I hope you’ve got your texting and/or typing fingers ready! Archivists at the City of Edmonton Archives are all set to answer your questions today until 4pm.
Do you have questions on how to care for and store family records? We can give you some tips on how to deal with those old shoeboxes full of photographs and letters. Something else to consider, have e-mail inboxes replaced these old shoeboxes? How will you be able to make sure your children can access these digital treasures in the future? Or, do you have records that you don’t think you can keep but you don’t want to throw away? You might want to consider donating them to the Archives, ask us for more details.
Are you trying to find out about your family history and aren’t sure where to begin? We can get you started.
Maybe you have questions about archives and archivists. Did you know that records management and archives serve to keep government transparent and accountable? Ask us how. Are you wondering about career options and how to get a job in an archives? We can help you with that too.
So, this is how it works. Think of a question (or two or three) and ask us!
- On twitter using the hashtags #yeg and #askarchivists
- Through the City of Edmonton Facebook page
- By commenting on this blog post
That’s it! As for us, we’ll either:
- Answer your question directly
- Tell you how you can find out the answer here at the Archives.
- Point you to a resource that can help answer your question
1. We’re hoping the majority of the questions asked can be answered directly through twitter, the facebook page or this blog. If you have a research question that is specific enough, we’ve got a pretty broad range of knowledge and probably can answer you right away.
2. We’re good, but even we don’t know everything. That doesn’t mean it can’t be found at the Archives though. We’ll tell you what kinds of records we have that might help answer your question and invite you to come down to the Archives (10440-108 Ave). There’s no charge to get in, parking is free, and our hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm and Wednesday from 4:30am to 8pm. We’re located in a pretty spectacular building, the Prince of Wales Armouries.
3. You might have a great question that isn’t quite in our mandate but don’t worry, there are several archives in the Edmonton area (not to mention all the great resources available online). If we can’t answer your question we’ll point you to someone we think can.
We’re looking forward to your questions. #AskArchivists Day is just a condensed version of what we do everyday, we are information facilitators and we’re here for you.