Nova Scotia Archives Needs a Volunteer

mmm, what a great opportunity. Public education at its finest. Check it out if you've got a creative edge, an appreciation for cultural, group and individual heritage and a bit of extra time:


"Introducing Archives" Travelling Exhibit

The Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA) is a non-profit, professional organization for archives and archivists in Nova Scotia. Founded in 1982 by a core group of twenty-five institutions, organizations and individuals the CNSA has quadrupled its membership in the last twenty-five years and now represents over one hundred community archives and museums, university and religious archives, the provincial archives, heritage associations, corporations and individuals. The Education, Outreach, and Network Archivist (EONA) is the lone professional archivist who facilitates the Council's educational programs, maintains on-line databases and travels to member institutions to provide on-site assistance. Dedicated professional archivists, drawn from member institutions, volunteer their time on various administrative committees to foster education of archival standards and practices within Nova Scotia's archival community, and the CNSA endeavors to promote archival standards, procedures and practices among those institutions and organizations entrusted with the care of Nova Scotia's documentary heritage.

The CNSA is seeking to create a travelling exhibit to be used for professional and public gatherings, such as the upcoming Archives & You! Conference (to be held in Halifax on May 11 & 12, 2007) and heritage promotion events such as Mi'kmaq History Month or African Heritage Month, over the next five to seven years. The travelling exhibit would take the form of a tri-fold or quadra-fold upright display in either table-top or freestanding format. The travelling exhibit would serve to communicate the role of archives and the nature of archival holdings to the general public, as well as facilitating an introduction to Nova Scotia's archival institutions and the CNSA at discipline-related professional conferences. Our hope is that this exhibit will foster an understanding and appreciation for archives in general while also promoting the work of the CNSA.

Depending on the display board purchased, the contents of the exhibit could be divided into three or four distinct sections: an overview of the CNSA (its mandate, members, role and geographic responsibility); an overview of archives (an accessible definition of "archives", examples of how archives can be used (and by whom), and examples of the various media types of archival records (i.e. motion picture film, sound recordings, photographs, textual (written) documents, etc); examples of archival records (as indicated above, but uniform in size and including colour images / text where possible, with appropriate contextual information for each item on display); and genealogical or other records (this section could be used to focus promotion to tailored / specific audiences). The intended (broad) audience is men and women in the general public between the ages of twenty-five to one hundred; a more focused audience would be conference attendees at related information management professional events.

Before Canadians can use their archival heritage, they must be aware of what is available and feel welcome to use it. The travelling exhibit must convey a positive, trustworthy and accessible image of archives and should allow the CNSA to take advantage of promotional opportunities as they arise. Since the CNSA would like to have the exhibit ready for the Archives & You Conference on May 11 & 12, 2007, we suggest the following timetable would be sufficient for collecting archival materials from our partner institutions necessary for the display as well as the design period.

Beginning March 1, 2007:
Week 1 - consult with graphic designer about potential display concepts
Weeks 2-4 - collect documents, images, audio recordings, etc. from NS member archives
Weeks 4-5 - reproduce/reformat for exhibit readiness all material collected; send to designer
Weeks 4-5 - meet with designer(s), discuss layout, text, colours, flow; review mockups; choose final
Weeks 4-5 - designer prints work
Week 6 - assemble display

As indicated earlier, the CNSA is a non-profit organization and we would be unable to pay a student(s) for working on this project, however, it might be possible to provide a small materials budget.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this proposal further, please feel free to contact me directly. I can be reached by phone, or you can contact my office email at: advisor@councilofnsarchives.ca

Sincerely,

Anne MacLean



Special Projects Archivist
Council of Nova Scotia Archives
6016 University Ave.
Halifax, NS B3H 1W4
Tel (902) 424-6082