Why I love government records
In celebration of Archives Awareness Week here in Ontario, I have decided to tackle a question I get asked fairly regularly: “What is it about government records that you love […]
Researching the “woodland world”: Historic vegetation in Peel
“To a wanderer in forest solitudes a sense of mystery is often perceived which lures him on and on into the verdant depths of the woodland world.” Alexander Porteous, The […]
Letters of loss: A sense of presence
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” James Baldwin In this post I want to share some […]
The Archivist as detective: The use of “diplomatics” in a municipal archive
When talking to patrons about conducting archival research I will often refer to their task as being similar to a detective’s – sifting pieces of evidence and following different leads […]
How can you help archivists to help you? Reference service from our side of the desk
Visiting an archives has something in common with using any public service. In each interaction with a service or a staff person, you’re seeing the small tip of a very […]
An archivist’s night at the movies, part III: Holiday edition
For our last blog post of 2018 we felt it would be fun to turn our archival gaze on some classic holiday movies and television episodes to see how and […]
Archives and modern mythology: The use of archival records in comic books
“…what if comic books were not simply a medium of entertainment, but in fact a form of mythology through which we both tell stories about ourselves and look to for […]
Taking stock and seeing anew: Some highlights from the inventory project
Over this past year one of our special projects here in the Peel Archives has been to undertake a complete physical inventory of our holdings. Archivists Kyle and Samantha have […]
An archivist’s night at the movies, part II
In this post I am going to continue our exploration of how records and/or Archives are used by writers and directors to further the plot of various films. Part one […]
What do archivists keep (or not)?
On the big screen, archives are generally mysterious places. Archives both hide and reveal secrets that move the plot along. But one of the biggest mysteries in fictional archives is […]
