AAO News

Save the Date: Registration is now open for the 2024 MAIG Open House

On behalf of the MAIG Executive, I am excited to announce that the 2024 Open House will be held on Friday, October 25th, at Elgin County Archives in St. Thomas. Please join us for a facility tour, meeting, and an offsite tour of the Old St. Thomas Church and Cemetery. As always, light refreshments and lunch from a local caterer will be provided.

Established in 1824, this year marks the 200th Anniversary of the Old St. Thomas Church, which is one of the earliest churches in the Talbot Settlement, and one of the oldest structures in St. Thomas and Elgin County. The church is surrounded by a cemetery that dates to 1819 and serves as the burial ground for some of the earliest settlers and residents of the area. We look forward to sharing this piece of local history with you as Reverand Canon Nick Wells guides us on a tour of the church and its grounds!

RSVP by October 2nd to Gina Dewaele, MAIG Secretary-Treasurer, via email: gdewaele@elgin.ca, or by phone: 519-631-1460 ext. 154.

If you have any dietary restrictions or allergies, please let us know with your RSVP.

When: Friday, October 25th, 2024 - 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Where: Elgin County Archives (Please meet at the Elgin County Heritage Centre, 460 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas)

Agenda:

10:00am-10:15am: Arrival

10:15am-12:00pm: MAIG Meeting

12:00pm-1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm-2:15pm: Tour of Elgin County Archives and Heritage Centre

2:15pm-2:30pm: Travel to the Old St. Thomas Church and Cemetery

2:30pm-4:00pm: Tour of the Old St. Thomas Church and Cemetery

Note: Please be prepared for a walking tour with appropriate footwear, clothing, and the possibility of rain.

Kind Regards,

Amber Mandich, MAIG Chair

Hello AAO,

The Summer 2024 issue of Off the Record is now available. It's a perfect accompaniment to the fine weather that has arrived! 

The issue is available to AAO members here. 

This issue features an update from president Sarah McDougall, an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock, and bios to introduce you to the new editors. We want you to know us, where we come from, and what we hope to pursue in our time running OTR! Following, we have a wonderful new Feature on a community memory work titled Memory Workers at Work. This issue, we hear from the Black Memory Collective.

Our membership spotlight is with recent iSchool grad Lenora Huynh. This issue rounds out with the perspective of the user: Naomi E. Norquay tells her account of using the Grey County Archives and the impact of budget cuts. Finally, Alex Hoare from the Archives of Ontario provides some reflections on the McMichael Canadian Art Collection exhibit “People of the Watershed,” which features AO archival records.

Happy reading!

Isobel and Simon

The AAO is requesting your feedback on our website. Our short, anonymous survey asks for your input on our website's design, navigation (both desktop and mobile), and any general feedback you may have. This survey is open to members and fellow friends of the archives. 

Your responses will help us refine and improve the site. Please complete the survey by Friday, May 17, 2024. 

If you have any questions about our website, beyond this survey, contact Tiffany Ribeiro, AAO Web Administrator, at webadmin@aao-archivists.ca. We love to hear from you!

Link to survey

AAO Board of Directors Election 2024 Nominations are open

Nominations are currently being accepted for three (3) positions on the Board of Directors of the AAO. Each term will commence upon election at the AAO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held virtually on May 10, 2024, during the AAO 2024 conference.

Volunteering on the AAO Board offers an invaluable professional development experience. It provides candidates with an opportunity to network with other professionals in the field, develop their leadership skills, and to apply their existing knowledge and skill set to the service of Ontario’s archival community.

The positions that are currently open for nominations include:

Vice-President/President Elect: Three-year term (May 2024 - May 2027)

The Vice-President/President Elect (VP) serves as the deputy to the President, and provides assistance in all aspects of Board planning and policy decision-making. Along with the President, the VP may represent the AAO at meetings with the Association's stakeholders and within the broader Canadian archival community. Specific duties include:

Director Without Portfolio: Two-year term (May 2024 - May 2026)

The Director Without Portfolio position provides assistance in the general governing of the affairs of the Association. Specific duties may therefore include:

Chair, Institutional Development Committee: Two-year term (May 2024 - May 2026)

The Institutional Development Committee Chair acts as the representative for the AAO institutional members at a Board level. The person in this position must be the head of an archival institution and will be elected by special ballot by AAO Institutional Members in advance of, or at, the AGM, as per article 6.10 of the AAO Constitution.

Specific activities include:

You are invited to contact the following current Board members with any questions about the available positions:

Nominations can be submitted by downloading and sending the nomination form via email, to the AAO Office at aao@aao-archivists.ca, using the subject line "Nominations 2024", and direct your message to the attention of the Nominations Committee.

Nominations must be received by the AAO Office by close of business on Friday, May 3rd, 2024.

Sincerely,

Sarah McDougall

President, 2023-2024

president@aao-archivists.ca 

The Archives Association of Ontario

MAIG Constitution Proposed Amendments

The MAIG Executive have reviewed the constitution for the Municipal Archives Interest Group and have proposed amendments that will be voted on at the Annual General Meeting on May 6, 2024. In summary, the amendments include the following:

• The addition of a Past Chair position to the Executive.
• Reducing the term length of the Executive positions from three years to two years.
• Changing some of the language to reflect contemporary sociocultural standards and 2SLGBTQIA+ allyship (genderless language).
• Changing the deadline for the core funding request to align with the AAO Chapter/SIG Manual.
• Additional duties in the Executive Terms of Reference to reflect the evolution of the positions to the present day.

In accordance with article 10.1 of the MAIG constitution, a review period of 30 days has been provided prior to the AGM. Please send questions and feedback to Megan Lockhart, MAIG Chair, at mlockhart@oxfordcounty.ca.

Download the Proposed Amendments.

Upcoming MAIG Election

The Municipal Archives Interest Group is currently accepting nominations for our Chair and Vice-Chair positions for the 2024-2027 term. The terms for these positions are currently 3 years, but the terms could potentially be reduced to 2 years if the proposed amendments to the constitution are ratified at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 6. Nominations can be sent in advance of the meeting or submitted from the floor during the AGM.

Volunteering on the MAIG Executive is an excellent professional development experience, providing candidates with an opportunity to develop their leadership skills, network with other professionals and share their knowledge and experiences with other members of Ontario’s municipal archival community.

Summaries of the duties for each position are as follows:

Chair - The Chair shall preside at all meetings of MAIG and will advance the interests of MAIG. The Chair coordinates the yearly AGM, the Open House event for members, and assists the Vice-Chair with the production of the annual “MAIGazine” newsletter. Other duties include a submission on MAIG’s activities to the AAO Annual General Meeting Annual Report, and a report to MAIG on the group’s activities at MAIG’s Annual General Meeting. The Chair shall also be responsible for ensuring that regular updates on MAIG’s activities are submitted to the AAO publication, “Off the Record”, and is expected to attend the AAO’s Annual Leadership Meeting. They serve as a liaison between the AAO Board and municipal members, discussing any developments affecting municipal archives.

Vice-Chair - The Vice-Chair shall attend all general and executive meetings of MAIG and chair meetings if the Chair is unable to do so. They also assist the Chair with coordinating the AGM and yearly Open House event. The Vice-Chair develops and publishes the annual MAIG newsletter the “MAIGazine” in co-operation with the Chair and Secretary-Treasurer. The Vice-Chair will work to advance the interests of MAIG.
Nominations are being accepted by email only. Please complete and submit the form below to Megan Lockhart at mlockhart@oxfordcounty.ca, using the subject line “MAIG Nominations 2024”. Interested parties are also welcome to contact Megan with questions about the available positions. Nomination forms must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

MAIG Nomination Form

2024 MAIG Annual General Meeting

Please join the Municipal Archives Interest Group at our upcoming virtual AGM on May 6^th, at 1:00 PM EST. The AGM agenda package is available below:

We would like to provide a friendly reminder that nominations for the Chair and Vice-Chair positions are due on May 1st. We are also requesting that those attending the AGM please review the proposed amendments to the constitution before the meeting. Download the Proposed Amendments.

Please RSVP to Gina Dewaele at gdewaele@elgin.ca by May 1st to receive a link to the meeting. We’re looking forward to seeing you all virtually!

MAIG Executive

The Spring 2024 issue of Off the Record is now available to AAO members here: Current Issues.

This issue features an update from AAO President Sarah McDougall followed by an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock. Next we have a Member Spotlight with County of Prince Edward Archives Manager Krista Richardson. We close with an article by Rachel Arseneau about her time in the music collections at Wilfrid Laurier University Archives and Special Collections.

We're now accepting submissions for the OTR Summer 2024 Issue. If you’re interested in submitting to Off the Record, you can start sending your original submissions and cover art to otr@aao-archivists.ca.

We’ll be accepting submissions for the Summer issue until June 20th, 2024. For more details, please see the Submissions Guidelines page online.

Finally, we'd like to introduce the new editors of Off The Record, Isobel Carnegie and Simon Vickers. We've already heard some of their exciting new ideas for OTR and we're looking forward to the direction they take things. Thanks to everyone for your continued readership and submissions. 

Best,

Adam & Arvind

Archives Awareness Week 2024 

This year’s Archives Awareness Week (AAW) will be held from April 2 to April 5, 2024! The theme this year, “Access your Archives”, will be a warmup for the upcoming conference.

April is #ArchivesAtoZ

Throughout April 2024, the AAO Instagram will also take part in the annual Archives of Ontario-led #ArchivesAtoZ social media campaign to promote the Archeion service and descriptions in the database. See Danielle Manning’s listserv announcement for more details about the campaign and consider joining.

Instagram Reels

As part of AWW, we are bringing back our featured Instagram reels from you! On Thursday, April 5, 2024, the AAO will publish a series of short vignettes submitted by membership via our Instagram account. We are asking volunteers to submit recorded (sound and video) answers to any or all of the following questions. Examples from your collections will be encouraged!

• Tell us about a unique outreach initiative your archive has been working on.
• How do you provide access to your archives collection?
• In what ways do you make your collection accessible or hope to?
• What challenges do archives face in making records accessible while respecting users and donors?
• What archival process or specific record in your collection keeps you up at night?
• Developments in new networks and collaborations.

Follow @archives.assoc.ontario on Instagram to watch!

Twitter Takeover

As per tradition, the AAO will be hosting a Twitter Takeover event. On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, a roster of guest archivists will take over the AAO Twitter account @AAO_tweet to answer your questions and comments related to work in the archives. Let us know if you would like to book a one hour slot! Teams are welcome!

Share your Events

We encourage members to program events and engage in social media initiatives. If you would like us to promote your own AAW event, please let us know prior to March 15, 2024 so that we can include it in next month’s newsletter and feature it on our website.

How to Participate

If you would like to participate in any of these activities, please contact Tiffany Ribeiro at webadmin@aao-archivists.ca prior to March 15, 2024.

Posting about events? Use the #2024AAW hashtag!

Check out the Archives Awareness Week page for more information.

Fundraiser

As a part of Archives Awareness Week, we are asking for your donations in support of the Shirley Spragge Bursary program, which provides financial assistance for students, new professionals, or archivists in financial need to cover the registration and travel to the AAO's annual conference.

The larger the fund grows, the more budding archivists it can help. Those early-career connections and experiences are invaluable, often leading to new connections, new jobs, or even the confidence, inspiration, and resolution to stick with a profession that can be difficult to break into.

So this Archives Awareness Week, consider offering a hand-up to those following in your professional footsteps. And, if you're hosting an event or have a newsletter, consider promoting this fundraiser to your community! You never know who is willing to help out.

Visit the bursary page for more information or donate now! Donations over $20 are eligible for a tax receipt.

Dear AAO,

The Fall 2023 issue of Off the Record is now available and we hope it brings some more archival warmth to your chilly, autumn day! It’s available to AAO members here: Current Issues.

This issue features an update from AAO President Sarah McDougall, an article by John Yolkowski and Shernett Bennett from the Humber College Archives reflecting on their journey towards the official opening of the space on November 8^th, 2023, a membership spotlight on Archives of Ontario Archivist Melissa Nelson, and closes with some AAO statistics updates and an Archeion update from coordinator Kelli Babcock.

 

And if you’re interested in submitting to Off the Record, you can start sending your original submissions and cover art to otr@aao-archivists.ca. We’ll be accepting submissions for the Winter issue until January 3, 2024. For more details, please see the Submissions Guidelines page online. 

 

Happy reading!

Adam Cavanaugh & Arvind Kang

The MAIG Executive is pleased to present the 19th edition of the MAIGazine! For this edition, the Executive put a call out for articles related to “community connections”. After several pandemic years of unfortunate but unavoidable disconnect with the communities we serve, municipal archives are bouncing back and developing innovative ways to reach new and existing audiences. The submissions this year detail a variety of ways archives are enhancing accessibility to their collections via digitization and online engagement, the ways in which we support each other as colleagues, and an important discussion of the necessity to protect  the valuable records in archival holdings when faced with threatening uncertainty. Thank you to everyone who submitted articles and news for the 2023 edition.

For more information about MAIG or to view previous issues of the “MAIGazine” please visit our page on the AAO website: http://aao-archivists.ca/maig.

If you have comments or suggestions on how to improve future issues of the “MAIGazine” feel free to contact our Executive. In the meantime, please enjoy the 2023 edition!