The quiet power of ordinary people: Reminders from the archives
I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too? -Emily Dickinson In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever. -Will Durant As 2020 […]
An Archivist’s Night at the Movies, Part V: Spooky Halloween Edition
I have long maintained that the pervasive power of records as storytelling devices means that they show up in all manner of films, across all genres. To further develop this […]
An archivist’s night at the movies, part IV: Science fiction edition
As a lover of science fiction, I have decided to add another entry in our Archivist Night at the Movies series, seeking to boldly explore how creative teams involved with […]
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
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur […]
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 […]
