Grants and Contributions

The Canadian Railroad Historical Association (CRHA) Archives and Documentation Centre wishes to improve accessibility to its archives, while optimizing its archive management. To this end, a targeted analysis was conducted in 2021. Four commercially available systems, including the one currently used by the Centre, were evaluated in depth based on the needs of the organization and its clients. The results of this analysis led to the selection of AtoM software. The current project consists of installing the AtoM software in the Centre’s infrastructure and configuring it based on the internal classification plan. Then, the descriptive, bibliographic and image records contained in ArchiLog—the software currently used at the Centre—will be migrated, and a quality validation and adjustments will take place as needed.

The NumArt project targets the following activities: Digitize, describe and preserve 25,342 photographs, which comprise the artistic and cultural photographic heritage of the Franco-Saskatchewanian community from 1974 to 2000, assembled in the collections of the Conseil culturel fransaskois and the newspaper L’Eau vive. Train and educate Francophones in archival processing. Promote this heritage through virtual exhibitions, publications and community and school activities.

Friends of Grain Elevators (FOGE) requests funding to ensure its Voices of the Grain Trade oral history collection is preserved and fully available to the public by spring 2024. The activities of this project include transcribing 144 audio files, creating archival documentation for all new and existing interview transcripts (metadata description, interview summaries, and keywords), and uploading audio files to FOGE’s website. For long-term preservation, FOGE will work with Lakehead University’s archives to store the collection, ensuring Voices will be discoverable and usable for future generations. The more than 200 narrators within the collection tell the story of how Thunder Bay once became the world’s largest grain port, as well as the modern changes that saw the industry’s decline.

Incorporated in 1999, Archives de Bellevue Inc. (ABI) compiles the Francophone documentary heritage of the St. Isidore-de-Bellevue region (Batoche, St. Louis, Domremy, Duck Lake, Hoey). The 24 linear metres of Francophone and Métis archives include 49 individual fonds and nine organization fonds, as well as religious archives. Activities include evaluation and consultation meetings, development of tools (acquisition policy; processing, description and classification procedures; preservation policy and contingency plan; accessibility plan), training in procedures and tools and design of an informative website.

The main activities will be to inventory, catalogue, arrange, process, briefly describe and convert files and verify metadata for several born-digital archival acquisitions. The materials to be processed will be selected from various hybrid and born-digital fonds, including the collection of photographs from La Liberté (a French-language newspaper published in Manitoba since 1913).

Awakening our Old Stories is a preservation and restoration of 250 Anishinaabe Elder interviews from community gatherings, events, and meetings; indeed, the sharing and celebration of Wiikwemkoong Anishinaabek knowledge and the traditions will benefit current and future generations for years to come. The organization will be digitizing old VHS tapes, which hold a wealth of untapped knowledge, as the format is not conducive for current technology to share. The project is one year and includes Digitization, Classification, and Preservation of Elder Interviews, including Uploading to various platforms.

Through this project, the Charlotte County Archives, located in small town New Brunswick, will enhance access to its extensive holdings of 20,000 regional vernacular photographs by transferring catalogue records created by community volunteers into a user-friendly database with a significant online collection component. Key activities encompass the review of physical photographs, dating from the 1850s to 2000s, along with the many extant records and scans; establishment of standards for processing photographic materials; housing of physical photographs according to urgency; establishment of a new database incorporating best practices; migration of records and scans into the new database; and the implementation of an online collection representing a significant portion of the photograph collection

The overall objective of this project is to digitize a portion of the Red Rock Historical Society's Image and Audio Collection consisting of photographs, film videos, and audio interviews recorded on cassette tape. Key activities include hiring an intern to complete digitization activities and uploading digital assets to an online platform. Approximately 3,500 items will be digitized from the Image and Audio Collection related to the construction of the pulp and paper mill, the Prisoner of War camp, the construction of the community, community events and activities, significant community members, and major sporting events. The Red Rock Historical Society will be collaborating with the Thunder Bay Museum on training the individual hired for this project.

The Cheam Documentary Heritage Collection Project aims to gather, catalogue, preserve and present the Nation’s photographs, records, artwork and associated artifacts, which are currently at risk of damage due to improper and inadequate storage. Much of those heritage resources are stored in either the governance building or a seacan on the Cheam 1 Reserve and are not catalogued or digitized.

The objective of this project is to increase the accessibility of documentary aspects of the archaeological record related to projects carried out by the Museum of Ontario Archaeology between 1979 and 2010, specifically archaeological site reports and maps. There are 674 existing digitized files to process, and 236 maps to review which may be eligible for scanning.