Ottawa, ON, October 8, 2024—The Canadian Council of Archives has constituted a Working Group to assess and re-envision the national finding aid network, ARCHIVESCANADA.ca. The Working Group consists of 18 members from across Canada. The members are tasked with:
- Developing a snapshot of users (researchers, archives patrons, archivists) and their needs.
- Assessing the current status of, and problems with, ARCHIVESCANADA.ca.
- Determining whether there are solutions that will improve the status quo.
- Evaluating alternatives to the status quo.
The Working Group will deliver a final report on ARCHIVESCANADA.ca to the Canadian Council of Archives on the completion of its two-year mandate which began in January 2024.
The terms of reference and list of Working Group members is available on the Canadian Council of Archives website: https://archivescanada.ca/committees/
Working Group meeting minutes are open to the public and may be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uev64xTyn2bY0MQZzeFRJvaHffLfYi_i?usp=drive_link
A survey of archives, gallery, library, and museum workers and a survey of researchers will be distributed this Fall to gain public feedback. Plans are also underway to conduct individual interviews and focus groups. Background research about the history and context of ARCHIVESCANADA.ca is also underway.
Working Group membership came together organically during discussions with CCA, the Joint US-Canada AtoM Users Group, and through invitations to contacts at provincial and territorial archives associations. We acknowledge that the membership does not reflect the rich diversity of the GLAM field in Canada. We hope through the surveys, interviews, and focus groups to widely consult with as many people as possible. If you are interested in supporting this work either through participating in a focus group, individual interview, or nominating members to join the Working Group please contact us.
Contact:
Jo McCutcheon, Executive Director
Canadian Council of Archives
execdirector@archivescanada.ca