, Winnipeg
Open Saturdays 10 am to 1 pm, or by appointment
Admission: by donation

City of Winnipeg Archives

Winnipeg in Focus database recently added records from The W.R.E.N.C.H. (Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub). The W.R.E.N.CH. is a registered charity that provides bike programing to schools, community members, and other organizations to support active transportation options. Check out the collection here: https://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/the-wrench

One Great History Podcast

With Winnipeg’s sesquicentennial approaching, Sabrina Janke and Alex Judge, hosts of the One Great History podcast, have produced a 16-episode series that explores the city’s colourful history. For more information, please visit the One Great History website:

https://onegreathistory.wordpress.com/one-great-150-coming-soon/

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - Summer 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:36:49 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Update from the Board of Directors

The AMA Board of Directors would like to inform the membership of a change in our directors. Due to the recent resignation of our Chair, Andrew Morrison, the Board has approved the appointment of Heather Bidzinski (Vice-Chair) and Corser du Pont (Chair, Information and Outreach) as Acting Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively. The AMA wishes to thank Andrew Morrison for his time and dedication to the Board of Directors and to the Association for Manitoba Archives.

As the AMA Annual General Meeting approaches, we would like to encourage all members to consider volunteering their time in a committee role or on the Board of Directors. A Call for Nominations will be announced closer to the time of the AGM.

Waziyata Chankag'a (Northern Bridge) Conference

On June 17, Carmen Miedema (AMA Indigenous Relations committee co-chair) and Sarah Ramsden (AMA Indigenous Relations committee member) attended the Waziyata Chankag'a mini-conference in Clearwater, Manitoba, and co-led an archives workshop. Waziyata Chankag'a, which is Dakota and translates to "Northern Bridge," looked at the historical contributions of Dakota and Métis people living near the 49th parallel in the decades before the Boundary Commission in 1872 as well as the cross-border politics and military events they were entangled with and helped to shape. The event sought to bring together people with stories to share, people with knowledge about recording and preserving stories, and people interested in histories for educational purposes.

The conference organizers and participants are keen to continue the work, as it was acknowledged that the cooperative work of Indigenous elders, researchers, historians, and archivists is vital to the recovery and preservation of local histories that have been long overlooked. There were discussions about having a similar event in June 2024 and further assisting with community archives. Individuals interested in related updates and future events are invited to contact Sarah Ramsden at sarah.ramsden@winnipeg.ca.

We also invite you to check out the archival booklet compiled for the conference, which is being made available through Amazon, see: https://www.amazon.ca/Waziyata-Chankaga-Northern-James-Ritchie/dp/B0C52HVHD2

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dr. Greg Bak who was made a Fellow of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA). The Fellow award is the highest recognition granted to members for distinguished service to the Canadian archival community and the ACA. Fellows are selected based on their longstanding membership and service to the ACA and demonstrated achievement in the archival profession, which may include leadership in the field, scholarship, and other outstanding contributions that have a cumulative impact. For more information on Dr. Bak’s longstanding and distinguished service, please visit the ACA website https://archivists.ca/2023-ACA-Awards.

Congratulations to the Association of Manitoba Archives’ New Home for the City of Winnipeg Archives Committee for receiving the ACA Larry Dohey Award for their advocacy on behalf of the City of Winnipeg Archives. Named in honor of Larry Dohey, longtime director of programming and public engagement of the Rooms, the Award recognizes Advocacy and Outreach work that is particularly impactful and has raised public consciousness of the value of archives. The group was led by Dr. Tom Nesmith and included Dr. Greg Bak, Dr. Shelley Sweeney, Michel Lagace, Jim Blanchard, Carmen Miedema, Mary Horodyski, Corser du Pont, Sabrina Janke, and Katie Lynch.

Archives in the News

The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections and the City of Winnipeg Archives had contributions in this CTV article about the former Winnipeg City Hall clock that was relocated to Portage Place Mall: “Is time running out for Winnipeg's 120-year-old clock?” by Danton Unger, CTVNews.ca, July 6, 2023) https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/is-time-running-out-for-winnipeg-s-120-year-old-clock-1.6469822

Advisory Services

The Information & Outreach is continuing to respond to advisory services requests, and then referring requests to appropriate Board member specialists. If you are an AMA member institution with questions about archiving, please contact advocacy@mbarchives.ca

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Painting in the Park, 1959

City of Winnipeg Archives, Parks and Recreation Dept., Item i04629

https://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/i04629

AMA Newsletter - May 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 25 May 2023 20:51:40 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Andrew Morrison

Vice-Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Katrin Nielsdottir

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: We have assisted in the technical support for the upcoming Reconciliation Framework Discussion Meeting on June 9^th. Committee members continue to assist with membership renewal and MAIN database maintenance.

Education and Advisory Services: We’re working on some exciting upcoming events! Stay tuned for updates.

Finance and Grants: Stay tuned for updates!

Indigenous Relations: We are hosting the upcoming workshop The Reconciliation Framework: Discussion Meeting. This workshop will be held on June 9^th at 1:00 pm, at the Bill and Helen Norrie Library. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-reconciliation-framework-discussion-meeting-tickets-622517094387

Information and Outreach: Stayed tuned for updates!

Membership Committee: Membership was due in April, If you have yet to do so please renew your membership, see Renewing and Starting Membership online below.

Student Member-at-Large: Stay tuned for updates!

Renewing and Starting Membership online

A reminder that membership renewals were due on April 1, 2023. Please follow the instructions below to renew online. Please contact the AMA at ama1@mts.net or Digital Initiatives at webmaster@mbarchives.ca if you have any difficulties.

Upcoming Events

The Reconciliation Framework: Discussion Meeting

Held on June 9^th, at 1:00 until 4:30 pm at the Bill and Helen Norrie Library, on the former site of the Métis community of Rooster Town, this event will include a spotlight on Rooster Town history with guest speakers as well as a roundtable and guided discussion of the Reconciliation Framework. It is open to all members of the Manitoba archival community and interested individuals. People working with archives and responsible for managing archival collections are encouraged to attend.

All participants are asked to read the Reconciliation Framework in advance.

The Reconciliation Framework is available here:

https://archives2026.com/response-to-the-report-of-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-taskforce/

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-reconciliation-framework-discussion-meeting-tickets-622517094387

University of Winnipeg Pride Events

The University of Winnipeg Archives, Alumni Affairs, and Pride Committee are proud to present the 30th anniversary screening of the National Film Board-produced documentary OUT: Stories of Lesbian and Gay Youth.

Join us in the lobby of Eckhardt Gramatté Hall on Wednesday, May 31^st at 11:30 a.m. for a light lunch and refreshments courtesy of Alumni Affairs and Diversity Catering, view the Two-Spirit Archives pop-up exhibition, and visit the Pride merch booth! After the 12:30 p.m.. screening, please stay for a panel discussion with film participants Elder Albert McLeod and Connie Merasty, moderated by Adrienne Huard.

News about our Members

Health Science Centre Winnipeg Archives

HSC Winnipeg is celebrating 150 years of providing healthcare to all Manitobans. 150 years ago, the Winnipeg General Hospital was established as the first public hospital in the province. 50 years ago, Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg (HSC) was created through the amalgamation of Winnipeg General Hospital, the Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital-D.A. Stewart Centre, and The Children's Hospital of Winnipeg. Since then, HSC has become Manitoba’s largest health-care facility, evolving into a referral, teaching, and research institution providing specialized care to adults and children from across our province.

Recognizing that challenges to accessing this specialized care include Manitoba's relatively small population spread over the vast geography of our province and historic and systemic disparities for our Indigenous peoples, a vibrant and diverse hospital workforce continue to address these challenges by embracing Telehealth and other technologies to serve remote locations; through public health and social work outreach; by implementing education and hiring programs to ensure a diverse and inclusive work force; and through developing and supporting culturally safe environments, practices, and services together with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people.

The hospital was and continues to be a leader in compassionate health care and innovation, with significant contributions to health-care services, education, and research in Manitoba and beyond our borders. Thursday May 4, 2023, the Esplanade Riel Bridge and WINNIPEG sign at The Forks was lit green in recognition of these anniversaries. Enjoy a photo gallery, memory wall, and brief histories of the founding institutions at https://hsc.mb.ca/about/50-150anniversary/ and watch the HSC Archives social media channels for more items of interest.

Photo of the display created by the HSC Archives and Museum on display at 700 William Ave Mall

One Great History Podcast

University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections Royal Tour 1939

For some royalty viewing closer to home, check out the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections video of the royal tour of Winnipeg in 1939 by King George VI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqqC5rLRtew&ab_channel=UniversityofManitobaArchives%26SpecialCollections

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - April 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 20:28:57 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Call for New Board Member

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are seeking a Member-at-Large to assist in organizing the Manitoba Day event. This can be a shared position.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: DI will provide technical support in setting up and running the Email Archiving at the University of British Columbia session on April 27th. The committee members continue to assist members with membership renewals and other website matters.

Education and Advisory Services: Please visit our training opportunities page on the AMA website. Email ama1@mts.net with any additional suggestions for training.

Finance and Grants: Have you renewed your membership? About 13% of the AMA income is derived from memberships.

Indigenous Relations: We are working on an in-person discussion group on the Reconciliation Framework. Registration info will be available soon on our website.

Information and Outreach: Unfortunately, our Trivia Night is postponed. Stay tuned for more info.

Membership Committee: Don’t forget that memberships are due!

Student Member-at-Large: I’m co-hosting the Email Archiving workshop – hope to see you there!

Learning Resources

The Reconciliation Framework

In 2022, the Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives released the Reconciliation Framework: The Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce. Created in response to Call to Action 70 issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the Reconciliation Framework is the result of an extensive study of archival policies and practices, the role of archives in colonization, and steps for building respectful relationships with Indigenous communities. The Reconciliation Framework outlines recommendations for action and is essential reading for all people working in archives today.

The Reconciliation Framework is available here:

https://archives2026.com/response-to-the-report-of-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-taskforce/

Found in Collection: Navigating the Challenges of Undocumented Items in Archives

This webinar “tackles the often-challenging question of what to do with items in your collection that lack proper documentation.” If you missed the April 25 webinar, it is posted on YouTube at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmCEc_4NRuY&ab_channel=BacklogArchivists%26Historians

Upcoming Events

Email Archiving at the University of British Columbia: What We’ve Learned

This presentation will go over the work of the UBC Email Archiving Working Group over the past year.

Online: Thursday, April 27 2:00 – 3:15 CST

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/email-archiving-at-the-university-of-british-columbia-what-weve-learned-tickets-615162536707

Reclaiming Power: Red Dress Day – May 5

Hosted by GIGANAWENIMAANAANIG: The MMIWG2S+ Implementation committee in honour of National MMIWG2S Awareness Day in Winnipeg.

Red Dress Round Dance, noon, Portage and Main.

Memorial March, 12:30, Portage and Main to The Forks

Decolonizing Lens: Film Night at the WAG

Free public screenings of three films by Alanis Obomsawin: “Bill Reid Remembers”, “Honour to Senator Murray Sinclair”, and “Upstairs with David Amaram”. After the screenings, a discussion with special guests, Alanis Obomsawin and Sonya Ballantyne.

Doors open at 6:15 with screenings beginning at 7 pm. Or, watch online.

No registration required. For more information, please see https://www.wag.ca/event/decolonizing-lens/?fbclid=IwAR3WlY0u6aY6fl4gJxXY1JEMex44KkyBRpwpGHF1thZQJRvmiEhm0hkGJHA#.ZDnDcLhIqAQ.facebook#.ZDnDcLhIqAQ.facebook

Meet Me at The Bell Tower - Building Community

Meets the 1^st and 3^rd Friday evening of each month, starting at 6 pm, at the Bell tower at the corner of Selkirk Avenue and Powers Street.

See the Facebook page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/belltowermovement/

NCTR Dialogue: Research and Access to Residential School Files

Hosted online by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation on April 28^th, 12:00 pm, NCTR's Jesse Boiteau and Shingwauk Residential School Centre's Jenna Lemay “share the latest information on records, share tips, and answer some of your questions.”

See the NCTR YouTube page for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8LDyYe8vys&ab_channel=NationalCentreforTruthandReconciliation

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - March 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 21:14:18 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Andrew Morrison

Vice-Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Katrin Nielsdottir

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Call for New Board Member

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are seeking a Member-at-Large to assist in organizing the Manitoba Day event. This can be a shared position.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: The DI Team ran a workshop on Manitoba Archival Information Network (MAIN) for the University of Manitoba Archival Studies Class. We continue to assist members with renewing or starting membership online. See Renewing and Starting Membership in this newsletter.

Education and Advisory Services: The Committee has organized an Archiving Email Workshop. See Upcoming Events for more information.

Finance and Grants: No report this month.

Indigenous Relations: We appreciate the participants who came to our first "Archivists' Outing" at the WAG on March 18. Special thanks to AMA member Nicole Fletcher for her insightful tour of the Robert Houle "Red is Beautiful" exhibit and for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the archives and vault. We had some thoughtful consideration of how archives can support decolonization and the important role of provenance in these efforts. We look forward to our next outing!

Information and Outreach: The I&O Committee met on March 8^th. The Committee has provisionally scheduled the AMA Trivia Night for Wednesday, April 26^th. The AMA currently has 259 followers on Twitter and 170 on Instagram. Please send any Advisory Services requests you may have to advocacy@mbarchives.ca.

Membership Committee: No report this month.

Student Member-at-Large: No report this month.

Renewing and Starting Membership online

A reminder that membership renewals are due on April 1, 2023. Please follow the instructions below to renew online. Please contact the AMA at ama1@mts.net or Digital Initiatives at webmaster@mbarchives.ca if you have any difficulties.

Upcoming Events

Email Archiving at the University of British Columbia: What We’ve Learned – Thursday - April 27^th, 2:00 pm

Hosted by Andy Resto and Barbara Towell, this presentation will go over the work of the UBC Email Archiving Working Group over the past year. First we will discuss what we learned from conducting research through an environmental scan and a literature review, followed by an outline of our email archiving goals. This will include a discussion of our proposed workflows, email management tools, and policy development. Throughout we will discuss challenges that we have faced, and will end the session with an open Q&A.

News from our Members

Conservation Treatment of the First Winnipeg City Council Minutes, 1874-1875

The following comes from Sarah Ramsden of the City of Winnipeg Archives

With financial assistance from the Heritage Grants Program (Province of Manitoba), the City of Winnipeg Archives worked with Conservator Jane Dalley to treat the first Winnipeg City Council Minutes. This project involved treating the City’s first Minute Book, its index, as well as the rough minutes of the first Council meeting that were recorded and stored separately. All of these records showed various signs of deterioration, were extremely fragile, and could not be handled without risking further damage. Because of their fragility, staff restricted access to these records years ago, offering researchers microfilm copies as an alternative. However, without being able to read the rough minutes of the first Council meeting, which were in pieces, their precise contents remained a mystery.

During treatment, the records were cleaned, stabilized, and agents of deterioration were removed. The results were astounding. In addition to extending their life, the treatment has increased the artefactual value of these records, restored them to a condition where they can be handled safely by staff, and recovered missing information. It is exciting to say that, in advance of Winnipeg’s 150th anniversary in 2024, staff can remove the access restrictions to the first City Council Minutes. To aid in their preservation, however, staff will continue to reduce the amount of handling, encouraging users to use digitized copies and transcriptions of the first Council Minute Book available online.

Read more about the project on the AMA’s blog here.

Updates on City of Winnipeg Archives

The City of Winnipeg has approved funding to renovate the City of Winnipeg Archives’ previous home at Carnegie Library. For more information, read the articles and announcements below.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/carnegie-library-renovation-winnipeg-archives-1.6774058

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2023/03/19/new-life-breathed-into-carnegie-library

https://www.winnipeg.ca/city-governance/budget-finance/multi-year-budget-2023-update

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-budget-2023-passes-1.6787803

Job Opportunity!

The University of Winnipeg Archives is hiring an Archives Assistant for the Indigenous Course Requirement Collection. Click the link below to apply!

https://www.northstarats.com/University-of-Winnipeg/Indigenous-Course-Requirement-Collection-Archives-Assistant-Library-Term/76094

Shelley Sweeny awarded Platinum Jubilee Medal

Text from Winnipeg Free Press and the Government of Manitoba

Shelley Sweeney has been awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal. The criteria for the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Manitoba) is broad. Recipients can be of all ages and from all walks of life, provided that they have made a contribution to society. Nominator Dr. Jon Gerrard (MLA River Heights) said “Shelley Sweeney, champion in the preservation of Manitoba’s history, was chosen for her contribution to the promotion of Manitoba’s cultural fabric and diversity by expanding the acquisition of private archives at the University of Manitoba Archives and through her work in preserving records related to reconciliation.”

Above: Dr. Shelley Sweeney receives Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal at the Manitoba legislative building in Winnipeg, December 19, 2022. Photographer: Richard Condie.

UMASC Documentary

Last year the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections produced a short documentary about A.H. Reginal Buller's role in the history of the University of Manitoba. This film was based on the exhibition "’He was the Very Model of a Modern Research Scientist:’ Reginald Buller and the Founding of the University of Manitoba". Click here to watch the full documentary.

Archival Webinars

Backlog Webinars

Antiracism & Decolonization in Archives & Records Management Series

NCTR Dialogue: Land Back

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Conservation Treatment of the First Winnipeg City Council Minutes, 1874-1875

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 00:50:39 GMT

The following comes from Sarah Ramsden of the City of Winnipeg Archives

All of these records showed various signs of deterioration, were extremely fragile, and could not be handled without risking further damage. More specifically, the book bindings were damaged; the leather binding on the Minute Book had red rot; there were loose pages, and the rough minutes of the first Council meeting were crumbling. Because of their fragility, staff restricted access to these records years ago, offering researchers microfilm copies as an alternative. However, without being able to read the rough minutes of the first Council meeting, which were in pieces, their precise contents remained a mystery.

During treatment, the records were cleaned, stabilized, and agents of deterioration were removed. The work involved repairing the bindings and tears, targeting the red rot, dry-cleaning pages, reinforcing the most damaged pages and sections with Japanese tissue, and re-assembling loose fragments of paper using a light table.

The results were astounding. In addition to extending their life, the treatment has increased the artefactual value of these records, restored them to a condition where they can be handled safely by staff, and recovered missing information. Once reassembled, we learned the “rough minutes” of the first Council meeting were original copies of resolutions tabled at the meeting, as opposed to a complete set of minutes. Thankfully, the minutes of the first Council meeting are recorded elsewhere.

It is exciting to say that, in advance of Winnipeg’s 150th anniversary in 2024, staff can remove the access restrictions to the first City Council Minutes. To aid in their preservation, however, staff will continue to reduce the amount of handling, encouraging users to use digitized copies and transcriptions of the first Council Minute Book, which are currently available on our website Winnipeg in Focus – see: https://winnipeginfocus.winnipeg.ca/i04042

The City of Winnipeg Archives gratefully acknowledges:

Jane Dalley, Director of Jane Dalley Heritage Consulting, for all conservation work
Province of Manitoba for its financial support of the project

Submitted by Sarah Ramsden, Archivist, City of Winnipeg Archives, with contributions from Jane Dalley

Photo Gallery:

AMA Newsletter - February 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 21:31:41 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Andrew Morrison

Vice-Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Katrin Nielsdottir

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Call for New Board Member

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are seeking a Member-at-Large to assist in organizing the Manitoba Day event. This can be a shared position.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: We are assisting members with renewing or starting membership online. See Renewing and Starting Membership in this newsletter.

Education and Advisory Services: Stay tuned for upcoming events.

Finance and Grants: The Community Internship Committee has chosen Daly House and Manitoba Metis Federation for Intern Grants. The application process for students is starting.

Indigenous Relations: We had a successful webinar on February 8, on “Creating a Meaningful Land Acknowledgment” with Allen Sutherland, also known as Waabiskhi Mazinazoot Mishtaatim, or White Spotted Horse. Stay tuned for more events.

Information and Outreach: Stay tuned for news about an online Trivia night!

Membership Committee: Please be sure to renew your membership by April!

Student Member-at-Large: Stay tuned for updates!

Renewing and Starting Membership Online

Focus on Treaties

“What's Your Treaty Story?” Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3a6048e38dae4afd8def879b63f2b1b5

“Interactive treaty education facility Agowiidiwinan Centre opens at The Forks in Winnipeg” by Darren Bernhardt, CBC News, Dec 15, 2022.. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/agowiidiwinan-treaty-centre-open-forks-winnipeg-1.6686978

“Treaties and the Treaty Relationship Webinar Series” Canada’s History. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/webinars/treaties-and-the-treaty-relationship-webinar-series

Photo of the Month

Sara Dyck at the Mennonite Heritage Archives using the overhead camera stand to digitize the newspaper "Steinbach Post.” Check out the News about our Members to learn more about the Mennonite Heritage Archives new digitization project.

News about our Members

Mennonite Heritage Archives

An exciting development for the Mennonite Heritage Archives is a new digital platform. In November 2019 MHA consulted focus groups and heard the call for more online access, which the pandemic has only heightened. As one response, we have embarked on a large digitization project – providing online access to digitized archival content with word searchable capabilities for printed materials. Newspapers and community magazines are currently being posted. Titles include Steinbach Post, Conference of Mennonites in Canada Yearbook, CMBC Alumni Bulletin, and some books by the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society. Specialized software was used to recognize the gothic German script. While not 100%, the results make using these resources much easier. An official launch is yet to come. The new platform based on the Islandora software, will be able to pull descriptive data from our AtoM instance called MAID (Mennonite Archival Information Database) where applicable.

Proposed Funding for City of Winnipeg Archives

The City of Winnipeg has proposed a budget that includes $12.6 million to renovate Carnegie Library at 380 William Avenue. This would give the City Archives a proper facility for the first time since 2013. During renovations, the Carnegie Library was damaged in a rainstorm, and the records were then moved to the Myrtle Street location. The budget will be reviewed at the Standing Policy Committee meetings starting on March 3, with a council debate on March 22.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/this-is-a-double-win-advocates-pleased-with-proposed-funding-for-old-archives-building-1.6272465

Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation and Promotion

Nominations are open until Friday, March 3, 2023 for the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation and Promotion. Initiated in 2011 and presented with the Manitoba Historical Society, this award recognizes “people who have rendered prolonged, meritorious service in the preservation and promotion of Manitoba’s history and heritage”. For more information, see the Manitoba Historical Society website at http:// www.mhs.mb.ca/info/awards/lg/index.shtml

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - January 2023

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 05:28:05 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Introducing our Board

Chair: Andrew Morrison

Vice-Chair: Heather Bidzinski

Finance and Grants: Katrin Nielsdottir

Secretary: Jackson Anderson

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch

Education: Al Thorleifson

Indigenous Relations: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Information and Outreach: Corser du Pont

Membership: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Student Member-at-large: Blake Mueller

Call for New Board Member

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are seeking a Member-at-Large to assist in organizing the Manitoba Day event. This can be a shared position.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: We are developing accessibility standards for our Zoom events. We are also assisting members with renewing or starting membership online. See Renewing and Starting Membership in this newsletter.

Education and Advisory Services: Members of the AMA can expect to hear about our planned workshop on Archiving Digital Media within the coming month. The presentation will look at recent experiences of several organizations to undertake archiving of digital media, what to save, and how to do so.

Finance and Grants: The Association for Manitoba Archives Fund, supported by Endow Manitoba and administered by The Winnipeg Foundation, provides the AMA with a reliable source of operating income today and in future years as we continue to build capital through ongoing contributions. To learn more about this fund and the opportunity to donate to it, please follow this link: https://www.mycharitytools.com/gift/wpgfdn/donate?fund=894

Indigenous Relations: Please save February 8 at 7 pm for a webinar on “Creating a Meaningful Land Acknowledgment” with Allen Sutherland, also known as Waabiskhi Mazinazoot Mishtaatim, or White Spotted Horse. Registration is on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-a-meaningful-land-acknowledgment-tickets-519134424037

Information and Outreach: Stay tuned for news about an online Trivia night in February!

Membership Committee: We are starting the process of reviewing membership categories and fees. We hope to have a formal proposal completed by March 1st and look forward to hearing your feedback once it is available.

Student Member-at-Large: Plans are underway to renew the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) student chapter.

Renewing and Starting Membership online

“Creating a Meaningful Land Acknowledgement” with Allen Sutherland / Waabiskhi Mazinishin Mishtadim (White Spotted Horse)

The AMA is pleased to invite you to this free webinar presented in collaboration with the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at 7 pm on Zoom. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-a-meaningful-land-acknowledgment-tickets-519134424037

Focus on Treaties

“What's Your Treaty Story?” Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/3a6048e38dae4afd8def879b63f2b1b5

“Interactive treaty education facility Agowiidiwinan Centre opens at The Forks in Winnipeg” by Darren Bernhardt, CBC News, Dec 15, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/agowiidiwinan-treaty-centre-open-forks-winnipeg-1.6686978

“Treaties and the Treaty Relationship Webinar Series” Canada’s History. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/webinars/treaties-and-the-treaty-relationship-webinar-series

News about our Members

The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is pleased to announce the official reopening of the completely renovated Freeman Family Holocaust Education Centre (HEC). New additions to the HEC include an interactive table featuring stories and photographs outlining the lives of local survivors before, during, and after the Holocaust, and a computer kiosk connecting visitors to the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA) and its more than 55,000 video testimonies and a list of 1.9 million searchable names. The Jewish Heritage Centre is the only full access site to the VHA between Toronto and Calgary.

For more information, please visit the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada website: https://www.jhcwc.org/

Krystal Payne has an article in the current Fall/Winter 2022 issue of Archivaria titled “Archival Harm Reduction: A Theoretical Framework for Utilizing Harm-Reduction Concepts in Archival Practice.” Read the article here: https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria. You can also read her M.A. thesis “Archival harm reduction: utilizing public health harm reduction concepts for reconciliatory power shifts in archives” here : https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/35762.

Jane Dalley is selling off various types of archival storage enclosures left over from rehousing projects and client orders, including document storage cases and boxes, polyester sleeves and slide storage systems. Please contact her at j_dalle@zoho.com for a list of items, quantities and prices.

Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation and Promotion

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Archiving the Records of the MMIWG2S+ Inquiry

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 01:17:40 GMT

On December 6th, the AMA hosted the online event "Archiving the Records of the MMIWG2S+ Inquiry". The two speakers, Dr. Karine Duhamel and Marta Dabros, have graciously agreed to share their presentation notes.

NI-MMIWG MAA Dec 2022.pdf

MMIWG_RM_2022-12-06c.pdf

AMA Newsletter - December 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 02:07:37 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Message from the Chair

Thank you everyone for your participation in the AGM and during the entire year. The AMA is looking forward to working with our new board members and under the new by-laws approved at the AGM. We are anticipating new opportunities and programming in the new year that will hopefully be of value to all members. Best wishes for the holiday season.

- Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Call for New Board Member

The AMA has the following volunteer position open. Board positions are usually for a period of 2 years. Please note that we have Board meetings one time per month and the meetings are held over Zoom in the evening. If you are interested, or want more information, please email Chair@mbarchives.ca.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: From article 5.3 of our by-laws? “Members-at-Large are welcome to attend all meetings, to participate in discussions, vote at meetings, and to help with the organization of Association events.” In particular, we are seeking a Member-at-Large to organize the Manitoba Day event. This can be a shared position.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: Digital Initiatives provided technical support for the “Archiving the Records of the MMIWG Inquiry” webinar. The committee has also started examining ways to improve the accessibility of the AMA's webinars.

Education and Advisory Services: Plans are in the works to hold two workshops in 2023. One addresses the role of trauma in archival research, the second will explore the process of archiving digital media.

Finance and Grants: We are excited to report that we received eight applications for the MICEC Archival Internship grant. We will be reviewing the applications over the next month. The Archival Internship is intended to give an archival student relevant experience, under the supervision of an archivist, while using the opportunity to discover and process within a smaller, local archive that may not otherwise have the opportunity to fund such a position.

Indigenous Relations: We had solid attendance at the “Archiving the Records of the MMIWG Inquiry” on Dec 6 with panelists Dr. Karine Duhamel and Marta Dabros. If you are wanting to support Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, please take some time to review the 231 Calls for Justice that were developed through the Inquiry here.

And if you are able, please give a donation to support Velma’s House, a 24/7 safe space, here.

Information and Outreach: Stay tuned for news about an upcoming social event!

Membership Committee: No report this month.

Student Member-at-Large: The AMA welcomes Archival Studies JMP student Blake Mueller to this role.

Featured Member: The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation (WAF) has been expanding its archival holdings over the past several years. Thanks to funding from the Documentary Heritage Community Programs and Young Canada Works, WAF has been working on arranging, describing, and digitizing the holdings. The collection includes personal and business records of individual architects, designers, and firms and largely pertains to those who were born in Manitoba, taught at the University of Manitoba, or had professional practices in Winnipeg. These include: Arthur James Donahue*, Burton Stovel*, Charles Grant Marshall*, Claude de Forest*, Debby Lexier, Dennis Carter*, George A. Stewart, Green Blankstein Russell, Harlyn E. Thompson, the Manitoba Association of Architects*, Peter Tittenberger, Roy Izen*, Roy Sellors, and Stan Osaka*. (* denotes finalized collections with finding aids which can be found on MAIN here.

Shop local this holiday season! The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation has a range of publications and merchandise for sale that celebrate Winnipeg’s architectural history. Pick up our latest publications, Max Blankstein: Architect, Osborne Village: An Architectural Tour, and Ghost Signs: An Exchange District Walking Tour, or some of our unique merch like mugs and viewmasters. We also have items for kids, including the bilingual book The Golden Boy in the Case of the Missing Cube / Le Golden Boy enquête: qu’est-il arrivé au Cube? and two colouring books!

Shop online at winnipegarchitecture.ca/shop or visit us in person at 266 McDermot Avenue, Monday-Friday 10:00-16:00.

News from our Members

Indigenous Afternoons at the Archives of Manitoba returns beginning January 2023! These bi-weekly afternoons assist researchers, students, and community members with family and community archival research. See the poster below for details or email archives@gov.mb.ca or tbphotos@uwinnipeg.ca.

A pdf of this poster can be found here.

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - November 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 20:29:42 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: Jackson Anderson and Katie Lynch have been elected co-chairs. We have upcoming events which will continue to be organized on Eventbrite. Please reach out for tech support or suggestions on improving the AMA website.

Education and Advisory Services: Stay tuned for upcoming events and workshops.

Finance and Grants: The Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) and Endow Manitoba seek applications from community heritage institutions to host a fully-funded archival studies internship in Summer 2023. Funding of $12,000 is available to pay the intern, while $3,000 is available to pay an archival advisor/mentor, if necessary. Applications are due by Monday, December 5, 2022.

Indigenous Relations: Please join us December 6 at 7-8:15 pm CST for our online webinar on Archiving the Records of the MMIWG2S+ Inquiry. Panelists are: Dr. Karine Duhamel, Marta Dabros, and Petra Lundy. Moderator: Carmen Miedema. Please see our website for more information and to register https://mbarchives.ca/event-5057393

Information and Outreach: No report this month.

Membership Committee: No report this month.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are looking for volunteers to help with the Manitoba Day Awards! If you are interested, or want more information, please email ama1@mts.net

Student Member-at-Large: Students interested in volunteering with the AMA can send an email to ama1@mts.net or reach out to us on our social media.

Photo of the Month

This photo comes from the Anna Leclerc fonds from the Service des archives de l'Université se Saint-Boniface. The photo was taken by Meyers Photo. This photo shows the ruins of the aftermath of the St. Boniface fire on November 25, 1922. Ten lives were lost due to the fire, and the building with many Franco-Manitoban records were destroyed. In the long and rich history of the College de Saint-Boniface, November 25, 1922, will always remain an important date.

If you would like to feature a photo from your archives, please submit a photograph along with a sentence or two describing the records, to webmaster@mbarchives.ca. We love to showcase the collections from our member institutions!

News about our members

Join us in congratulating Anne Lindsay for being awarded the Best PhD Dissertation in Canadian Studies (2022) by the Canadian Studies Network and the University of Manitoba Distinguished Dissertation Award (2022). Anne’s dissertation looks at slavery in the Canadian fur trade. For more information, see

https://news.umanitoba.ca/slavery-as-part-of-canadian-history/

Anne’s dissertation is available online at the University of Manitoba website: https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/bitstream/handle/1993/35829/Lindsay_MargaretAnne.pdf?sequence=1

Anne is also a graduate of the Archival Studies stream of the Joint Master’s Program of the UM/UW. Her 2011 M.A. thesis is available here: https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/4874

You can read more about Anne’s work in helping Indigenous community members locate family history in this recent CBC news article:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/three-sisters-residential-school-graves-1.6635772

The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections have posted their short film about the Reginald Buller exhibit “‘He was the Very Model of a Modern Research Scientist:’ Reginald Buller and the Founding of the University of Manitoba" on YouTube. The film includes excellent commentary from Shelley Sweeney and Gordon Goldsborough and was produced by UM Archives & Special Collections head Heather Bidzinski. Enjoy the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuirjunpaSY

Special Announcements

Panel discussion: “Archiving the Records of the MMIWG2S+ Inquiry”

The Association for Manitoba Archives is hosting a panel discussion with Dr. Karine Duhamel, Marta Dabros and Petra Lundy.

The panel will be held online on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, from 7:00 – 8:15 pm CST.
The webinar is free and open to all. Please register at Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/archiving-the-records-of-the-mmiwg2s-inquiry-tickets-475651134347

University of Manitoba’s History Colloquium Committee: “Making Archives, Forging Nations: A Critical History of Canada’s National Archives and Total Archives Tradition.”

The University of Manitoba’s Department of History Colloquium Committee hosted a talk with Dr. Jamila Ghaddar entitled, “Making Archives, Forging Nations: A Critical History of Canada’s National Archives and Total Archives Tradition.”

The talk was held on November 30^th from 2:15-3:30 in 409 Tier Building with discussant Raymond Frogner.

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Dr. Laura A. Millar - "Truth, Lies, and Evidence: The Role of the Archivist in an Information Age"

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 19:29:54 GMT

On October 25th, Dr. Laura A. Millar delivered a talk entitled "Truth, Lies, and Evidence: The Role of the Archivist in an Information Age". The talk was held as a hybrid event with over 100 attendees joining by Zoom and a dozen more attending in person at the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections. Dr. Millar spoke on archivists' roles in the modern era and how archivists could define these roles going forward. Afterwards, Dr. Millar responded to several questions and comments from the attendees.

Dr. Millar has graciously shared her presentation notes, which can be found here. Please note that this version of the notes has been edited to remove any third-party images, to protect third-party IP or other rights. The author has made this text available for research or personal use only.

Special thanks to Dr. Millar for the fantastic talk, the University of Manitoba for hosting the event, Dr. Greg Bak and Al Thorleifson for organizing the event, Katie Lynch for serving as MC, other AMA volunteers for technical support and advertising, and all the attendees who were able to make it.

AMA Newsletter - October 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 17:33:15 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here

Annual General Meeting – November 10

Our AGM will be held on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. You can register on our website at: https://mbarchives.ca/event-5018153

AMA Constitution/By-laws

AMA members received an email recently with our proposed changes to the AMA constitution and by-laws. Please review and email any comments or questions by October 31 to the board members below. Suggestions for changes will be reviewed by the board and the proposed amendments will be presented for a vote at the AGM.

Heather Bidzinski Heather.Bidzinski@umanitoba.ca

Al Thorleifson pembinamanitouarchive@gmail.com

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: Registration for events is running smoother as we have begun using EventBrite software. We are also upgrading our analytics capabilities to not only capture data on MAIN, but also the AMA’s website.

Education and Advisory Services: We held a successful webinar on Oct 25 with Dr. Laura A. Millar on “Truth, Lies, and Evidence: The Role of the Archivist in an Information Age”. Over 100 people registered for the event.

Finance and Grants: Stay tuned for our fulsome report at the AGM. Also, we are looking for volunteers to join the committee.

Indigenous Relations: We updated the Indigenous Resources list on our website at https://mbarchives.ca/indigenous_resource_list. Two new sections are added: “Repatriation and Reparation” and “Theses by Archival Studies M.A. students”. If you have links you would like to suggest, please email IndigenousRelations@mbarchives.ca

Information and Outreach: The committee has been very active during the municipal election campaign advocating for a proper facility for the City of Winnipeg Archives.

Membership Committee: Please take a few minutes to fill in our quick survey and contribute to improving the membership renewal process. Survey closes Friday, November 4.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDVnjoXvozsXFuYzJIaGVLeG9EY1wUNMh2RI8y-tyWeMGiCw/viewform

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are looking for volunteers to help with the Manitoba Day Awards! If you are interested, or want more information, please email ama1@mts.net

Student Member-at-Large: We will provide a report next newsletter. See you at the AGM!

Photo of the Month

This photo comes from Christy M. Henry at the SJ McKee Archives at Brandon University. Titled “1975 SF – Travellers”, this is part of a new acquisition from the Brandon Sun.

News from our members

The Pembina Manitou Archive website has issues from 75 different Manitoba newspapers and magazines. This digital collection has been developed through a partnership with the Manitoba Legislative Library. Visit the collection at: https://pembinamanitouarchive.ca/types/view/11

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Funded by a generous grant from The Winnipeg Foundation, the University of Winnipeg Archives and Oral History Centre are excited to begin the second phase of the Two-Spirit Oral History project, emphasizing life stories of Two-Spirit Elders and Knowledge-Keepers.

The first phase of the project, donated by Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc., consists of interviews conducted in 2018, during the 31st International Two-Spirit Gathering at the Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre near Beausejour, MB. The recordings have been made accessible online in accordance with the stewardship agreement signed by Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc., and consent agreements signed by interviewees: 
https://archives.uwinnipeg.ca/our-collections/two-spirited-people-of-manitoba-oral-histories.html

The stories of Two-Spirit people have been mostly absent from history owing to white settler colonization and discrimination, including within Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities. The goal of the project is to record Two-Spirit histories for future generations by sharing their lived experiences. These stories will help to provide source material for new histories, research, and creative works about, for, and by Two-Spirit people, and they may assist people of all ages who identify as Two-Spirit, through these examples. The Archives hopes to have the second phase of the project accessible online by the end of the year. 

Special Announcements

Webinar: Governance Back: Exploring Indigenous Approaches to Reclaiming Land Governance

The David Suzuki Foundation presents a free public webinar on Thursday, Nov 3 at 2:30 pm CST (3:30 EST). The panel features Aimee Craft and Valentin Lopez, and will be moderated by Rachel Plotkin. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MzZxMYQUQ5CCcdDQ2ETL6g?mkt_tok=MTg4LVZEVS0zNjAAAAGHpI10KcHyDugDBVdeAUQN2HdClt5IB7z15vRLLTjskTwAKkwApcBAYZclnJWDH0agqA1g6QiOWaIHGBI7rSx5DxhDdJ_osNnsYgUNU6X9fA-7

The Governance Back event is based on the recently published report, available for download at https://davidsuzuki.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/DSF-governance-back-September-20-v2-003.pdf

Call for Volunteers

News for the newsletter?

Does your archive have a new grant or a new hire? Or do you have a collection you want to promote? Send your news to ama1@mts.net and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

AMA Newsletter - September 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 21:34:17 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Message from the Chair

The AMA hopes that everyone had a good summer! As autumn arrives and we return to our usual routines, we also have new opportunities to engage with our colleagues, including our Annual General Meeting and the Heritage Summit presented by the eight Provincial Heritage Agencies.

-Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Save the Date! – Annual General Meeting – November 10

Our AGM will be held Thursday, November 10, 2022. Further details will be arriving in your email inbox.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: Digital Initiatives has cleaned up several duplicate authorities in MAIN. We also updated the subject access point “Slaves” to be “Enslaved Persons” to reflect the Library of Congress change in subject headings.

Education and Advisory Services: The education committee continues to work on plans for a workshop on archiving emails and a series on addressing trauma in archival contexts. As well, there is interest from among the region’s museums for a workshop on developing their own archives.

Finance and Grants: Did you know that the funding for the AMA Thesis of Distinction Award comes from our endowment fund with the University of Manitoba? We have been awarding this prize since 1994. For more information, see our website at https://mbarchives.ca/thesisaward

Indigenous Relations: We are planning a panel discussion on MMIWG2S and Archives.

Information and Outreach: The three committee members are maintaining the AMA's social media accounts, as well as actively fielding Advisory Services enquiries.

Membership Committee: Psssst! Have a second to help a Membership Committee member out? Fill in our quick survey and contribute to improving the renewal process.

Survey

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: We are looking for volunteers to help with the Manitoba Day Awards! If you are interested, or want more information, please email ama1@mts.net

Student Member-at-Large: We welcome Krystal Paine as Student Member-at-Large. Krystal is a recent graduate of the Joint Master’s Program in History in the Archival Studies stream. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Manitoba and working as a Research Associate with Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre (University of Winnipeg). Krystal would welcome a co-rep to volunteer alongside her – please email ama1@mts.net if you are interested in this opportunity.

Photo of the Month

September’s photo comes from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Archives. Thanks to archivist Gayle DeGagne for the submission.

This photo was taken in 1951 during the Winnipeg Ballet’s “Royal Command” performance attended by Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The young girl facing them is Janie Adams. It was photographed by David Portigal and is originally from the Winnipeg Free Press collection of the Western Canada Pictorial Index https://images.uwinnipeg.ca/action.cfm?imageNumber=41657

Sheila Killough, one of the young dancers in 1951, wrote a charming account of the Princess’s visit:

"We are sorry now that we gave you such a serious ballet. How we wished you could have stayed for the next number. It was a comedy and lots of fun. We feel sorry, too, that you did not have any young friends in the Royal Box. We had a party after the performance, and we wished that you could have come. You could have hung up your tiara with ours and pinned a white gardenia in your hair and danced and danced with Philip the whole evening."

(Excerpt from The Royal Winnipeg Ballet: The First Forty Years by Max Wyman, Doubleday & Company, 1978).

The company received Royal designation on January 31, 1953 and was the first ballet company in the Commonwealth to receive this honour.

For more information about the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Archives, please visit https://www.rwb.org/who-we-are/alumni/alumni-association/. The Sheila Killough fonds are listed in MAIN: https://main.lib.umanitoba.ca/sheila-killough-fonds

Special Announcements

Job postings

The AMA is happy to circulate job postings to our membership. Please note that we will only circulate postings that include specific salary information (e.g., pay per hour, salary per year, or salary range). You can send your postings to ama1@mts.net

Call for Volunteers

AMA Newsletter - July 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 14:03:23 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: The Committee is revamping our registration procedures and plans to implement them in the fall.

Education: The Education committee is making plans to hold a workshop on addressing trauma in relation to archival records. Once the workshop content has been finalized, a date will be announced. As well, interest in the archiving of emails is increasing and there are several organizations who are instituting protocols. Once their experience is known, the Education Committee plans to host a workshop on the topic.

Advisory Services: The AMA is currently planning to hire someone to manage Advisory Services. In the meantime, if anyone needs assistance on archival protocol, plans, or questions, they should contact advocacy@mbarchives.ca and arrangements will be made to have someone contact them.

Finance and Grants: Our funding request through the Ministry of Sport, Culture and Heritage has been approved for $28,400 and the initial $25,560 has been deposited. This grant with our donations and membership fees this month leave the total incoming funds at 25,675 for June 2022. The total accounts currently equal $136,326.00.

Indigenous Relations: The 5th Annual Signing Ceremony for the Winnipeg Indigenous Accord was held at Oodena Circle, The Forks on June 28. We encourage you to learn more about the Indigenous Accord and consider joining as a partner. The AMA is entering our 3rd year of partnership in the Indigenous Accord. For more info, please visit: https://winnipeg.ca/indigenous/wia/

Information and Outreach: The Information and Outreach Committee is maintaining social media accounts, as well as providing interim advisory services. Please send any questions you may have to advocacy@mbarchives.ca.

Membership Committee: Membership has completed a survey of other provincial archives associations to review fee structure, member benefits and member categories. The Committee is working towards a proposed revision for the AMA membership structure for the 2022 AGM.

Student Member-at-Large: Students interested in volunteering with the AMA can send an email to ama1@mts.net or reach out to us on our social media.

Special Announcements

Digitization at the Morris & District Museum

The following comes from Lou Erickson of the Morris & District Museum

Last summer, our Morris and District Centennial Museum was fortunate to have the help of Al Thorleifson and staff from Pembina Manitou Archive (PMA) in getting a number of our treasured archival items online for public access. These included several family histories of Morris pioneer families, our “oral history” project interviews from several years ago, some aging scrapbooks of newspaper clippings compiled by older community members, and our recently researched material relating to the sites on our Morris Heritage WalkingTrails. Al also did an in-depth study into the background of one of our museum’s most unique and valuable artefacts— an original oil painting of a Blackfoot chief, “Running Wolf, bequeathed to us by Edmund Morris— and wrote it up for us in a monograph which is also now online. In addition, our town’s most dedicated historian, Tim Lewis, gave us free access to all his research into Morris pioneer history, including a detailed catalogue of the earliest “Scratching River” families, businesses, clubs, etc., as well as an index of our Morris cemetery, and a map of the original “river lots” identifying who owned them at that time, and all these have also been put online. Finally, we were able to get copies of our earliest Morris newspaper, called the MORRIS HERALD, from the years 1903-1955, digitised and put online at PMA. We are so delighted to have all this now available for everyone to see, and we hope to continue the process with more of our artefacts going forward.

If you would like to be featured in the AMA newsletter, please contact the AMA!

1000 Residential School Photographs Found in Rome

Raymond Frogner, Head of Archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), has discovered about 1000 black and white residential school photographs after being given exclusive access to the Oblate General Archives in Rome. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, commonly known as the Oblates, were heavily involved in the administration of Catholic residential schools where several documented cases of abuse took place. While managing these schools, the Oblates sent records back to their headquarters in Rome. These photographs are examples of such records and will help shed more light on this chapter of Canadian history.

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

AMA Newsletter - June 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 18:16:31 GMT

A digital version of this newsletter can be found here.

Message from the Chair

Summer is here and the AMA is continuing its work. Representatives of the eight Provincial Heritage Agencies had the opportunity to meet with Andrew Smith, Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage. The agencies were able to express their concerns about provincial funding for the future and the agencies’ abilities to provide services to the community. The discussion was productive and we hope that we will be able to provide updates in the near future.

-Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: The Committee is looking to revamp the event registration process on the website. Stay tuned for updates!

Education and Advisory Services: We are currently restructuring Advisory Services. If you need assistance from Advisory Services, please email us at ama1@mts.net

Finance and Grants: During the month of May we received $381.00 in donations to the Association for Manitoba Archives. We also collected $2631.46 in membership fees over the month. Expenses included Manitoba Day Awards catering and certificates for approximately $660.00. In total through our accounts, we currently have $111,148.83, including our savings.

Indigenous Relations: June is Indigenous History Month. Check out the updated Resource list on our website https://mbarchives.ca/indigenous_resource_list

Information and Outreach: The committee members are maintaining the AMA's social media accounts, as well as assisting with Advisory Services enquiries.

Membership Committee: We are working on a number of small projects with the goal of simplifying membership application, renewal, and accreditation with the goal to ultimately grow membership and better serve our members. We are reviewing current application forms and processes in order to streamline the process and upgrade to online forms. We plan to make these forms also be printable for those members who prefer to pay by cheque. We have undertaken a comprehensive review of the accreditation process to determine how we will proceed. This review will help us decide if we will continue with the accreditation program and what it will look like going forward. We will be analyzing the current process through the lens of accessibility, effectiveness, and practical application. Stay tuned for further information. We are also reviewing lists of current and past members to guide membership growth.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: The AMA wants to extend our appreciation and best wishes to Brian Hubner who is stepping down from his position as Special Initiatives Member-at-Large. We are especially grateful for all the hours he donated to encourage Manitoba Day Award nominations, standardize processes, work with other judges, and keep track of details too numerous to mention.

We will be looking for Brian’s replacement on the Board in the fall. If you are interested, please contact Andrew Morrison or Terry Reilly through the ama1@mts.net email address.

Student Member-at-Large: Students interested in volunteering with the AMA can send an email to ama1@mts.net or reach out to us on our social media.

Special Announcements

News from our members

Pembina Manitou Archive: This summer, the Pembina Manitou Archive will continue its partnership with the Boundary Trail Heritage Region. The project emphasis will be on identifying archival collections within local museums, reviewing their preservation status, and encouraging the museum owners of these collections to ensure their public access. For more information about the Pembina Manitou Archive, visit https://pembinamanitouarchive.ca/

Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis History Project launches website

On 21 June 2022, Indigenous Peoples Day, the Manitoba Indigenous Tuberculosis History Project (MITHP) launched their website https://indigenoustbhistory.ca

Website features:

Histories of TB sanatoriums and Indian hospitals in Manitoba
A searchable database of historical photos of Indigenous patients and staff in Manitoba TB hospitals
Digitized and searchable historical publications of the Sanatorium Board of Manitoba
The Missing Patients Initiative Online Research Guide: An online guide to support families of patients doing their own research to locate missing patients and burial sites
Publications, videos and podcasts by the MITHP team members, and a curated bibliography of books, articles, documentaries, podcasts, and government reports about Indigenous TB history in Canada
Updates on project research and upcoming events

Photo of the Month

June’s photo comes from the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

A photograph of a crowd of people gathered at Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg to watch Kathie McIntosh attempt to swim across the lake. After swimming for 16 hours and 42 minutes, Kathie was the first person to swim Lake Winnipeg. This black-and-white photograph was taken August 15, 1955 and is part of the Winnipeg Tribune Personalities Collection at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

If you would like to feature a photo from your archives, please submit a photograph along with a sentence or two describing the records, to webmaster@mbarchives.ca. We would love to showcase the collections from local institutions!

Call for Volunteers

AMA Newsletter - May 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 26 May 2022 12:51:09 GMT

Committee Reports

A printable version of this document can be found here.

Digital Initiatives: The Committee assisted with the registration for AMA events this month as well as doing some back-end work on the website.

Education and Advisory Services: The Education Committee is planning a workshop on archiving emails. This workshop will be based on the first year of experiences shared by several archivists who are currently working on the process of archiving emails. A second workshop will discuss trauma related to archival research and the role of the archivist in addressing it. Look for registration information in the early autumn.

Finance and Grants: The AMA has received the yearly audit report in draft form. The revenue totaled $44,376 during the 2021 financial year. A surplus of nearly $20,000 is remaining from the 2021 financial year.

Indigenous Relations: The Introduction to the MMIWG2S Report and Calls for Justice with Dr. Karine Duhamel was held May 19. For more information on the report and calls, see https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

Information and Outreach: This Committee assisted with the Manitoba Day Awards as well as streamed City Council meetings on April 20 and 28 discussing archives.

Membership Committee: The Committee is reviewing accreditation and investigating ways to improve the process.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: The 2022 Manitoba Day Awards was a success! Unlike previous years, it was a hybrid model with both online and in-person participants.

Student Member-at-Large: Students interested in volunteering with the AMA can send an email to ama1@mts.net or reach out to us on our social media.

Special Announcements

Manitoba Day Awards

The AMA would like to announce the winners of 2022 Manitoba Day Awards!

Popular Publication: Gordon McDiarmid. We Were Builders from Scotland.
Scholarly Publication (Two Winners): Chantal Fiola. Returning to Ceremony | Loewen Royden. Mennonite Farmers.
Exhibition/Project: Riva Symko. The Alloways' Gift | Rosalie Favell's Family Legacy.

The AMA would like to thank all nominees and nominators for the participation in the ceremony. Special accolades to Chris Kotecki for his contributions as a nominator throughout the awards’ history. The AMA would also like to thank the organizing committee for their work in making the event happen both in-person and virtually.

AMA Photo of the Month

If interested in participating, please submit a photograph along with a sentence or two describing the records, to webmaster@mbarchives.ca. We would love to showcase the collections from local institutions!

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

Calla Grabish and the Distinguished Service Award

The AMA would like to announce that Calla Grabish, recently retired archivist from the Martin H. Ainley Archives Centre of St. John's-Ravenscourt School, has been honoured by the SJR Board of Governors with a Distinguished Service Award for her leadership and exceptional service to the school. Congratulations Calla!

The New Virtual Tour of “Lost” University of Manitoba

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Sat, 23 Apr 2022 15:56:26 GMT

The University of Manitoba has a long and storied history in this province. In the following blog post, Shelley Sweeney, Archivist Emerita from the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, highlights the work of volunteers to shed light on this institutions history.

Volunteers at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections work on projects that interest them that augment the regular work done by staff. This latest project by Wayne Chan, a research computer analyst with the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba, explores the forgotten places and spaces at the University using the new web version of Google Earth. Through this platform people are brought to three different campuses: the Fort Garry campus, the Bannatyne medical campus, and the old Broadway campus.

Visitors to the site can fly between campuses and hop between various locations, or they can use the table of contents to jump to a particular place, or they can click on a pin to find out what used to be in the space before. On the right-hand side of the screen, people can read a brief description of what was there, accompanied by archival photos and short videos. The majority of these archival materials were obtained from the University of Manitoba Archives, augmented by a few photos from publications or other institutions. Wayne deliberately chose quirky or interesting places to highlight, and further enhanced his choices with unusual facts that will surprise many visitors to the site.

Thus, visitors to the site can discover that the University of Manitoba used to be the place for an ice-making plant, where men would cut blocks of ice from the Red River to use for people’s home refrigeration. There was a provincial experimental fur farm on the Fort Garry campus, and the University had to provide its own water before being hooked up to the city system. Students used to swim in the Red River, practice shooting rifles, or play broomball on an outdoor rink. In later years, when tired, students could borrow a pillow and blanket to sleep in the University Centre Nap Rooms! In the early part of the last century the Dean of Medicine used a horse-drawn sleigh to make his way around in winter. The tour provides a fascinating glimpse of both the University and broader society in general through these historical vignettes.

This format is ideally suited for the pandemic and for people who are interested in the University without wanting to deal with the trek out to the campuses or the confusion of making their way around the labyrinthine spaces once they get there. The tour allows people to sample the histories as they have time without having to commit to a lengthy visit. This type of interface brings archival material to new audiences and importantly, drives people to the Archives’ website. Other archives may find this format useful. I have it on Wayne’s word that the format is very easy to master through the various online tutorials.

To visit the virtual tour, or to learn about other parts of the University’s history, go to https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/c.php?g=501019&p=3430707. And if you have knowledge of other lost places on one of the University of Manitoba campuses, let the Archives know at archives@umanitoba.ca!

AMA Newsletter - April 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 17:11:23 GMT

Committee Reports

A printable version of this document can be found here.

Digital Initiatives: The Committee hosted the annual MAIN (Manitoba Archival Information Network) training session on March 25. The participants learned how to create and edit data within MAIN and also received a brief overview of archival description.

Indigenous Relations: Dr. Karine Duhamel will present an introductory webinar on the MMIWG inquiry, final report, and Calls for Justice. Thursday, May 19, 7-8 pm. Registration will be available on our website soon.

Information and Outreach: The City of Winnipeg Archives Renovation Project is on the agenda for the Winnipeg City Council Meeting, Thursday 28 April. You can watch it streamed live on YouTube from a link on this page: https://winnipeg.ca/clerks/council/meetings.stm/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D156433384

Earlier this month, Information and Outreach submitted a letter in support of the initiative to the Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development, Heritage, and Downtown Development: https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/DMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=21722&SectionId=641741&InitUrl=

Membership Committee: Reminder to renew your membership for April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023. Visit https://mbarchives.ca/Membership to renew online.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: The Manitoba Day awards ceremony will be a hybrid event (online and in-person) held on Thursday May 12th, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, in the Cross Common Room at St. John's College, University of Manitoba, with light refreshments being served. The judges are currently evaluating the 10 nominations, and this should be completed by April 25th. Stay tuned for registration info.

Student Member-at-Large: Students interested in volunteering with the AMA can send an email to ama1@mts.net or reach out to us on our social media.

Special Announcements

AMA Photo of the Month

The City of Winnipeg Archives submitted the AMA’s April photo of the month.

Aerial of a Royal Canadian Air Force bomber that crashed into the St. James area of Winnipeg on February 17, 1957. Miraculously, there were no fatalities or serious injuries. Photo taken by David Portigal and Co. and used in consultation with the family. Part of the City of Winnipeg Archives Photograph collection (P52 Item 126).

To participate in Photo of the Month, please submit a photograph along with a caption, to webmaster@mbarchives.ca. We would love to showcase the collections from local institutions!

Reconciliation and Heritage webinar

The National Trust for Canada / Fiducie nationale du Canada webinar with Miranda Jimmy is available for viewing on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlOlpqvHycU

Miranda Jimmy is the incoming Manager for Reconciliation, Diversity and Inclusion at the National Trust for Canada. She is a member of Thunderchild First Nation.

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

AMA Heritage Trust Fund (Endowment Fund)

The Association for Manitoba Archives Fund, supported by Endow Manitoba and administered by The Winnipeg Foundation, will provide the AMA with a reliable, meaningful source of operating income today and in future years as we continue to build capital through ongoing contributions. The AMA is grateful for the financial contributions made by The Winnipeg Foundation, the province of Manitoba, and from individual AMA members to date. To learn more about this fund and the opportunity to donate to it, please follow this link: https://www.mycharitytools.com/gift/wpgfdn/donate?fund=894

AMA Newsletter - March 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 13:01:45 GMT

Message from the Chair

A printable version of this document can be found here.

With Spring around the corner and public health restrictions being lifted, the following months will present new opportunities and challenges. Institutions and individuals will be faced with new decisions to make. The AMA looks forward to working with you during this process.

-Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: The Committee is working to maintain the website, blog, and to provide training on MAIN.

Education and Advisory Services: The Committee is looking for more members to help organize and promote AMA educational services. Please contact the AMA for more details.

Finance and Grants: The Association raised 299.30 in membership fees during February 2022. Our year-to-date income totaling 45,145.10 (including grants) and expenses are 23,919.86 showing a surplus of 21,225,86 between April 2021 and February 2022. Our current assets in cash and equivalents in at 133,922.38. As a change in process our bookkeeping is now being handled by a third party.

Indigenous Relations: The committee is continuing to plan an online event that examines the MMIWG2S Calls to Justice. We are also planning an online event about the “Reconciliation Framework: The Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce”: https://archives2026.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/reconciliationframeworkreport_en.pdf

Information and Outreach: The Committee is looking to expand on its social media initiatives. Also, the Committee is looking into the uses of culturally outdated terminology in archival descriptions.

Membership Committee: The Committee is reviewing accreditation and investigating ways to improve the process.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: The Committee would like to thank all applicants for the Manitoba Day Award. More details to come regarding the ceremony!

Student Member-at-Large: The Committee is working towards rebuilding the ACA Student Council.

Special Announcements

AMA Photo of the Month

The AMA has launched a new initiative to promote the diverse and rich archival heritage in Manitoba by asking the community to submit a photograph from their collection to be featured in the AMA’s next newsletter. If interested, please submit a photograph along with a sentence or two describing the records, to webmaster@mbarchives.ca. We would love to showcase the collections from local institutions!

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

AMA Heritage Trust Fund (Endowment Fund)

AMA Newsletter - February 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 21:34:09 GMT

A printable version of this document can be found here.

Message from the Chair

I am pleased to announce two new board members to the AMA, Katrín Níelsdóttir and Corser du Pont. We continue to hold productive and informative board meetings and will continue to aim for responsive and productive services for the community. I hope that everyone is keeping warm!

-Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: The Committee is working to maintain the website, blog, and to provide training on MAIN. Planning is also underway for the annual MAIN training session. More details to come!

Education and Advisory Services: The Committee is promoting several professional development opportunities as well as planning additional workshops and discussing the future role of Advisory Services.

Finance and Grants: The AMA would like to welcome Katrín Níelsdóttir, who recently began her position as Chair of the Finance and Grants Committee! Katrín is the Special Collections and Rare Books Librarian at the University of Manitoba.

Indigenous Relations: The committee is continuing to plan an online discussion that examines the MMIWG2S Calls to Justice. Our collaborators for this discussion, to date, are 1JustCity, SEED Winnipeg, Polonia Inclusive, and Winnipeg Police Cause Harm. Note that we have a new email address: indigenousrelations@mbarchives.ca

Information and Outreach: The AMA would also like to welcome Corser du Pont as the new Chair of the Information and Outreach Committee! Corser is currently the Acting University Archivist & Digital Curator at the University of Winnipeg.

Membership Committee: The Committee is reviewing accreditation and investigating the possibility of including multi-year memberships as well as early registration prizes. More details to come!

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: Brian Hubner and Terry Reilly have created the nomination forms for the 2022 Manitoba Day Awards. The deadline for submission is March 14, 2022 and the form can be downloaded from this webpage: https://mbarchives.ca/mbdayaward.

Student Member-at-Large: The Committee is working towards rebuilding the ACA Student Council.

Special Announcements

AMA Land Acknowledgement and David Suzuki Foundation Videos

The AMA is working on creating a meaningful land acknowledgment for our organization. At our AMA board meetings, we are discussing the videos of the David Suzuki Foundation’s three-part series on the Land Back Movement as a way to deepen our understanding of our colonial history and our colonial present. We encourage you to view the Land Back videos at https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/what-is-land-back/

AMA By-Law Revisions

The AMA Board held a special meeting on January 27 to discuss the by-law revisions. The Board is working to ensure that the by-laws reflect the current needs of the AMA and Manitoba’s archival community. Stay tuned for future updates.

AMA Photo of the Month

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

The Randolph Fields Fonds and the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 21:54:35 GMT

Manitoba has a variety of museums and archives housing diverse collections. In this blog post Katie Lynch wrote the following describing her time working at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada has recently taken ownership of their newly built museum located on Wellington Avenue. The museum is set to open to the public in early 2022, and a lot of prep work is taking place now. While the museum was being constructed, the archives were put into temporary storage in Magellan Aerospace and have recently been moved into the museums off-site storage. Currently, inventory is being conducted by archival studies student, Katie Lynch.

Most recently, inventory of the Randolph Fields fonds has been completed. This fonds garnered much attention from the volunteer restoration team at the museum.

Randolph Fields was born in 1927 and worked as a mechanic for Canadian Pacific Air from 1940 until 1962. During his career Fields took many photographs of bush planes used throughout Manitoba and documented his travels and work with Canadian Pacific Air. Photos of the CF-AWR Bellanca Air cruiser came to aid museum’s aircraft restoration team in the restoration of the aircraft which will be on display at the museum.

CF-AWR was used in the 1930s by Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd., to fly radium from Northern Canada 4,000 miles away to the refinery in Port Hope, Ontario by the Mackenzie Air Service. Only 23 Bellanca air cruisers were ever built, CF-AWR being one of them. The Bellanca was selected by Eldorado Gold Mines because it could land on both water and ice with either wheels or pontoons and could therefore be used all year. It also had an air-cooled engine, and could carry 4,000 lbs at a speed of up to 155 mph. The Bellanca can be easily identified the iconic shape of its wings in a “W” appearance, created by triangular struts from the bottom of the fuselage up to a point outboard on the main wing.

The plane crashed many times, and the Fields fonds has a few photos of the crashes and subsequent repairs. One such photo shows the CF-AWR with its nose under the ice on Windermere Lake on Christmas Day, 1939. Another photo from January 24, 1947, shows the CF-AWR crashed in the bush after it force landed 4 miles northeast of Upturnedroot Lake, Ontario. Several photos show CF-AWR parked in a hangar for repairs in Edmonton. The CF-AWR’s last crash was in 1947 when it ran out of fuel while carrying uranium concentrate in Northern Ontario but was so severely damaged it was abandoned. The wreck was retrieved by the museum in 1973 with the help of a helicopter from the Canadian Forces.

The restoration team has worked to repair CF-AWR, but missing pieces of the landing gear have troubled the team in deciding how to most accurately restore the aircraft. No other resources existed for the restoration of the inner workings of the landing gear but the photos from the Randolph Fields fonds solved the teams’ problem. They used the photos of the landing gear to create blueprints, sent them out for production of the landing gear from an outsourced aircraft engineering company, and will soon be put on the aircraft.

CF-AWR is now in the museum and can be viewed by the public soon.

The CF-AWR with its nose under the ice on Windermere Lake on Christmas Day, 1939.

The CF-AWR crashed in the bush after it force landed 4 miles northeast of Upturnedroot Lake, Ontario. January 24, 1947

The CF-AWR in for repairs in Edmonton. This was the photo used to make the blueprints. Note the landing gear is exposed.

The CF-AWR during operations. Note the landing gear.

AMA Newsletter - January 2022

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 13:46:34 GMT

A printable version of this document can be found here.

Message from the Chair

Like most of the world, the AMA and it's members are continuing to face many challenges this January. However, I am pleased to say that the AMA is beginning this year in a strong position. This year the board plans on refreshing many of the organization's programs and procedures and I am excited to announce these changes in the coming months. I also look forward to engaging with the AMA's continued response to the Truth and Reconciliation process. Finally, I would like to thank the current and former board members who have helped me take on this position.

Andrew Morrison, Chair of the Association for Manitoba Archives

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: This committee is working to maintain the website, blog, and to provide training on MAIN. If your organization would like advice on how to use MAIN or would like to submit a blog post, please contact the committee at webmaster@mbarchives.ca.

Education and Advisory Services: Members of this committee wrote a blog post about their experience organizing the “Records Management for the Rest of Us” workshop. You can read more about it here: http://mbarchives.ca/Blog/12203525. The Committee is planning additional workshops and discussions about the future role of Advisory Services are continuing.

Finance and Grants: This committee needs a Chair and new members. Maureen Dolyniuk is stepping down as Finance chair in January 2022 and the AMA is grateful for her thoughtful work.

Indigenous Relations: The committee is planning an online discussion in March that examines the MMIWG2S Calls to Justice. All are welcome to join. Please stay tuned for further information.

Information and Outreach: The committee hosted a successful online Trivia Night on Thursday, January 20^th. Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed! The City of Winnipeg Archives advocacy sub-committee will be meeting with Mayor Bowman on January 25^th. Remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! On Sundays, we post resources specifically about reconciliation.

Membership Committee: This committee will be reviewing accreditation and accreditation procedures.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: Brian Hubner and Terry Reilly are preparing for the annual Manitoba Day Awards. Look for the nomination form in early 2022. The event will be held in May.

Special Announcements

David Suzuki Foundation Videos and AMA Land Acknowledgement

The AMA is working on creating a meaningful land acknowledgment for our organization. At the January 13^th AMA board meeting, we reviewed the first video of the David Suzuki Foundation’s three-part series on the Land Back Movement. The Board discussed the implications of the video’s message for our understanding of Canada’s history, for our shared future, and also for how we operate archival institutions. The Board will continue to review the other videos in the series. We encourage you to view the Land Back videos at https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/what-is-land-back/

AMA By-Law Revisions

The AMA is drafting new and updated by-laws that the Board will present to the membership at the next annual general meeting. Please stay tuned!

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

Building Archival Awareness in Southern Manitoba

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 21:45:53 GMT

Rural museums and archives are often the sole preservers local heritage. In the following blog post, Al Thorleifson describes the ongoing project between the Pembina Manitou Archive and the Boundary Trail National Heritage Region Board to build archival awareness within the Southern Manitoba museum community.

Over the past two years, the Pembina Manitou Archive has partnered with the Boundary Trail National Heritage Region Board to build awareness of archives and to encourage archival preservation in our Southern Manitoba museum and archive community.

There are over twenty small community museums in the BTNHR, some focused on architectural heritage and some focused on settlement period agriculture. In every case, these small museums have been the recipients of documents, photographs, letters and other archival material which, to a large extent, have been sitting in a back room gathering dust. Why is this? Usually, it is because a document does not work with the average museum’s display of artifacts. As well, most visitors do not visit a museum to sit and read a document for an hour – the average museum visitor spends an hour touring the entire museum and then is off to other sites on their tour of the district.

The PMA/BTNHR Partnerships with Museums Projects have four major purposes:

To create reports which are shared with participating museums. Each report focuses on the collection of a specific museum, highlighting some aspect of their collection. The purpose is to encourage museums to be aware of the collections of other regional museums and to encourage information sharing to promote each others’ collections.
To encourage local museums to continue the process of accessing and preserving their archival collections.
To encourage each museum to consider whether there are archival documents in their collection which would provide background information in support of their museum displays. Once these documents are identified by the museum, the Pembina Manitou Archive undertakes the digitization and the documents are uploaded to the PMA web site. The reports thus contain lists of documents from each partner community which have been added to the Pembina Manitou Archive’s web site.
The final goal is to encourage those interested in heritage and history to make use of the digital archive, especially in this COVID time when we are unable to access archives in person. As well, our most fervent supporters are those whose ancestors lived in the communities of Southern Manitoba. No matter where they currently live, they have access to primary documents about their ancestral communities from the comfort of their own homes anywhere in the world.

Anyone interested in reviewing these monograph reports may do so by searching ‘Partnerships with Museums’ on the Pembina Manitou Archive web site at https://pembinamanitouarchive.ca .

The Pembina Manitou archive is an open access web site which originally started as an online source of information for school students to provide them with access to primary archival documents concerning their community for use in school research projects. The archive has grown over the past decade to include over 53,000 documents.

City of Winnipeg Archives Digitizes Board of Commissioners Microfiche

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 16:23:32 GMT

Preservation is a challenging issue for archives, especially when the records are in proprietary formats that require specific outdated technology. In the following blog post, the City of Winnipeg Archives faced these challenges with the records of the Board of Commissioners.

The City of Winnipeg Archives has recently digitized the proprietary microfiche records of the Board of Commissioners.

From 1972 to 1997, the Winnipeg Board of Commissioners provided leadership to civic departments and advice on key issues facing the City. Despite this important role, it was discovered in 2004 that the Board did not maintain its physical records, but rather, made microfiche copies of its paper files, destroying the originals. A proprietary type of Microx fiche was used, making the roughly 850,000 images on 24,000 fiche the only copies available for reference. Not only is this type of fiche sensitive to handling and the environment, but its proprietary nature means that it requires specialized, expensive, and difficult to acquire technology to access, and cannot be viewed using most microform readers.

In 2012, the fiche was transferred to the Archives, which sought to have it digitized to make it accessible. However, the cost was prohibitive – estimated at over $70,000 – and there were few vendors capable of dealing with this uncommon type of fiche. As such, digitization was not pursued at that time. But the Archives did not give up. After consulting with imaging specialists, the Archives applied for an innovation grant to pursue the project, which it obtained in 2019.

Data Repro Com Ltd. was awarded the contract and the fiche was shipped to them with encrypted hard drives, where they were digitized and indexed according to a file key. Despite having the proper technology, the volatile and proprietary nature of the fiche made them difficult to scan. The vast majority of scans turned out well, but some scans are difficult to read and several cannot be read at all. This exemplifies the pitfalls of destroying original records for the sake of convenience. Whether it’s microfiche or digitized records, destroying originals often costs more money and causes more problems in the long run. This also speaks to problems with using proprietary formats that are dependent on rare technology and are not widely used. This is especially applicable to digital records, the formats of which can become obsolete very quickly and may be dependent on technology owned by a private company to access.

The digitized fiche will be ingested into the Archives’ open-source digital preservation system, Archivematica. The preservation system ensures the Archives’ digital records will be safe and accessible long into the future by constantly monitoring for data corruption, regularly migrating files into new, open, and widely used formats to keep pace with changing technology, and logging every preservation action taken in a machine-readable manner.

This story is featured in the City of Winnipeg Records Committee’s 2020 annual report: https://winnipeg.ca/clerks/pdfs/2020RecordsReport.pdf

Image tag: Two of approximately 24,000 proprietary Microx fiche.

AMA Newsletter - December 2021

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 19:31:11 GMT

Happy Holidays from the AMA!

A printable PDF version of this newsletter can be found here.

As the Holiday Season approaches, it is time for us to extend best wishes to family and friends. When we look back on the year, we see all that we have accomplished despite COVID. In this inaugural issue of the AMA’s newsletter, we would like to take the time to congratulate the hard work of volunteers in making our programming a reality. It is through their work that that AMA can continue supporting Manitoba archives.

Meet the new Board of Directors

Chair of the Board/Chair of Management Committee: Andrew Morrison

Chair of Finance & Grants Committee/Secretary-Treasurer: unfilled *

Membership Committee co-chairs: Carmen Miedema and Heather Bidzinski

Information and Outreach chair: Mary Horodyski

Education and Advisory Services chair: Al Thorleifson

Digital Initiatives chair: Chris Zaste

Indigenous Relations co-chairs: Carmen Miedema and Mary Horodyski

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: Brian Hubner and Terry Reilly

Student Member-at-Large: Carly Roberts

* Maureen Dolyniuk is stepping down as Finance chair in January 2022.

The AMA thanks our outgoing Chair, David Cuthbert, for his outstanding service.

Committee Reports

Digital Initiatives: This committee is seeking new blog posts for the website. View the published blog posts here https://mbarchives.ca/Blog and the call for blog posts here https://mbarchives.ca/Blog/10623164

Education and Advisory Services: The November workshop “Records Management for the Rest of Us” by Carole Pelchat was very successful. Future plans for workshops on “How to Archive Email” and “Trauma-Informed Archival Practices” are underway. Discussions about the future role of Advisory Services are continuing.

Finance and Grants: This committee needs a Chair and new members. Maureen Dolyniuk is stepping down as Finance chair in January 2022 and the AMA is grateful for her thoughtful work.

Indigenous Relations: We have posted a list of resources on our website: https://mbarchives.ca/indigenous_resource_list Plans are in development for a webinar examining the MMIWG2S Calls for Justice and for a discussion of the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce https://archives2026.com/response-to-the-report-of-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-taskforce/

Information and Outreach: We are hosting an online Trivia Night on Thursday, January 20^th. There will be prizes! The event is free, but registration is required. Please register here: https://mbarchives.ca/event-4608495 Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter! Instagram is coming soon.

Membership Committee: This committee will be reviewing accreditation and accreditation procedures.

Special Initiatives Member-at-Large: Brian Hubner and Terry Reilly are preparing for the annual Manitoba Day Awards. Look for the nomination form in early 2022. The event will be held in May.

Student Member-at-Large: Carly Roberts organized another successful webinar in October on working as a records professional.

Special Announcements

Endowment Fund

The Association for Manitoba Archives Fund with Endow Manitoba/The Winnipeg Foundation will provide the AMA with a reliable, meaningful source of operating income today and in future years if we can continue to build capital through ongoing contributions. We are pleased to report the current market value of the fund has reached $301,335, this a $91,562 increase over last year at this time! The AMA is grateful for the financial contributions made by The Winnipeg Foundation, the province of Manitoba and from individual AMA members. To learn more about this fund, and the opportunity to donate to it, please click this link: https://www.mycharitytools.com/gift/wpgfdn/donate?fund=894

Call for Volunteers

We are always looking for members to join our committees. Volunteering with the AMA is an excellent way to network with archivists, build skills, and shape the future of archives in Manitoba. If you are interested, please contact the Chair, or a Committee chair, at one of the email addresses listed on this page https://mbarchives.ca/contact

Records Management 101: What to Keep and How to Keep it

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 16:30:30 GMT

The Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) offers educational programming on a variety of topics. Digital Archivist & Oral Historian Sarah Story, with contributions from Carole Pelchat (Archivist, Information Security Officer & Privacy Office Coordinator) and Al Thorleifson (Archivist at Pembina Manitou Archives), wrote the following blog post on the records management workshop organized by the AMA’s Education and Advisory Committee.

The central role of the Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) Education and Advisory Committee is to provide workshops and webinar training to its members. In November, the AMA hosted a 4-part webinar series on records management. 28 people attended these zoom teachings, doubling the AMA’s usual workshop enrollment for a workshop.

The webinar series was instructed by Carole Pelchat and organized by Sarah Story with logistical support provided by Kathy Kushpel and Chris Zaste. The time and resources for Carole to create and deliver the webinar series were contributed (free of charge) to the AMA by l’Université de Saint-Boniface (USB). This enabled the AMA to offer a very affordable and accessible records management series. We are grateful to Carole Pelchat and the USB for this generous contribution to our members and the wider community!

Why a Records Management Workshop for Archivists?

In working with small archives, community organizations and non-archives that create, store and care for the business and historical records of their organization, Sarah Story has come to learn that one of the primary challenges across organizations of all types and sizes is often ineffective or absent official record keeping or records management.

This results in the loss of significant organizational records, the piling up of unimportant documents in closets, desk drawers and servers, and elevated frustration among staff who experience difficulty finding records in a timely manner. Without effective systems in place, staff end up making their own decisions about what gets kept and destroyed. This results in inconsistency, loss of records of enduring value (archives!), overkeeping, and it even gets some organizations into legal hot water.

Records Management (RM) ensures that an organization’s records of historical, legal, and fiscal value are identified, classified and preserved for as long as they are required. It also ensures that non-essential records are disposed of securely. Having an approved “retention and disposition schedule” with policies and procedures for departments and staff to guide them on what to keep, how long to keep it, and how to keep, transfer or dispose of it, can be a boon for any organization.

Increasingly, archivists and other staff without formal training in records management find the responsibility for recordkeeping falling on their shoulders. However, training in RM can be cost-prohibitive and similar to archives, there is professional jargon that can be intimidating to even well-trained archivists. We wanted to make this available to this crowd of Manitoban’s working with archives and experiencing firsthand the impacts of poor recordkeeping in their organization on their work and archives, so we planned a “records management for the rest of us” approach to offering this series.

Carole’s Experience and Approach

We were delighted that Carole Pelchat accepted our committee’s invitation to create and deliver this series. In her own words she explains her personal RM experience:

“I have been an archivist for over 25 years and in my experience, records management has always helped me better explain the need to preserve records. I started taking courses to familiarize myself with the concepts and theories in RM. The first few workshops and classes were quite overwhelming, and I would go home saying, “I will never be able to use this stuff!” However, the more I learned about records management, the more I liked it. The idea that we can manage records from its creation was quite a new concept and gave me a different perspective.”

Carole also highlights the importance of archivists sharing their firsthand knowledge with others in the field and encourages further learning,

“I have given records management workshops in the past for the francophone community and when the AMA asked me to do the workshop, I was more than happy to share my knowledge. I figure the best way to learn is from one’s peers. I hope participants were able to see the difference between the world of records management and the world of archives. I hope the participants will not give up and continue learning about records management. I myself learn new things every time I participate in workshops!”

Pembina Manitou Archives

Al Thorleifson of the Pembina Manitoba Archives really appreciated Carole’s attention to detail. He plans to take her advice and RM protocols and put them into action, Al says:

“Carole’s presentation overall put the role of archives in the context of records management. This was especially interesting given the tendency of local businessmen to just dump off boxes while saying they do not know what is good to keep and what is not. Although I have developed a protocol to help them to sort the personal from the archival, Carole’s guidelines will encourage me to be more precise and to ask them to do more before they bring in the boxes.

Also, Carole dealt with one problem which I have struggled with. As an archive which has over the past five years received thousands of documents, our naming of files has been less ordered than it should have been. Carole’s suggestions for ensuring predictable, consistent naming of files in fonds was very helpful. It will mean I WILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO to sort out the files named imprecisely; I am glad to do it because I know it will make it easier for our users to search the records in upcoming years. Thank you, Carole, for a job well done.”

Offering Workshops That Matter

The AMA is a volunteer-run organization so our offerings are based on our volunteer’s capacity to serve our community. Our goal is to learn from our members what classes would be of most value, especially for those archivists working in smaller archives and community-based or project-based settings.

We want to highlight that AMA webinars and workshops do not need to be taught by “experts” or those working in large archives within post-secondary and governmental institutions – your firsthand experience or knowledge from your rural, lone arranger or small archives setting matters. It is worth sharing your strategies with others working in similar settings, often on a very small to non-existent budgets.

If you have an idea for a workshop or webinar, archival knowledge and experience that you want to share, or want to help us create educational opportunities for members by volunteering, please reach out to us at: advisoryservices@mbarchives.ca.

We would love to hear from you!

As always, thank you for your time, participation and support,

Sincerely,

Sarah Story
On behalf of the AMA Education & Advisory Services Committee

Regional Museums, Archival Heritage, and Communities: The 2020/21 Partnership with Museums Project

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 18:11:47 GMT

Manitoba has several regional heritage organizations that work tirelessly to preserve and promote the history of local communities. Below is an update provided by Al Thorleifson of the Pembina Manitou Archive on the work of the Partnership With Museums Project.

The Boundary Trails National Heritage Region Board in partnership with the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program have allocated funding to develop a regional approach emphasizing the relationship between museums, their related archival heritage, and their community. The goal of this current Partnerships With Museums Project is to find mutual, workable processes that enable our regional museums, archives and the BTNHR to share resources, ideas, and initiatives on an ongoing basis and provide support to museum volunteers by making available digital archival records which will support the work of each museum in the region.

Al Thorleifson has been hired to meet with regional museum staff, to set priorities for digital media, and to develop monographs which will be shared with regional museums which will support their own staff education and will promote public awareness of their mandate and resources.

The process includes each of the following steps:

Tour of each museum/archive under strict COVID guidelines
Review, with Museum/Archive Board and Staff members, each museum’s/archive’s highlights and discuss what makes each unique
Review of concerns and challenges each Museum/Archive is facing
Identification of BTNHR, Pembina Manitou Archive, and Manitoba Historical Society resources which would be available and valuable to each museum
Identification of each Museum’s available resources which could be publicized, enhanced, protected, and used to promote their regional presence.
Collaboratively outline the process for sharing these resources regionally using a digital web-based platform.
Promotion of these resources, both digitally and as individual Museums, for use by students and researchers in the region and across the globe.
Production of a report for consideration by the BTNTR board to select initiatives and consider actions recommended in the report.
Production of a Comprehensive General Report/Monograph for distribution to each participating Museum and for inclusion on web-based platforms.

This work was undertaken starting the summer of 2020. Six monographs were published as a result of the 2020 season’s work – these reports are available online in the Pembina Manitou Archive web site’s Museum file. Hard copies of these reports are available by contacting pembinamanitouarchive@gmail.com Work continues during 2021/22 in partnership with other archives in the BTNHR Region.

Roy Brown and His Orchestra: A Piece of Manitoba’s Music History

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 18:54:52 GMT

Music has always been a favourite pastime throughout human history. From lute players to modern pop artists, musicians of all backgrounds and styles entertained crowds of listeners. What may not be known to some is that local archives contain historical records about past musicians. In the below blog post, staff from the Daly House Museum highlight Roy Brown Collection, which documents an interesting period in Canadian music history.

Ninety years ago a new musical sound took North America by storm. It became known as the Big Band or Swing era. The period between 1935 to 1945 was the only time in North American music history that the popularity of this form of jazz eclipsed all other forms of music. The popularity of the sound was due in part to the emergence of radios in private households allowing listeners the ability to enjoy music for free during the Great Depression. Eventually the sound of these big bands with their trumpets and trombones became a way to lift morale of the public during World War II. Roy Brown and His Orchestra was one of those bands. During the Big Band era it became one of the most popular bands on the Prairies and helped start the career of many young local musicians.

Formed in 1939, the Brown Orchestra made its first appearance at Clear Lake’s Danceland and was quickly rated as “the best 10-piece band in Canada.”. The band consisted of the five Brown brothers - Roy, Joe, Frank, Percy and Tom Brown. Other band members included Sig Johnson, Vic Gellert, Harry Boone, Bob McCullough, and Jay Hannay. The group played regularly at Danceland and at Brandon’s Imperial Dance Garden until 1946. After seven years of entertaining thousands of Canadian soldiers the Brown Orchestra disbanded as the Big Band era ended along with the end of World War II.

Image info: The last performance of Roy Brown and His Band at Danceland, Clear Lake, Manitoba in 1946. Roy Brown is pictured on the far left. Roy Brown Collection, Daly House Museum

Band leader Roy Brown went on to have a diverse career as a musician, businessman, historian, and inventor that spanned 50 years. He owned a dance hall on 10^th Street in Brandon named the Esquire and in the 1950s, the Roy Brown Show was one of the earliest programs on CKX-TV. In the 70s & 80s, original compositions by Roy such as “We’re Proud of Brandon”, “Manitoba Has the Best of Ev’rything”, “When You Come to Grand Valley”, and the “Garden of Peace” were performed by the Wheat City Chorus and the Training Command Band from Canadian Forces Base, Winnipeg for Manitoba’s and Brandon Centennial Events.

Image info: The Roy Brown Variety Show first aired on CKX-TV, May 5, 1955. Roy Brown Collection, Daly House Museum

As an inventor, He created a successful piece of furniture called the Rokorol that could be converted from baby furniture into every day furniture such as a portable coffee table or end table. The City of Brandon sent the product to Princess Elizabeth as a present in celebration of the birth of Prince Charles in 1948.

Image info: Rokorol Corp Display at the Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona, California, September 1948. Actress Joan was the model in the product photographs on display. Roy Brown Collection, Daly House Museum

As a historian, Roy researched and wrote history books such as the “Steamboats on the Assiniboine” which covered the history of the steamboats that plied the Assiniboine and Red Rivers between 1870 to the 1890s. Roy received the Manitoba Gold Boy Award for his active role in preserving Manitoba’s history in 1970. Today, you can obtain a copy of his book through Daly House Museum’s gift shop.

Daly House Museum also holds the Roy Brown Collection consisting of photographs, and audio recordings of Roy Brown and His Orchestra as well as photographs and prototypes of Brown’s inventions. Recently, Daly House Museum received funding from the Brandon Area Community Foundation courtesy of the foundation’s fund holders Gord & Diane Peters to digitize the collection. The recordings (14 tape reels, 1 eight-track recording, 13 cassette tapes, and 9 LP records) were sent to Richard L. Hess Tape Restoration Resources for digitization and restoration.

Image info: The Roy Brown audio collection that was digitized by Richard L. Hess Tape Restoration Resources thanks to funding from the Brandon Area Community Foundation in 2021.

The conversion of the collection to a digital format has brought to light unknown recordings. For instance, there is a recording made at a 1979 Brown Band reunion at Clear Lake where Roy recounts what dances at Danceland were like in the 1940s.

“… this place was packed with people in uniform. It wasn’t uncommon to see two hundred to three hundred young men here waiting to pounce on the first gal that come in that door. There were no wall flowers believe me. They were hectic years and I can recall leaving the dances and we’d go home and listen to the radio to find out the number of planes shot down in the Battle of Britian…”

– Roy Brown, Recorded at Danceland, Clear Lake, Manitoba 1979.

Roy Brown lived an exceptional life and his legacy to Manitoba’s history is not forgotten; he and his orchestra live on through their music which is now available to help future generations understand local life during one of the most difficult times in world history.

For more information about the Roy Brown Collection contact Daly House Museum at dalymuseum@wcgwave.ca

Oseredok, Jacob Maydanyk, and Vykjo Shteef Tabachniuk (Uncle Steve Tobacco)

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 19:57:42 GMT

Comic book characters are all the rage these days with popular films such as The Avengers and others. What many people may not know, is that local archives contain varied and diverse examples of these types of characters. Oseredok contains one such example, as they explain in the following blog post.

Did you know that one of the earliest comic books published in Canada was published by a Ukrainian here in Winnipeg? The multi-talented artist behind the book, Jacob Maydanyk, donated his collection to Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and educational Centre, and our most recent archival project includes the cataloguing, digitization, and creation of finding aids for his materials.

Born in Syvdovi, Ukraine, in 1891, Jacob Maydanyk was a multi-talented artist and a contributor to the Ukrainian-Canadian community. After receiving his degree from the Krakow Textile-Ornamenting Academy, he immigrated to rural Manitoba in 1911. He spent the next decade of his life teaching in rural schools which exposed him to prairie farming communities, a theme he would return to in many of his future artistic creations. In 1920 Maydanyk moved to Winnipeg where he opened the Providence Church Goods Store, a business which he continued to operate until 1979.

A talented artist and cartoonist, Maydanyk created “Vykjo Shteef Tabachniuk” (Uncle Steve Tobacco), a satirical figure who appeared in the 1920s in the Canadian Farmer and other newspapers. His characteristic style which combined sharp humor and satire was tremendously popular and resonated deeply with Ukrainian prairie immigrants, so much so, that his first comic book, published in 1930, sold thousands of copies. Reprinted in 1974, this comic book is one of the oldest published in Canada.

Maydanyk was also a talented iconographer and his icons can still be found in many Ukrainian parishes in Manitoba. He collaborated with Theodore Baran and Leo Mol on some of his sacred art projects. Maydanyk’s other artistic pursuits included the creation of a number of plays and books of poetry.

Additionally, Maydanyk was active in the socio-political life of Ukrainian émigrés in Manitoba and was an active member of the Ukrainian-Canadian community. An exhibition of Maydanyk’s work was held at Oseredok, Winnipeg, MB, in 1977.

Oseredok houses many treasure like those in the Maydanyk collection and we invite you to visit us in-person, our website, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to learn more!

Call for Blog Posts

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 15:26:18 GMT

Have a collection you want to highlight? Working on a special project? Want to share some news with others? The Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) would like to hear from you by sharing blog posts. We are seeking local archives to share a brief blog post that we will host on our website. The posts need not be long, about 250 to 500 words in length, but should cover an important collection or project that you would like to share. You can also submit images with your post. When the AMA receives it, we will add it to our blog along with links to your institution’s website. We will also distribute it over our networks to increase exposure. Even though it is hosted on our website, your institution will be acknowledged as the author of the post.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Chris at webmaster@mbarchives.ca.

Have a great day and we hope to hear from you!

The 2021 Manitoba Day Awards

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Fri, 28 May 2021 00:50:37 GMT

Despite restrictions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) held its first ever virtual Manitoba Day Awards this evening via Zoom. As last years event was canceled due to the Pandemic, the proceedings honoured both the 2020 and 2021 winners as well as the nominees.

The virtual Manitoba Day Awards Ceremony started with opening remarks from the AMA’s Chair, David Cuthbert. Brian Hubner then delivered a land acknowledgement on behalf of the AMA. Cathy Cox, Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage also welcomed all participants and thanked the AMA via a video recording.

Using a colourful PowerPoint, the AMA celebrated the winners of the 2020 Manitoba Day Awards and then presented the 2021 nominees. The 2021 winners were then announced. If present, award recipients gave a brief speech. The full list of winners can be found here.

Special thanks to all the nominees as well as our hardworking volunteers for organizing this event!

The AMA Signs an Open Letter Re: The Bay Downtown

Digital Initiatives, AMA — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 16:13:47 GMT

The Association for Manitoba Archives, along with other members of the Manitoba Heritage Summit Group, signed an open letter to Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman regarding a spot on the Bay Downtown Advisory Committee.

You can download and read this letter here.

Listen, Hear Our Voices Funding

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 15:53:33 GMT

Library and Archives Canada is officially launching the second Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call.

This year, the initiative provides funding of up to $60,000 per project to eligible Indigenous organizations to digitize existing culture and language recordings, and to help them build the skills, knowledge and resources they need to carry out this work in their communities.

For more information, please see the posters below on these topics:

Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call 2020 (English)

Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call 2020 (French)

Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call 2020 (Anishinabe)

Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call 2020 (Inuktitut - Roman Orthography)

Listen, Hear Our Voices funding call 2020 (Inuktitut - Syllabics)

Webinar Dates:
EN: Wednesdays - October 21^st, November 18^th and November 25^th
FR: Thursdays - October 22^nd and November 19^th

The time for all webinars is 1:30-3:30 ET.
E-mail bac.ecoutezentendrenosvoix-listenhearourvoices.lac@canada.ca to register.

Application due date: December 11^th, 2020
Application form: French /English

News Releases: French / English

For more information, contact:

Delia Chartrand

Archiviste, Écoutez pour entendre nos voix, Direction générale des Archives
Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / Gouvernement du Canada
delia.chartrand@canada.ca / Tél. : 1-613-790-1134

Archivist, Listen, hear our voices, Archives Branch
Library and Archives Canada / Government of Canada
delia.chartrand@canada.ca / Tel: 1-613-790-1134

The AMA is Now on Facebook and Twitter

Mon, 18 May 2020 00:35:46 GMT

The Association for Manitoba Archives is excited to announce the launch of the AMA’s pages on Facebook and Twitter.

Please consider following the accounts below on your preferred platform:

https://www.facebook.com/mbarchives/

https://twitter.com/ForArchives

Nominees Announced for the 2020 Manitoba Day Awards

Tue, 12 May 2020 05:00:00 GMT

To celebrate Manitoba 150, the Association for Manitoba Archives would like to announce 11 different projects and initiatives worthy of praise. Each year the AMA presents the Manitoba Day Awards to individuals who, through the use of archives, complete original works of excellence which contribute to the understanding and celebration of Manitoba’s history. Typically, the winners are announced at our annual awards night, but this year the event and the announcement of winners has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be rescheduled once it is safe to gather and celebrate these achievements. Until then, the AMA still wishes to announce and celebrate all those nominated. The full list of nominees worthy of praise for their work utilizing and promoting different archival materials in Manitoba is available here to explore online from the comfort of home.

Information about the date of the 2020 Manitoba Day Awards will be announced as soon as we are able to safely hold the event. Please visit the AMA home page for the latest updates.

Indigenous Subject Headings Added to MAIN

Wed, 26 Feb 2020 14:11:38 GMT

The Association for Manitoba Archives is pleased to say that the subject headings utilized in MAIN have been altered to be more inclusive and respectful of Manitoba’s Indigenous people. Consequently, when archivists describe archival content, and researchers search and browse that content by subjects, the descriptions in the system are culturally appropriate and more accurately represent Indigenous communities in Manitoba.

Over a period of six years, the MAIN-LCSH Working Group of the AMA, along with the technical support of Artefactual Systems and the financial support of the AMA, worked diligently to realize this goal. By undertaking a consultation process with Indigenous communities in Manitoba, as well as with librarians and archivists around the world, the subject terminology now employed in MAIN is not only more appropriate for describing archival records by or about Manitoba’s Indigenous people, but the descriptions remain highly discoverable and consistent with metadata standards and best practices.

As this work was influenced by others working in this realm, we too encourage reuse of our work in other libraries and archives. The list of terms that were added, changed, or deleted is available here: https://doi.org/10.5203/ss_ama.main_bon.chr.2015.1.

It is our hope that other institutions will be able to build on what we have done and implement culturally appropriate Indigenous subject headings in catalogues and repositories around the world.

The AMA is committed to ensuring that this resource continues to adapt to cultural and societal shifts that necessitate changes in subject headings.

Read more about the project in the article below:

Bone, Christine, and Brett Lougheed. "Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: Changing LCSH for Use in a Canadian Archival Context." Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 56 (1) (2018). DOI: 10.1080/01639374.2017.1382641.

Message from the Chair

Heather Bidzinski — Fri, 07 Sep 2018 17:00:05 GMT

Dear Members

It has been a busy year for the AMA with two significant advocacy campaigns underway. Since the beginning of my term in 2016, the Board has been discussing the current structure of the AMA, our mandate, and our services. We have long known that the changes brought on by the closure of the NADP funding programming and the loss of our Archival Advisor was having a significant impact on our ability to deliver services to our community. In the hope that we can evolve to meet changing needs along with changing resources, we have embarked upon a strategic planning project. We anticipate this will be a multi-phased project over two years. The first step was to engage the services of a consultant to facilitate this process. We have started work with Margerit Roger of Eupraxia Training, beginning with introspective discussions as a Board on our challenges and opportunities.

Realizing that our limited resources and entirely volunteer-driven association necessitates clear focus, we are rolling out a short member survey to help us determine our direction over the next 3-5 years. Completing this survey should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes of your time you can find the link to the survey below. We will be gathering the results of this survey over the fall and hope to conduct some interviews with individual members, and former members over the winter months. Once the results have been compiled and analyzed we will move forward with the development of our strategic plan. We very much look forward to sharing the results with our members.

We do very much hope that you will take the time to participate in this survey as it is crucial in assisting us moving forward. Your thoughts and opinions are important to us as - our members are who the AMA exists for.

Watch for the announcement of our upcoming AGM shortly. We hope to see you there. Thank you again for taking the time to assist us in this important project.

Here is the link to our short survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AMASurvey2018

Thank you for all of your support.

With respect,

Heather Bidzinski

Chair, Association for Manitoba Archives

Four days left to submit your NHDS application!

Heather Bidzinski — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:57:02 GMT

Applications for National Heritage Digitization Strategy funding are closing soon. If you have a digitization project ready to go, but no funds to do so, check out the information on the NHDS website!

National Heritage Digitization Strategy

Nominations open for 2018 Manitoba Day Awards

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 04:41:07 GMT

Nominations for the 2018 Manitoba Day Awards are now open! The nomination form and more information about the awards can be found here. Nominations should be submitted by April 15, 2018.

New AMA office!

Wed, 28 Feb 2018 16:56:37 GMT

The office of the AMA has moved to 606-100 Arthur Street, in the Artspace building. Office hours are now Thursdays from 9-4:30.

Survey on the Consultation Draft of the Canadian Archival Accession Information Standard (CAAIS)

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 20:46:49 GMT

The National Archival Accession Standard Working Group would like to invite members of the archival community to participate in the development of the Canadian Archival Accession Information Standard (CAAIS). They may do this by reviewing the draft standard and responding to the CAAIS survey available at this link. More information can be found on the ArchivesCanada website here.

Help save the University of Manitoba's Archival Studies Program!

Fri, 27 Oct 2017 10:03:44 GMT

On November 8th, the future of the University of Manitoba Joint Archival Studies and History Program will be determined. This is occurring with no opportunity for response to the proposal to be discussed on the 8th from current archival students or graduates of the program, and none from the wider archival community that benefits from the program and its well-educated graduates. There is a lot at stake. We require your immediate attention and support. Please take a minute to read our call to action.

Spam comments on AMA website

Wed, 18 May 2016 02:53:51 GMT

We've noticed a large number of spam comments on blog entries on the AMA website. Commenting has temporarily been disabled while members of the Technology Working Group delete the spam comments and try to find a better spam filtering solution. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Joint AMA-AAO Conference

Fri, 25 Sep 2015 19:12:03 GMT

The Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) and the Association of Manitoba Archives (AMA) are pleased to announce a joint conference to be held 11-13 May 2016 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The AAO conference held in Thunder Bay in 2011 was the biggest ever gathering of archivists in Thunder Bay’s history. Archivists from Manitoba helped establish that record. The partnering of the two associations will make the 2016 super-conference even more successful.

The Call for Papers for the joint 2016 AAO/AMA Conference has been extended to October 30th.

Archives Confidential: Breaking Down the Barriers

The Conference Program Committee invites proposals pertaining to all areas of archival theory and practice that address issues seen as taboo within our community. Examples of these issues may include topics that are often overlooked, are not addressed in an inclusive manner or that create discomfort or discord in the relationships between practitioners, record creators, donors, users of archives, and the general public. Topics include, but are not limited to:

Truth and Reconciliation.
Professional failures and how we learn from them.
How do we care for and represent records of trauma?
What are we not effectively addressing as a profession?
Representation of people/groups in archives and archival exhibits.
How do we build or repair relationships with groups in the communities that we serve and foster trust in our institutions?
What happens when we morally disagree with the appraisal and description of material held within our collections?
How do we effectively acknowledge language, social custom, race, or gender barriers within both our collections and professional community?

Submissions of proposals for entire sessions or for individual papers are invited. The proposals should be sent with a brief abstract of 250 words and a bio to the AAO Office at aao@aao-archivists.ca.

The deadline to submit proposals is October 30, 2015.

We are happy to announce that the 2016 AAO/AMA Joint Conference will include a Student Papers and Posters session. A call for submissions will be issued later this year.

Posted on behalf of the AAO/AMA 2016 Conference Program Committee.

RWB Archives Flooding

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 14:18:45 GMT

Many of you will have heard by now that the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Archives was flooded during the weekend of August 22nd. The archives are stored on the second floor of the RWB's building on Edmonton Street. The storage room was flooded when a toilet tank on the third floor exploded shortly after the building was closed for the weekend on Saturday. Water poured out and caused extensive damage to a large portion of the second floor as well as the parkade .

As soon as the disaster was discovered, the insurance company dispatched Winnipeg Furniture Services (WFS). Decisions were made quickly to have the records transported to WFS's facility for drying. What could not fit immediately into the drying room was frozen until they could be dried. Archives staff had the opportunity to tour WFS's facility and see firsthand how their drying process works. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the records came out of drying quite well.

The majority of damaged records were housed in acid free file folders and Hollinger cases. Garry Brenner of WFS was impressed by how well our records came out of the drying process and he credited the excellent storage containers for that. Our photograph and slide collections were housed in PrintFile Print Preservers inside of acid free file folders and Hollinger cases. These also fared well through the flood.

Sometimes we find basic preservation work on our collections tedious and the supplies expensive. But an incident like this certainly shows that refoldering and reboxing are important. We were also grateful for having diligently removed all metal fasteners, so none of our documents got stained by rust.

WFS will be bringing in a paper conservator to help guide the work moving forward. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but thankfully the records have been saved. We would like to thank everyone who offered their assistance to help through this calamity. Please be assured that the records are in good hands and every effort will be made to restore them.

Carole Boily

RWB Archivist

4 September 2015

The Documentary Heritage Communities Program

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 01:59:53 GMT

Library and Archives Canada-Bibliothèque et Archives Canada has announced new funding for Canadian archives. The Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) provides financial assistance to heritage institutions, organizations, and communities that meet the objectives of the program. Please visit the DHCP website for specifics.

Documentary Heritage Communities Program

Technology Working Group

New Association for Manitoba Archives Website

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 14:00:39 GMT

Hello,

We are the final stages of completing a total overhaul of the AMA's web presence.This site will contain important archival news and event information, a directory of Manitoba's archival institutions, services and online resources, links to archival descriptions and digital records, and much more.

We will also be integrating an online payment feature to make it easier for members to renew their memberships.

Please sit tight, this website is going to be awesome!

Sincerely,

Technology Working Group

Career Conversations Night - An Encouraging Success! By Sarah Story

Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:28:16 GMT

On Thursday, January 15th, the Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA), the Association for Canadian Archivists (ACA), and the ACA UM Student Chapter hosted its first jointly funded and organized event: “Building Cohesion and Community across the Generations: An Evening of Conversation for Archivists & Allied Professionals.”

The event began with a supper conversation for students, or entry-level archivists, to discuss the challenges of accessing employment and quality skill-building opportunities in the archival field. A total of fifteen students participated in the discussion, which covered a variety of issues, such as changes to the job market, a need for increased opportunities to build technical skills in digital archives, the realities of starting a “portfolio career”, and a need to expand job searches to related areas (i.e. records and information management). The discussion also touched on the local hiring culture in Winnipeg and the need for entry-level archivists to network, identify their transferable skills, and find ways to market themselves professionally and to a wider market. As one student accurately remarked, “It’s all about who you know. Most jobs aren’t advertised in this city.”

Guest Speakers: Carole Garnham (Regional Information and Communication Technologies Lead for Southern Health-Santé Sud), Karen Meelker (Access and Privacy Officer/Coordinator at the University of Manitoba), and Carole Boily (Archival Consultant)

The second half of the evening students and members of the AMA had the occasion to listen to three successful professionals, who all shared stories about their personal career experiences and provided practical tips and insightful advice for successfully finding employment opportunities.

Karen Meelker, Access and Privacy Officer and Coordinator at the University of Manitoba, did her undergraduate degree in science and never imagined that she would be in her current career. Meelker reminded listeners of recent headlines related to access and privacy, “Every morning I get up, have my coffee, and read the newspaper.” It is her job to stay on top of current events as it is her responsibility to “keep the university out of the headlines.” She explained that there is a lot of employment opportunities in her field, and that anytime one hears terms such as “big data”, “cloud computing”, “hacktivism”, or “freedom of information”, there is guaranteed to be an access and privacy officer on the job. She has hired students from the archival program in the past, and encourages others looking for work to consider this area of opportunity. Above all, her take home message was: “Don’t stop learning. Be a life-long learner”.

Carole Boily, independent archival consultant, shared her personal career story with students about how she “accidentally” became an archivist in the 1980s. Boily described several of the diverse archival positions she has held in Winnipeg, ranging from archivist of the Grey Nuns Collection for over thirteen years to her archival involvement with arts-based organizations, such as the Manitoba Theatre Centre, helping them to assess and improve their archival collections. She explained that the records of the arts community are “generally not in a good position” and that trained archivists have the opportunity to assist this community in the preservation of their materials. She also touched on the challenge of finding contracts that can afford to pay you want you are worth. Overall, she says that she has been able to stay steadily employed and has had a rewarding and enjoyable career. For those with the desire and ability, a career in consulting is possible, and many Canadian archivists have developed successful careers as consultants.

Carol Garnham talked about the need for new professionals to “think big”, learn to “knit” our skills into other job descriptions, and avoid sitting around and waiting for opportunities to come our way. Garnham explained that she expanded her own career opportunities by building skills through experience, and by constantly taking courses such as business management, electronic records management, technical writing. Essentially, she has done whatever she needs to maintain a high level of knowledge and resiliency. She encouraged students to get experience wherever they can, even if that means putting time aside to volunteer for a few hours each week. And for those who are interested, she believes that faith-based corporations and privately held companies are markets that archivists should really consider approaching as they often have both a need for assistance and the money to pay for it.

Overall, the presentations and discussion were encouraging. While the job market has changed and it is unlikely that most entry-level archivists will access full-time employment at a single institution upon graduation these days, there are other ways to make a good living in the field. Meelker, Boily, and Garnham exemplified a few of those potential avenues of opportunity and for providing us with insight into their professions, and their words of wisdom, we are incredibly grateful. Above all, the main message that was driven home was that in order to be successful, one has to be proactive in building skills and finding experiential learning opportunities, think “outside the box”, and look for ways to sell archival services to a diverse market of individuals, organizations, companies, and municipalities who are all in need of a records professional, and just are not aware of it yet!

Event organizers: Nicole Courrier (ACA President), Jessica Nichol (ACA Vice-President), Petra Lundy (AMA Student Rep.), and Sarah Story (AMA Information & Outreach Organizer).

Student Member at Large

Sarah Story