Charlotte,

I agree with you completely. These are our colleagues. If your job was
eliminated or in jeopardy, what would you expect of the AAO? Perhaps we
are not the types of people to carry picket signs or feel comfortable
boycotting the United Church (which isn't really an option for me), but
we should word these documents strongly, so that the powers that be
understand that these individuals are an invaluable resource to the
United Church of Canada for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I think we
put more effort into saving heritage buildings -- which are certainly
worthy of protection -- than protecting archival positions and our
colleague's livelihoods. 

Ellen Scheinberg
Director
Ontario Jewish Archives
Latner Centre for Jewish Knowledge and Heritage
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
4600 Bathurst St.
Toronto, Ont.
M2R 3V2
416-635-2883 ext. 187
fax: 416-849-1006 
www.ontariojewisharchives.org 
 
Remember Israel's captive soldiers - Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev  &
Gilad Shalit.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for discussion for the Archives Assoc. of Ontario
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Charlotte
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Advocacy: United Church Archives

In her letter to the United Church AAO President Liz Mayville wrote, "We
are reassured by the announcement that the archives will continue to
exist and that access to their holdings will be maintained."

I'm not sure where in the carefully crafted spin of the dissolution
announcement the AAO Board finds this reassurance. In my opinion the
fact that the United Church appears to have no plans for a new location
for its archival holdings has serious implications for the ongoing
accessibility of the records. Furthermore, the termination of the
professional staff will in essence eliminate the valuable corporate
memory of the archives.

I have personally benefited from the UCCVUA, having used the archives
during my studies at the Faculty of Information Studies. I also have the
pleasure of counting a number of the staff as personal friends. In my
opinion, they deserve better and we as an archival community need to cut
through the spin in order to fully understand the implications of this
dissolution.


Best Regards,

Charlotte Chaffey

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