The ACA has sent a letter to Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, over the Halton Region's decision to dismantle Halton Heritage Services, and to de-accession its collection. The letter can be viewed here. 

Please join us for the Association of Canadian Archivists at the University of Toronto.

Archivists from the University of Toronto community will be presenting the papers they delivered at the Association of Canadian Archivists Conference this past June. A detailed schedule is below and in the RSVP link.

You're welcome to drop in for individual sessions or stay for the entire day — we look forward to seeing you there!

When: 9:15 – 3:30, Thursday, August 7

Where: Maclean Hunter Room, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, 120 St. George Street, Toronto

The event is free and open to everyone.

RSVP: To help us plan coffee breaks, please RSVP to: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/aca-at-uoft-tickets-1526643514849?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Schedule:

9:15 – Welcome

9:30-10:00 - Cheryl Regehr on Humanizing Archives of Human Suffering

10:00-10:30 – Wendy Duff and Arden Hody, on At What Cost? The Emotional Impact of the Changing Role of the Archivist

10:30-11:00 – Break

11:00-11:30 - Andrew Wiebe on Astrolabes and Other Structural Cosmologies in the Archives: An Indigenous Critique of Archival Structures and Values

11:30-12:00 - Simon Rogers on The Past, Present, and Future of Monetary Appraisal

12:00-12:30 - Francesca Rousselle on Archivist as Curator and Educator: A Case-Study from the John M. Kelly Library Special Collections

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30- 2:00 – Thomas Fox and Adam Williamson (Fiorella Foscarini) on The Invisibility of Translation in Archival Research

2:00-2:30 - Kelli Babcock on CTRL+F: User Behavior in Archives Discovery Systems

2:30 – 3:00 - Break

3:00-3:30 - June Chow on Community Approaches to Access and Repair: Chinese Immigration records in Canada’s national archives

Call for 2026 Virtual Conference Program Team Chair  

The ACA is seeking a Conference Program Team Chair for the 2026 Virtual Conference. This is an opportunity to shape the conference program and give back to your professional community.  

Responsibilities: 

The 2026 Program Team Chair will oversee the annual conference, from recruiting the members of the Program Team to leading the development of the conference theme and overall programming. The Program Team Chair is (thankfully!) not responsible for all aspects of the conference and works closely with the Conference Planning Committee (CPC), the ACA Office, and the members of the Program Team. Specific duties include leading the Program Team to: 

• Develop, in consultation with the Conference Planning Committee, a conference theme; 

• Submit the conference theme and a call for submissions to the Board for approval; 

• Announce the approved theme and call for submissions; 

• Review submitted proposals and select the content of the conference; 

• Solicit plenaries based on conference theme and facilitate conference participation; 

• Solicit and evaluate conference workshop submissions and poster proposals and select for the conference; 

• Communicate with accepted proposals and those not accepted;  

• Announce a call for session chairs and placement within the program; and 

• Work with the ACA Board and Host Team to schedule and plan the conference opening. 

Time Commitment: 

The Program Chair will begin planning work in the summer of 2025 by forming the Program Team and beginning work on developing a conference theme. The Program Team typically meets once a month, excepting the period when the committee is evaluating proposals for inclusion (which is more time intensive), and the Program Team Chair is expected to attend monthly Conference Planning Committee meetings. If selected, the Program Team Chair is expected to attend the Conference that will be held virtually in June 2026. The Program Chair is also responsible for identifying and contacting plenary speakers. This requires a large time commitment, and it is recommended that interested individuals have some institutional support. 

Qualifications: 

You must be a member in good standing of the Association of Canadian Archivists. Preference will be given to individuals with previous ACA volunteer and conference planning experience. The successful candidate should have some of the following attributes: 

• Experience leading a committee or group with diverse members; 

• Experience delivering projects within budget; 

• Strong communication skills; 

• A collaborative outlook and willingness to delegate; 

• Excellent organizational skills, meeting deadlines and deliverables; and 

• Awareness of current trends in archives and recordkeeping.  

Application Process: 

Please submit a short expression of interest of no more than 250 words detailing your qualifications, conference planning (or similar) experience, and engagement with ACA to executive.director@archivists.ca by end of day July 28, 2025. 

The Association is open to considering Co-Chairs should that be of interest. Interested parties are encouraged to reach out to CPC Chair Max Otte at conference.planning@archivists.ca or Ottawa Program Chair Patti Harper at  Program.Team.2025@archivists.ca if they have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity.

[Posted on Arcan-L)

Dear Friends, It is with sadness that I share the news of the passsing of David W. Leonard, esteemed historian and archivist, and recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence. David's contributions to the preservation of Alberta's history are well-summarized here: https://www.alberta.ca/aoe-david-leonard.

On a more personal note, David was a wonderful supervisor during the time I worked at the Provincial Archives of Alberta as a Government Records Archivist, which is where we first met. He became a lifelong friend, and was a kind and generous soul. Ever passionate about history, he was an avid collector of old vinyl records and movies from from the 1940s and 1950s, often recording excerpts of musical numbers from these to share with his friends. We also wrote three books together: one on tracing your ancestors in Alberta and two others on the history of Alberta's Peace River Country, having many adventures driving around in Peace River country searching for old homesteads and other landmarks.

With David's passing, the Alberta, and Canadian, archival community has lost an outstanding community member.

Best wishes,

Victoria Lemieux

Victoria Lemieux, MAS, PhD, CISSP  (she/her/hers) Professor,Archival Science, School of Information Co-Lead, Blockchain@UBC research cluster Faculty Associate, Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems Affiliated Faculty Member, Faculty of Applied Science, Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering The University of British Columbia

ASA members who are attending graduate school in archival studies are eligible to receive a bursary of $1500 to support their studies.

*Eligibility:*

-        Alberta resident or has a permanent address in Alberta

-        ASA individual member in good standing

-        Full-time student in a graduate program in archival studies

 

*Criteria for Selection:*

-        Academic and/or professional merit

-        Potential for contributing to Alberta’s archival community

-        Preference given to first-time applicants

*Deadline:* *July 31, 2025*

For more information and to apply visit:

https://archivesalberta.org/professional-development/bursary/

If you have questions, please contact Rene Georgopalis at reneg@archivesalberta.org.

 

We would like to request your participation in an online survey on the current use of positionality statements in scholarly publication. This research project is being conducted by Principal Investigator Dr. Alex H. Poole, Associate Professor at Drexel University’s Department of Information Science and Dr. Ashley Todd-Diaz, Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections and University Archives at Towson University.

If you decide to take part in this research study, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. You may choose not to answer any question you do not wish to answer. Your participation in this research will last approximately 10 minutes. There are no more than minimal risks involved. We may publish the results of this research. However, your participation will remain anonymous. We will not share your research information to be used for future research. This project was determined to be exempt from federal human subjects research regulations by Drexel University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB).

The survey can be accessed at this link: https://drexel.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bezAOtYGGyc5azc

Archivaria is now accepting submissions for the 2025 Dodds Prize!

The Dodds Prize recognizes superior research and writing on an archival topic by a student enrolled in a master's level archival studies program at a Canadian university.

To be considered, a faculty member or instructor associated with the program must submit a student paper and verify that it was written within the context of an archival studies program between May 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Submissions must be received by June 30, 2025. Papers must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words and written on an archival topic (broadly understood). The submission form and procedures are available here<https://archivists.ca/EmailTracker/LinkTracker.ashx?linkAndRecipientCode=%2fhoyfRD%2bZlXn0yQcnj30IBtrw%2f845Mrz3kB1LiHtm002bXNwzVnDGA6DWpDaoTxlJjtUVHNMmHf09neghno8QQI77mnP8TMEzoOhHVyWUgU%3d>

Submissions will be judged by the Dodds Prize Adjudication Committee on the quality of their scholarship, creativity, and clarity of writing. The Adjudication Committee comprises the General Editor of Archivaria (or delegate), the ACA Board Liaison to Archivaria (or delegate), and two additional ACA members chosen annually by the General Editor. Delegates will be used in cases where a conflict of interest exists.

Winners will receive a certificate, a cash prize, publication of the winning entry in Archivaria, and a listing on the ACA website.

 

For more information, click here<https://archivists.ca/EmailTracker/LinkTracker.ashx?linkAndRecipientCode=%2f5hALxkcMbed82yUbnXcaGYxkMZ1EUI2i0sv74yOQ%2bi4vwaFItV750RvNL6Yjwc8I2scjDcA7n3dUsC7Xh15IYwxI6wQTIIMpBTBkyUhYUc%3d%3e> or contact Rebecka Sheffield at managing.editor at archivists.ca<https://mailman.srv.ualberta.ca/mailman/listinfo/arcan-l> with any questions.

Rebecka Sheffield

Managing Editor, Archivaria

LAA Statement on Provincial Government Announcement Regarding School Libraries

(May 27, 2025) The Library Association of Alberta (LAA) is surprised and concerned by the provincial government’s news release yesterday that it intends to ban books in Alberta school libraries starting in September. 

At no point has the province previously expressed any concern to the LAA about the books in our province’s school libraries.

Schools and school boards take great care, and are guided by sound policies and processes, in selecting books for school libraries and ensuring the books are age-appropriate and relevant for students’ developmental stages, learning needs, and lived realities.

The best way for the province to strengthen school libraries for the benefit of students is to provide more adequate educational funding targeted to school libraries and reading resources.

As the Edmonton and Calgary public school boards said in their statement, school boards already have rigorous selection guidelines developed by librarians and other library professionals, to ensure age-appropriate collections that are relevant to students’ lives and educational growth and maturation. 

We are delighted to hear the government is invested in ensuring exceptional school library collections, and we urge it to invest in the system and in the professionally trained library staff required to curate balanced and responsible access to a broad range of library materials for all students. 

The Library Association of Alberta would be pleased to assist the government and the Minister of Education and Childcare in supporting existing policies and practices for school libraries that enrich the educational experiences of all students across the province.

Laura Winton, LAA President

On behalf of the LAA Board of Directors

• Released: May 27th, 2025 12:27 PM
• https://www.libraryassociationalberta.com/news/laa-statement-on-provincial-government-announcement-regarding-school-libraries/
  

Trivia Night on June 10th is now at capacity and we are closing registration.

Thank you!