Every year the Association of Canadian
Archivists (ACA) holds a fantastic conference somewhere in Canada. This year the conference theme was Archivatopia and it was held in
Victoria, at the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel.
I have been a member of ACA since I was a
grad student and I have love participating in conferences – my first was in
Toronto in 2009 where I was on the host committee and a poster presenter. This year I was happy to be able to bring
Lisa Petawabano along to the conference to present on one of ACCI’s projects.
Before the conference officially started, Lisa
and I participated in the Aboriginal Special Interest Section annual meeting
where we discussed activities of the group, and possible changes to the
Aboriginal Archives Guide. The guide was
published in 2007 and a great deal has changed in the Aboriginal Archives world
since then. Possible changes discussed
include adding a section about the TRC documents and oral testimony statement
gathering that has been done across Canada, discussing policy and procedures and
research policies.
To celebrate the start of the conference we
were invited to an opening gala at BC Government House. The view was exceptional and so was the
company. It was great to meet with archivists
from all over the world and to catch up with friends.