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President's Message - Winter 2003
Jo-Ann Munn Gafuik, President, Archives Society of Alberta
One could look forward to Christmas with a little more holiday spirit if the prospect of grant writing didn't always loom overhead. I suspect this year may be worse than usual as institutions try to sort out the various programs and changing criteria. I think it would be useful, therefore, for me to use this space to outline how our Centennial Legacies Grant funds will be allocated in the 2003-2004 year so that both individual and institutional members have a good idea of what is happening in that sphere.
We are planning to spend money in five major areas in the next fiscal year - preparation of fonds level descriptions, maintenance of the technical infrastructure, digitization of original material, training, and project management. Details are as follows:
Preparation of RAD descriptions
a) $120,000.00 to hire 3 project archivists to write fonds level descriptions for records in the custody of the Provincial Archives of Alberta
This includes the two project archivists already working at the PAA and a third contractor to be hired as soon as possible.
b) $40,000.00 to hire one project archivist to convert existing collection level descriptions to RAD and to write new fonds level descriptions
This sum represents Scott Goodine's salary and position. Scott was hired last year for the full term of the grant. He will continue to work with institutions in the northern part of the province writing RAD compliant fonds level descriptions.
Janet McMaster will continue to be responsible for allocating Scott's time and monitoring his performance. She will also assess the need for this kind of support in the province and work with institutions in the southern part of the province where need is identified. Janet's salary will be funded out of unspent 2002-2003 Centennial Legacies money. [We anticipate but cannot confirm until the end of this quarter that we will have an adequate carryover to cover this expense.]
Technical/Operational Network Infrastructure
a) $25,000.00 to hire a contractor to maintain the Cinemage database system and provide assistance to institutions as required. Janet McMaster was hired to perform this function last fall and will continue until the end of the project term.
b) $8,750.00 to pay Knight Enterprises the monthly fee to host and support the ASA website and ANA database.
Scanning and Digitization
a) $40,000.00 to provide project funds for digitization of archival material unrelated to the "Archival Resources in the Classroom" project (see next item).
All member institutions will have had an opportunity to submit grant applications in this category. The Grants Committee will review the applications in January and notices will be sent out by March 2003.
b) $215,000.00 for the "Archival Resources in the Classroom"
The ASA will work with partners such as Alberta Learning to produce a series of on-line learning tools for children in the K-12 sector developed with primary source material found in Alberta archival institutions. Each on-line lesson will target a specific age group and curriculum topic and will expose a specific group of archival records relevant to the age and subject. The ASA, on the advice of Alberta Learning and the teachers consulted, will focus on topics relating to Immigration and Land Settlement and Prairie Populism in 2003-2004.
This project has been submitted to the CCA for federal funding. Further details will be available if the project is approved.
Training
$10,000.00 to provide a number of workshops to member institutions
Topics will include RAD, digitization, Cinemage, and copyright.
Project Management
$60,000.00 to cover project management costs.
Geraldine Harris was hired to manage the project in the fall of 2001 and will continue in this role for the duration of the project. There are also other costs incurred by the ASA related to financial management and expenditure control which are covered by this line item.
You will notice that the focus of this year's workplan has shifted away from building the technical infrastructure and moved towards building content. All member institutions should be in a position to contribute this content as long as project funds are available. If there are any technical impediments to participation, please contact Geraldine Harris. Although we won't be supplying any more equipment, we can deal with most training issues.
I trust this provides a relatively clear outline of where we are headed in the next year. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please contact me or any member of the Board.
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