Grants and Contributions

By increasing access to and awareness of their archival collection, the Ogniwo Polish Museum aims to educate people about Polish-Canadian history through the stories of everyday individuals and Polish community organizations. A Polish-speaking archivist will arrange and describe specified materials, create finding aids, and enter record descriptions into the Museum’s archival database. The scope of this project includes previously processed records and unprocessed records. The organization has also identified numerous photographic and textual documents of enduring value that are in deteriorating condition due to poor storage conditions before donation. After processing the specified collection, the organization will share these records through the Manitoba Archival Information Network and the Museum’s social media pages and websites.

Building on the success of a pilot project funded by Documentary Heritage Communities Program in 2018-2019, this project involves the continued digitization of an archival collection held at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute. The project will increase local, regional, national and international access to these unique archival holdings, as digitized materials are made available through an online database. The documentary heritage collection includes materials from Cree individuals and Cree entities, and project materials from fieldwork carried out within the communities by community members, external researchers and corporations.

Building on the success of a pilot project funded by DHCP in 2018-2019, this project involves the continued digitization of an archival collection held at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute. The project will increase local, regional, national and international access to these unique archival holdings, as digitized materials are made available through an online database. The documentary heritage collection includes materials from Cree individuals and Cree entities, and project materials from fieldwork carried out within the communities by community members, external researchers and corporations.

Building on the success of a pilot project funded by Documentary Heritage Communities Program in 2018-2019, this project involves the continued digitization of an archival collection held at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute. The project will increase local, regional, national and international access to these unique archival holdings, as digitized materials are made available through an online database. The documentary heritage collection includes materials from Cree individuals and Cree entities, and project materials from fieldwork carried out within the communities by community members, external researchers and corporations.

The Revelstoke Heritage Railway Society has been collecting and accessioning archival donations since it opened in 1993. This material has been processed, logged in paper files, and entered into a database. The organization now needs to review its collection, within the scope of its current mandate, to determine which items remain relevant. The organization will need to assess the collection to determine whether any items are at high risk (of damage or deterioration); digitize relevant items; enter these items into the collection management system (using Past Perfect); and finally, store digital copies of the items onsite and in external hard drives for future use. The organization will hire a part-time employee on contract to begin this process and aim to complete 500 archival items by the completion of the work term.

TIFF's Film Reference Library (FRL) became steward of the Ontario Film Institute (OFI) film collection, through an agreement with the Province of Ontario in 1991. The collection includes 1,833 titles on 16mm and 35mm film, featuring works ranging from educational and promotional reels on tourism in Ontario, to works from well-known Canadians such as Julian Rothman, Doug Jackson, Norman Jewison and Al Waxman. At present, the collection is fully catalogued and housed in a climate- and humidity-controlled facility. In this project, TIFF will inspect, assess, and rehouse 295 titles (many of which are stored on metal reels and in trunks) to ensure these films are handled according to established preservation standards. In addition, the organization aims to increase awareness and access to the films by offering public screenings at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

The coordinator of the organization will deliver a two-day workshop in the north-west coastal region of British Columbia. This project expands on a 2018-2020 DHCP-funded project and is based on requests received by the project coordinator, while planning previous workshops. The clinic will offer training and in-person archival expertise to Indigenous knowledge keepers, First Nations community members and staff in the community archives of memory institutions.

This project aims to preserve and increase access to a series of more than 400 audio recordings of poems on 219 microcassettes, created for the Dial-A-Poem Montreal project (1986-1989). Based on its New York predecessor, Dial-A-Poem Montreal offered members of the public the opportunity to telephone a hotline and hear a poem read aloud by its author. The system consisted of a series of answering machines that used now-obsolete and highly vulnerable microcassette magnetic tape format. The series also includes recordings of comments left by listeners, recordings made at special events related to the project, and a small number of textual and graphical records.

The Mahone Bay Foundation Society aims to digitize, preserve, and increase access to approximately 125 cm of selected documents and 486 original photographs (including 71 glass negatives and 40 tintypes) from their collection of unprocessed and inadequately stored archival materials relating to the town of Mahone Bay's general history, shipbuilding history, and local families history. In total, this includes 5 new archival collections and 2 accruals to existing collections.

In this project, the Rossland Historical Museum Association will rehouse and digitize the organization’s extensive map collection, including mine tunnel layouts, town site plans, building plans, ski run maps, and more. The majority of the collection is currently rolled and stored in cardboard boxes (not acid-free), or rolled with rubber bands and stored in cubbies, or standing in rolled storage, all of which are not suitable for preservation. The organization will digitize the maps to ensure long-term preservation and access for staff, researchers and the public. To complete this project, the organization will hire an archivist to train staff and volunteers to carry out the work. The training will be offered in the form of two workshops, which will be open to interested members of the public.