AAO News

a. AAO Volunteer Opportunities

Are you looking to meet new people and gain archival experience? Volunteering with the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) is a great way to do so and  no experience is required to join! If you're interested, please contact the AAO Office at aao@aao-archivists.ca.

View our Call for volunteers to check out which committees are looking for volunteers.

b. Archives Awareness Week will be April 3 to April 6, 2023 - “Step into your community”

This year’s Archives Awareness Week (AAW) will be held from April 3 to April 6, 2023! The theme this year, “Step into your community”, will be a warmup for the upcoming conference!

As part of AWW, we are bringing back our featured Instagram vignettes from you! On Thursday, April 6, 2023, 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?
• Tell us about a new partnership within your archive.
• How are you engaging with your community?
• What is a document, photograph, recording, or item that sparks more questions than answers?
• Tell us about an archival surprise, something unexpected!
• What is the strangest thing that you have discovered in your collection?
• What archival process or specific record in your collection keeps you up at night? 

If you would like to participate in the AAW vignette event, please contact Tiffany Ribeiro at webadmin@aao-archivists.ca  prior to March 21, 2023, so we can coordinate the recording and sharing of your vignette. Space is limited!

As per tradition, the AAO will be hosting a Twitter Takeover event. On Monday, April 3, 2023, 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. If you would like to participate, please contact communications@aao-archivists.ca by March 21, 2023, to book a one hour slot! Teams are welcome! Hurry - space is very limited this year!      

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 21, 2023 so that we can include it in next month’s newsletter.

c. AAO Board of Directors 2023 Nomination Process

Nominations are currently being accepted for five (5) positions on the AAO Board of Directors. Each term will commence upon election at the AAO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), to be held virtually on May 12, 2023, during the AAO 2023 conference.

The positions that are currently open for nominations include:

• Vice-President/President Elect: Three-year term (May 2023 - May 2026)
• Director Without Portfolio: Two-year term (May 2023 - May 2025) 
• Secretary/Treasurer: Two-year term (May 2023 - May 2025)
• Website Administrator: Two-year term (May 2023 - May 2025) 
• Chair, Institutional Development Committee: Two-year term (May 2023 - May 2025) 
• Chair, Professional Development Committee: Two-year term (May 2023 - May 2025)

Read the 2023 Nomination Process for more information on each of the positions including duties and responsibilities.

Nominations are being accepted two ways this year. You can either complete the online form or submit the nomination form via email, to the AAO Office at aao@aao-archivists.ca, using the subject line "Nominations 2023", and direct your message to the attention of the Nominations Committee. 

Nominations must be received by the AAO Office by close of business on Monday, April 3, 2023.

d. AAO’s 2023 Conference

The Archives Association of Ontario announced that the 2023 Annual Conference will be held virtually from May 10 to 12 on the Whova platform. The 2023 AAO Conference was initially intended to be an in-person event held at the Cobourg Community Centre in Cobourg. 

The 2023 Conference call for papers is now closed. Stay tuned to the conference website for the upcoming program announcement. 

e. AAO’s Professional Development Committee presents "Introduction to Access and Privacy Legislation in Ontario"

This two-day workshop provides an overview of the major access and privacy laws that apply to archives in Ontario and examines in practical terms how they impact archival institutions and archivists. Three Ontario Acts will be addressed in detail:

1. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)

2. Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)

3. Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)

There will also be a brief examination of how the Federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) affects the operations of some archives.

Through a mixture of interactive lectures, small group discussion, and case studies, participants will learn the basics of each piece of legislation, including how to “translate” formal legal provisions into actual policies, procedures, and practices for archival institutions and individual archivists. Teaching points will include understanding how and to what each Act applies, what constitutes a record and how to identify and respond to freedom of information requests, what exemptions apply to the general right of access, what constitutes personal information, how the right to privacy includes access to one’s own information, the special provisions affecting personal health information, and the penalties that exist for non-compliance. Throughout the workshop the emphasis will be on understanding how these laws apply in an archival setting and how they impact archival functions.

When:

Day 1 : April 13, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.

Day 2 : April 14, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST.

Where: Archives of Ontario, George Spragge Classroom

Cost:

$300 (AAO members) 

$200 (AAO student members) 

$480  (non-members)

Instructor: Robin Keirstead, University Archivist Emeritus from Western University

Registration link: https://aao-archivists.ca/event-5104175

f. Winter 2023 issue of Off the Record now available!

The Winter 2023 issue of Off the Record is now available

This most recent issue of OTR features a message from AAO president Rachel E. Beattie; Archeion updates from its new coordinator, Kelli Babcock; insights on the preservation of corporate memory by Sevda Sparks; and member spotlight on Julia Gilmore, Digital Projects Librarian at University of Toronto. We close this issue with some important AAO announcements. 

Adam Cavanaugh, OTR Editor reminds us that the Spring issue is just around the corner. Submissions are due March 21st and I look forward to receiving your articles, news or announcements. For full details, please visit the Off the Record submission guidelines.

g. Nominations for the 2023 AAO Awards are now OPEN!

Nominations are being accepted for the Alexander Fraser Award, the James J. Talman Award, the AAO Emerging Leaders Award, the Corporate Award & the Institutional Award. Due April 7, 2023. Visit the Awards page for more information.