Mission

The SCAA promotes Saskatchewan's documentary heritage through leadership, support and education of archives and archivists.

Goals:

1. Refine governance systems

2. Improve programs and services

3. Expand human and financial resources

4. Enhance communication with members

5. Increase awareness of value and use of archives

Current SCAA projects

MemorySask - SAIN Merger

Public Launch!!!!

It is done!

It is with great pleasure that SCAA and the U of S announce the launch of the new MemorySask - SAIN database. It may look similar, but now searches of the full shared content of SCAA member institutions can be made in one place, including the ability to search within different photograph collections making MemorySask - SAIN a powerful tool for research.

As part of the SCAA's mission to promote the use of Archives, we have maintained the Saskatchewan Archival Information Network (SAIN) with the help of the University of Saskatchewan. SAIN initially was established in 2000 and has gone through many transformations since. It is a network of information about archival holdings in Saskatchewan and currently consists of two databases, one containing descriptions of archival collections and the other descriptions and digital scans of photographs in our members' collections.

One of the most significant transformations was the deployment of the software platform "Access to Memory" or AtoM. This piece of software is open-source, developed by Artefactual Systems in British Columbia, and has been implemented by most provinces and territories including Archives Canada at the national level. AtoM allows our members to directly enter their descriptions into the database, with minimal help of SCAA staff. The ability to handle all the differing levels in archival description with the AtoM software has made it possible to merge SCAA's two SAIN databases into one.

In late 2019, U of S, with funding and staff support from SCAA, contracted Artefactual Systems to merge the two databases. This was a major undertaking involving both custom programming and manual review of descriptions. The work on the SAIN merger project was completed in March. Since then, several contributing institutions have been adding and updating entries through a temporary hosting arrangement. This arrangement was facilitated by U of S, which hosts the public database, to minimize further downtime as their IT staff were focused on support required due to the pandemic.

Those SCAA member institutions already contributing orwho wish to begin contributing can contact the Archives Advisor (Cam) at either 306-242-0796 or email, scaa.advisor@sasktel.net, to get your Log-in set up.

AtoM is being used provincially and nationally;

British Columbia, https://www.memorybc.ca/; Alberta, https://albertaonrecord.ca/; Manitoba, https://main.lib.umanitoba.ca/; Ontario, https://www.archeion.ca/; New Brunswick, https://search.canbarchives.ca/; Nova Scotia, https://memoryns.ca/; Prince Edward Island, http://www.archives.pe.ca/atom/; Newfoundland, https://arc.anla.nf.ca/.

And finally, of course, Library and Archives of Canada, https://archivescanada.accesstomemory.ca/

Archival Records/Primary Sources

An archival record can be:

A textual document like a letter, a report or meeting minutes
A visual document like a photograph, map or architectural drawing
An audio document like a tape recording of music or oral history interview
A multimedia document like a home movie
A digital document like an email

The important thing to remember about any kind of archival record is that it is a primary
source of historical information.

A primary source is a record created or collected by an individual, organization or institution to document a particular event, activity, idea or decision.

Some examples of primary sources include: letters and diaries; government, church, and business records; oral histories; photographs, motion pictures, and videos; maps and land records; and blueprints.

These archival records/primary sources provide unique opportunities for exploring and understanding history.
By examining the primary sources stored in any archives, one can begin to see why history attaches importance to specific dates, names and places. At the same time, you may find information related to these dates, names and places that you would not be able to find in any history textbook.

Whats new

Two Workshops with Lisa Glandt of AABC

Two online workshops are planned for January and February, 2021. Please visit the workshop page for further details and to register.

MemorySask - SAIN merger update

It is with great pleasure that SCAA and the UofS announce the launch of the newMemorySask - SAIN database. It may look similar, but now research and searches of the full shared content of SCAA members can be made in one place, including the ability to search within different photograph collections making MemorySask - SAIN a powerful tool for research.

Institutional Grants Program 2021-22

The SCAA Grants Committee wishes to thank those 8 Institutional Members who submitted project proposals for the 2021-22 Institutional Grants Program (IGP.) The Grants Committee will be review the submissions and will be in touch.