Association of Canadian Archivists conference 2010: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants- the Next Generation of Canadian Archivists

Sarah Romkey, Rare Books and Special Collections ArchivistConference Round-up December 2010

Conference outline

• June 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia• One day pre-conference, one day of section

meetings, 3 days of sessions.

Photo by mooncross and used under Creative Commons license

Pre-conference: Digital Preservation in the Canadian Landscape

• Presentations from practitioners from across the country and international experts.

• Topics included LOCKSS, government documents, physical media preservation, trusted digital repositories.

• Takeways: Collaboration is key, people and policies are more important than technology, don’t be afraid to “take a stab at it.”

Conference sessions

• Highlights:– Keynotes by Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Daniel Caron and other “archival giants.”– Session on Impact and Value: archives of every-

day people, studies on finding meaning in archives and impact on social justice.

– Session on collaborations: for acquisition, access and outreach

Conference sessions

• Highlights continued:– Session by LAC archivists on re-appraisal and

deaccessioning– Session on outreach and advocacy and how it has

changed over past 20 years.

Overall takeaways

• Finding ways to economize and make sound, sustainable decisions.

• Finding ways to fit the “luxuries” (like outreach!) into our everyday work.

• Technology has changed by our core roles remain the same (reflected in next year’s conference theme, “Back to Basics.”)