EDMONTON, Alberta – “Ukrainian Archival Collections in Canada: Preserving the Past, Building the Future,” is the title of an archival conference to be held at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on May 11-13.
The conference is organized by the Kule Folklore Center at the University of Alberta and its Friends Society, in cooperation with the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta.
The purpose of the conference is to bring together researchers, archivists, curators, collection managers, and other custodians of Ukrainian Canadian archival collections in order to start a conversation among stewards of Ukrainian cultural documentary heritage.
This conference aims to increase awareness about Ukrainian heritage collections in Canada, survey problem areas and needs of archival collections. It will help establish connections and collaboration among the institutions, will provide an opportunity to share knowledge and successes and, therefore, improve their sustainability.
The conference is the first event within a larger program of the Kule Folklore Centre with a working title: Sustainable Ukrainian Canadian Heritage. For more information, readers may go to https://www.ualberta.ca/kule-folklore-centre/News/ 2017/October/ukrainian-archival-collections-in-canada.aspx.
The problem of preserving Ukrainian archival collections has grown in recent years. Although there are numerous Ukrainian archival collections in various Canadian libraries and archives, often only those collections housed by large academic libraries and associated with strong research and teaching programs at Canadian universities, or those housed at governmental archives receive due treatment. Their archival collections have been duly processed, materials catalogued, and access to them is provided for researchers and the public.
Other repositories do not have enough resources to professionally manage their materials, which are presented in a variety of different media: text (both published and unpublished materials), photographs, audio, video. Researchers frequently overlook these collections, because they are invisible or inaccessible.
The national, provincial and local archives have become more selective about the archival material they acquire which creates further complications.
There is an urgent need to raise awareness of the importance of Ukrainian Canadian archival heritage, to help Ukrainian Canadian community archives manage their collections in order to provide access to potential researchers, as well as to preserve these records for the future.
The goals of the conference are:
• to understand who has what type of archival records, their scope and extent, and how they can be accessed;
• to introduce those who are preserving archival records to each other, and to open up a way to share information among them;
• to develop a network for cooperation and sharing of information;
• to provide an understanding of available resources (preservation and conservation assistance, funding sources, archival societies as support systems, researcher needs); and
• to raise awareness of the value of archives as institutions and as documentary records.
The keynote speaker at the conference will be Myron Momryk, a retired archivist from Library and Archives Canada who worked in the Multicultural Archives Program for 25 years. Prior to that, he was the history officer in the Multiculturalism Directorate, Department of the Secretary of State (now Heritage Canada).
Information professionals, practitioners, community leaders, researchers, and others in charge of or interested in Ukrainian Canadian archival heritage are invited to register for the conference at http://ukrainian-archives.artsrn.ualberta.ca/. For more information contact: [email protected].