The Westerner for April 18, 2016
Posted by David Gibbens
April 18, Meeting Notes
Meeting: Chair, Darrel Ripley; Music, Accapala; Grace, Brad Arsenault; attendance 26 including 2 guests .
Rotary Business:
Professional Networking Event: Last Thursday saw the second club professional networking event hosted at Clark & Arsenault. Everyone who attended agreed that the business information and contacts that were developed at this meeting were excellent and all members who are interested in developing these types of contacts are urged to attend future planned events.
Belize Fundraiser Ticket Deadline: The venue is booked, the menu is planned, the Ukelele Orchestra is all tuned up and thanks to all our members, there are dozens and dozens of items available in the silent auction. Now all we need is you! We need to know how many people will be attending so that the food can be purchased. So we need you to purchase your tickets by April 29th. Tickets are only $50 and are available from either Duane Evans or David Gibbens. Tickets will be available at the meeting on April 25th or you can email either of those gentlemen by clicking on their names above. This will be a very fun evening, and even more fun if you are there, so make sure you grab a ticket for you and a friend before the ticket deadline.
Capital City Clean Up: The park that we have been assigned has changed and currently planned to be Gallagher Park, but that may change before the actual date. Our date is May 1, and that will not change. We are still hoping to have a club BBQ following the work. Everyone is welcome to this event. Many hands make light work!
Fine Master: Jim Spalding tested how well people were listening to some of our past speakers by challenging them to facts from those talks. It seems that people listen fairly well, but Jim dug deep enough to be able to get some funds into the Sargeant at Arms basket. Thank you Jim!
50/50: Jim Spalding was also lucky enough to have his 50/50 ticket drawn along with that of brand new member Ken Brander, but not lucky enough to match their playing cards. Therefore the pot of over $450 will still be available for someone at the next meeting. There are hardly any cards left in the deck, so the odds of pulling a matching pair will be very high over the next few meetings.
The City of Edmonton ArchivesKathryn Evany
Ms. Evany started by explaining that everyone who keeps memories in the forms of photos, movies, documents or other artifacts are archivists. So that means that everyone in the room is an archivist and may have trouble keeping track of all the items that we have already. Now multiply that by all the employees and interested citizens in the city and then you will see the kind of work that is being undertaken at the City Archives.
The archives are housed in the Prince of Wales Armouries. The building was constructed in 1915. In addition to being the training ground for First World War recruits and since having a long history of military involvement until the 1980s, it has also been home to local cadets, flea markets and the food bank and various other organizations.
Members of the public can do research at the Archives free of charge. Their services are available 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday; and on Wednesdays to 8 pm. They are a municipal government organization that serves approximately 7,000 researchers annually.
Kathryn gave many examples of the type of documents and information that are available as well as how each are stored and the challenges in doing so. She also touched on the challenges of attempting to archive information in a digital age. You would think that it would be easier, but equipment, software and file types are always being upgraded, so this presents a unique challenge.
The Archivists provide access to original material – the raw data of research – without interpretation and without bias.
Occasionally, however, the Archivists will create an exhibit – on-site in display areas, or virtually on the internet – to showcase the collections and raise awareness – or to help tell the stories of the City in interesting ways. These online exhibits and much other information about the Archives can be found at: www.edmonton.ca/archives
Ms. Evany was thanked by Art Lachance for her very informative presentation.
