In light of the current situation with regards to COVID-19, we wish to provide an update concerning the status of the Association of Canadian Archivists’ annual conference scheduled for June 10-13, 2020 in Vancouver.

The Board, in consultation with the Program and Host teams, has decided to cancel the in-person conference. We are currently working with all of our speakers to provide instead a virtual conference. This decision to provide an online conference was made to recognize the work already done by the Program Committee and the speakers who committed to delivering quality content. We also acknowledge our members’ desire for excellent professional development opportunities.

The conference workshops will go ahead at a later date outside of the virtual conference. We believe this will provide more opportunities for everyone to attend more workshops, while minimizing screen time!

Further conference program and workshop details will be announced in the coming weeks.

In agreement with the Archivaria Board, we are also pleased to announce that we have opened Archivaria to everyone until June 30, 2020.

We are all disappointed with not going to Vancouver this year. Rest assured that we are working on plans to return in 2022, after ACA 2021 in Charlottetown.

We thank you for your understanding and look forward to seeing you virtually. Best wishes to you during these difficult times.

Sincerely,

ACA Board of Directors

ACA 2020 Program and Host Team Chairs

After a brief hiatus, we are happy to share another post full of links to news articles, blog posts, videos, and podcasts pertaining to Indigenous people, cultures, and issues. These links have been collected and are graciously provided by Alison Little, Senior Coordinator of Educational Programming and Exhibitions at the Archives of Ontario. 

For the year ahead, we’ll be connecting these emails with the Moose Cree lunar-based calendar, where new year begins in March with Mikisiwi-piisim (Eagle Moon). The moon of March signals the return of the first migratory birds (those with talons), and with them the start of a new annual cycle. 

The list is provided for reference only and the ACA does not guarantee the accuracy or comprehensiveness of each resource, nor endorse a particular perspective. Our aim is only to provide opportunities for our members to learn more about Indigenous peoples and colonial issues. 

Media Indigena: When Coronavirus and Colonialism Collide (ep. 201)

https://mediaindigena.libsyn.com/when-coronavirus-and-colonialism-collide-ep-201 

First Nations artists, business owners promote their work online amid COVID-19 social distancing

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/artists-business-covid19-online-1.5500768 

COVID-19 concerns, closures have families and communities heading out on the land

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/covid-19-tradition-land-medicine-1.5500973 

Tribunal orders Canada to compensate parents who lost children in care

https://aptnnews.ca/2020/03/16/tribunal-orders-canada-to-compensate-parents-who-lost-children-in-care/ 

SmartICE: Supporting Inuit knowledge of the landscape with technology

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indigenous-remains-repatriation-efforts-1.5489390 

‘A nightmare scenario’ — Indigenous communities are bracing for COVID-19

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/03/13/a-nightmare-scenario-indigenous-communities-are-bracing-for-covid-19.html 

The Government of Canada Consults with Indigenous Peoples on the Implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/the-government-of-canada-consults-with-indigenous-peoples-on-the-implementation-of-the-indigenous-languages-act-895483757.html 

Sewing, seal stew and stories: Inuit women in Ottawa gather to share traditions

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/isaruit-inuit-sewing-centre-1.5489197 

A Métis Royal Rumble: Identity, Politics & The Failure Of Our Leadership

https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2020/03/10/a-metis-royal-rumble-identity-politics-the-failure-of-our-leadership/ 

When multiple First Nations lay claim to ancient Indigenous remains, how does repatriation get sorted?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-remains-repatriation-consensus-1.5488750 

Indigenous youth co-develop a new way to measure their health

http://cmajnews.com/2020/03/06/indigenous-app/

Government of Canada partners with Tłı̨chǫ First Nation to protect culturally important land in the Northwest Territories

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-partners-with-tlicho-first-nation-to-protect-culturally-important-land-in-the-northwest-territories-851971347.html 

965 Indigenous artifacts found in Kitchener during road construction

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/kitchener-indigenous-artifacts-1.5485132 

The blockades no one talks about devastate Indigenous economies

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-blockades-no-one-talks-about-devastate-indigenous-economies/ 

Wet’suwet’en: a wake-up call for Canada

https://nowtoronto.com/news/wetsuweten-canada/ 

'Reconciliation is dead and it was never really alive': Jesse Wente

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jesse-wente-metro-morning-blockades-indigenous-1.5475492 

Indigenous MPPs: Why we won’t sing ‘God Save the Queen’ at Queen’s Park today

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/24/indigenous-mpps-why-we-wont-sing-god-save-the-queen-at-queens-park-today.html 

'Reconciliation Is Dead,' Says MPP Sol Mamakwa After Tyendinaga Arrests

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/reconciliation-is-dead-sol-mamakwa-tyendinaga_ca_5e542d50c5b66729cf60728c 

‘Historic’ meeting between Mohawk and Wet’suwet’en Nations occurs in Kahnawake

https://aptnnews.ca/2020/02/22/historic-meeting-between-mohawk-and-wetsueweten-nations-occurs-in-kahnawake/ 

Elected Mohawk Chiefs call for Canada to respect traditional leadership and “see beyond the Indian Act”

https://realpeoples.media/elected-mohawk-chiefs-call-for-canada-to-respect-traditional-leadership-and-see-beyond-the-indian-act/ 

A pipeline offers a stark reminder of Canada’s ongoing colonialism

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/13/pipeline-offers-stark-reminder-canadas-ongoing-colonialism/

Yolanda Bonnell's bug is an enthralling journey into Indigenous women's lives

https://nowtoronto.com/stage/theatre/yolanda-bonnell-s-bug-manidoons/ 

Putting the RCMP raid on the Wet’suwet’en in historical perspective

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/11/putting-the-rcmp-raid-on-the-wetsuweten-in-historical-perspective.html 

Indigenous languages are seeing a dramatic revival through the arts

https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-arts/indigenous-languages-are-seeing-a-dramatic-revival-through-the-arts 

Partnerships form to repatriate cultural items

https://anishinabeknews.ca/2020/02/05/partnerships-form-to-repatriate-cultural-items/ 

New wave of voices on #Indigenous TikTok

https://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2020/02/01/new-wave-of-voices-on-indigenous-tiktok/#.XjdBSV5vrBI.twitter 

The breathtaking hypocrisy of the howls for "rule of law"

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2020/the-breathtaking-hypocrisy-of-the-howls-for-rule-of-law/ 

‘Institutionalized racism’ behind over-representation of Indigenous people in prisons

https://aptnnews.ca/2020/01/29/institutionalized-racism-behind-over-representation-of-indigenous-people-in-prisons/ 

Indigenous water activist Autumn Peltier challenges politicians during World Economic Forum

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/indigenous-water-activist-autumn-peltier-challenges-politicians-during-world-economic-forum-1.4777341 

Suspended: Metis Nation of Ontario out of national council, but is the decision valid?

https://windspeaker.com/index.php/news/windspeaker-news/suspended-metis-nation-ontario-out-national-council-decision-valid 

Dear Colleagues,

Due to the current situation with regards to COVID-19, we wish to provide an update concerning our annual conference scheduled for June 10-13, 2020 in Vancouver.

We are currently exploring all options for the conference, including moving the conference to a virtual delivery format, postponing the conference to a later date or, if need be, cancelling it. The Board is meeting weekly to reassess the situation and takes into account first and foremost the health and safety of all our members and delegates, but also the feasibility of people to travel out of province or internationally and the financial obligations of the ACA thus far.

The Board, in consultation with our Host and Program Committees Teams as well as U.B.C., will communicate its decision to members and conference participants on April 2nd.

Until then, we ask that you refrain from registering or making travel arrangements. Full refunds will be made at your request if you have already paid.

We thank you for your understanding and wish you well during these difficult times.

Sincerely,

ACA Board of Directors
2020 Program and Host Committees

With growing global spread of COVID-19, the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) is concerned about the health, safety and well-being of archivists and recordkeeping professionals. It’s time to close the archives to the public and allow staff to make decisions about where to safely continue their work. 

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and Canada’s Chief Medical Officer of Health have urged all Canadians to practice social distancing to limit the spread of the virus. In response, many schools have now closed, and universities and colleges have moved classes online. These precautionary efforts are proactive and prioritize the safety of students, staff and faculty. At this time, there is little benefit to allowing researchers to physically access archives and special collections. It’s time to suspend in-person visits and encourage staff to work from home where appropriate. 

In many locations across Canada, public services have been suspended or curtailed, including public library services. The ACA strongly encourages the closure of all public archives, museums, local history rooms, and historical sites as an additional proactive measure. 

The ACA acknowledges that any closure or reduction of services will disproportionately affect student workers, contract staff and hourly workers who may lose wages or access to benefits during this time. The ACA encourages employers to consider any and all opportunities to allow for remote work. Possible projects include: [1]

Administrative work, such as: 

• developing or revising policies, workflows, or manuals
• continuing committee work via phone or teleconference
• updating emergency planning protocols and continuity planning
• cleaning up shared work drives by standardizing file names, organizing files, and deleting duplicates, etc.
• researching new and emerging technologies applicable to collections management

Collections work, such as:

• auditing collections for EAD- and/or RAD-compliant descriptions and outdated/oppressive language, importing/encoding legacy finding aids
• cleaning descriptive data, such as finding aids, catalog records, and database descriptions (e.g., running spell check, populating fields, building templates)
• exploring ways to share your collections in aggregators or linked data repositories, such as your provincial and territorial network, WorldCat, ArchiveGrid, SNAC 
• adding information from your collections to Wikipedia and Wikidata, or uploading images to Wikimedia Commons, or transcribing documents in Wikisource
• identifying collections for digitization and planning out each project
• transcribing/translating digitized handwritten documents (e.g, diaries, correspondence, etc.)
• creating libguides or research guides
• reviewing digitized content for quality control
• archiving web content using either the Wayback Machine or Webrecorder
• maintaining and cleaning up website, checking for alt-text in images and doing accessibility audits

Reference and outreach work, such as:

• answering reference requests as appropriate and possible
• creating FAQs or “ready reference” answers 
• engaging with users online through social media platforms
• drafting, scheduling and writing blog posts
• researching writing and recording podcasts or video tutorials

Staff development work, such as:

• reaching out to hourly and student workers to ensure that they are able to submit timesheets electronically
• arranging for regular phone calls/email check-ins with staff and volunteers
• inviting fellow workers to collaborate on a project
• researching and writing grants to support projects or scholarly research
• learning a new skill, such as API, python, etc.
• attending to annual performance evaluations or reviewing professional goals
• completing applications for professional support and funding

If staff continue to work from office buildings, they should continue to follow good health and safety practices. Where possible, remain at least two arms lengths from other people, wash your hands frequently, and avoid touching your face. Do not work in an unsafe environment. 

For up-to-date information about COVID-19, visit Infection Prevention and Control Canada at: https://ipac-canada.org/coronavirus-resources.php or call the Coronavirus Hotline at: 1-833-784-4397.

We appreciate that the global COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly worrisome and that mitigation efforts will require significant adjustments. In these challenging times, we remain ready to advocate for archives and recordkeeping professionals. We also acknowledge the strength of our professional community and the good will that characterizes ACA membership. Let’s keep this community safe and healthy so that they can care for our important documentary heritage now and in the future. 

Sincerely,

ACA Board of Directors

[1] Thanks to the SAA Accessibility and Disability Section for compiling this list of work tasks and projects that archivists can do remotely. For more ideas, visit the Section’s growing google resource page here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16ubmmTtJ7oCjbUFI_75fqG9J62pul9dg_RCd4au4tMw/mobilebasic

Dear Archival Colleagues:

Because of concerns about COVID-19, the Association of Canadian Archivists has received questions about the status of our June conference. We share your concern and have been monitoring developments on COVID-19. We want you to know that the ACA’s 45^th Annual Conference will continue as planned at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 10 to 13 of June.

We will continue to monitor the situation and re-evaluate as may be needed. We recognize that some universities have issued statements on academic travel and we will work to determine how to manage these statements and advisories.

Our top priority is the health and safety of our members, speakers, exhibitors and other conference attendees. Health Canada authorities continue to provide strong assurances that Vancouver is a safe city to visit and that the risk to Canadian travelers coming to Vancouver remains extremely low.

The ACA assures you that your safety is our priority. We are committed to offering you the best in professional development and the invaluable opportunity to spend time with your archival colleagues. We hope you’ll join us in Vancouver this June.

Best Regards,

Loryl MacDonald, ACA President

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COVID-19 Resources

The following list provides you with links to the most accurate and updated information on COVID-19.

BC Centre for Disease Control

Health Canada – Travel Advisories

Government of Canada:  COVID-19

World Health Organization

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 the student paper to verify that it was written within the context of an archival studies program between May 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020. Submissions must be received by June 30, 2020. Papers written in French or English are eligible.

The submission form and procedures are available at https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/archivaria-awards#Dodds-submission

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.

I encourage archival educators to make your students aware of this award, and to keep the award in mind while you're grading papers. Papers must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words and written on an archival topic.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact me.

All the best,

Shyla Seller

Managing Editor, Archivaria

 

In collaboration with its Canadian Advisory Committee for Memory of the World, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) is pleased to launch the third Call for Nominations for inscriptions on the Canada Memory of the World Register. This Register recognizes significant documentary heritage related to Canada and its peoples, and is one of the vehicles of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program which aims at preserving and providing access to documentary heritage as the embodiment of the memory of humanity.

In recognition of the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, CCUNESCO extends a special call for documentary heritage related to Black Canadians with the goal of increasing awareness of this community’s diverse cultures, history, and contributions to Canadian society.

CCUNESCO continues to extend a special call for proposals for documentary heritage related to Indigenous languages and cultures. Many are considered to be endangered, and their preservation, strengthening and revitalization are of crucial importance to Indigenous peoples and to Canadian society.

We invite all individuals, private or public institutions, organizations and communities to consult CCUNESCO’s website for more information on this process. The deadline for declaration of interest is March 16, 2020.

The Secretariat

The Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) would like to remind colleagues in the archival community and the library community (libraries operating in English) that the 2020 campaign for the Young Canada Works (YCW) internships is underway, and that there are only a few days left before the deadline. The YCW program is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage in support of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.

Archival institutions as well as libraries operating in English are able to apply online for internships via the YCW official web site (http://young-canada-works.canada.ca).

The deadline to submit your internship applications to CCA is March 1st, 2020.

The Young Canada Works at Building Careers in Heritage program permits an employer to hire a college or university graduate.  The job must provide full-time hours (minimum 30 hours per week) for a minimum of 16 weeks and end at the latest on March 31st, 2021.

Please visit our web site (http://www.archivescanada.ca/YCW) for information and for access to the Employer Guide and online application.

If you have any questions concerning your internship application in the archival field, do not hesitate to contact Louise Charlebois at ycw_jct@archivescanada.ca.

If you have any questions concerning your internship application as a library operating in English, do not hesitate to contact Jameyn Arboleda at ycw-cla@archivescanada.ca.

In collaboration with its Canadian Advisory Committee for Memory of the World, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) is pleased to launch the third Call for Nominations for inscriptions on the Canada Memory of the World Register. This Register recognizes significant documentary heritage related to Canada and its peoples, and is one of the vehicles of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program which aims at preserving and providing access to documentary heritage as the embodiment of the memory of humanity.

In recognition of the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, CCUNESCO extends a special call for documentary heritage related to Black Canadians with the goal of increasing awareness of this community’s diverse cultures, history, and contributions to Canadian society.

CCUNESCO continues to extend a special call for proposals for documentary heritage related to Indigenous languages and cultures. Many are considered to be endangered, and their preservation, strengthening and revitalization are of crucial importance to Indigenous peoples and to Canadian society.

We invite all individuals, private or public institutions, organizations and communities to consult CCUNESCO’s website for more information on this process. The deadline for declaration of interest is March 2, 2020.

Shared on behalf of The Secretariat (CCUNESCO)

Canadian Council of Archives would like to remind colleagues in the archival community and the library community (libraries operating in English) that the 2020-2021 campaign for the program Young Canada Works (YCW) is underway.

There is now less than one week left to submit your applications for summer jobs.

Archival institutions as well as libraries operating in English are able to apply online for both summer projects and internships via the YCW official web site.

Please visit their web site (http://www.archivescanada.ca/YCW) for more information.  You will find the links for the program's Guidelines and application forms on the YCW website (young-canada-works.canada.ca).

IMPORTANT: The application deadline for the summer projects is January 15, 2020.

The application deadline for the internships is March 1, 2020.

Please advise us if you are experiencing any technical difficulties while completing your application.

If you have any questions concerning your application in the archival field, do not hesitate to contact Louise Charlebois at ycw_jct@archivescanada.ca

If you have any questions concerning your application as a library operating in English, do not hesitate to contact Jameyn Arboleda at ycw-cla@archivescanada.ca