Once again, it is time to remember who makes Archives the living and thriving community that preserves our documentary heritage and makes it available to an increasingly complex and demanding user constituency. We owe it to ourselves as an Association, as a profession, and as a broader archival community to recognize the excellence in our midst.

Last year the AAO conferred three awards, a single Alexander Fraser Award to Robin Keirstead, University Archivist at the University of Western Ontario and two J. J. Talman Awards, to Harold Averill, pioneer volunteer archivist for the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives and to Barbara Craig, who has played a special role in developing the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto and provided intellectual leadership to the archival community in Ontario and across Canada.  (Alas no Institutional or Corporate Awards were conferred as no nominations were made.)

There are many unrecognized innovators, stalwarts and leaders, working in diverse institutions, who have made significant contributions in archival imagination and/or a sustained commitment to archival science and the stewardship of documentary heritage. There are many innovative archival institutions and generous corporate sponsors who have advanced the stewardship of documentary heritage. I urge you to take the time and help the Awards Committee in its 24th year of operation to give due recognition to excellence in Ontario Archives in 2011.

Please consider the many individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to the archival community or who have demonstrated imagination or creativity in any aspect of archival work. Invest the time to consult and prepare a nomination. Nomination Forms for each of these awards are available from the AAO Web-site. The time to act is now and the time to gather the required documentation (from prospective nominees if necessary) is as soon as possible.

Any member of the Association in good standing is eligible to make nominations. Each nomination should be submitted on the appropriate form and should include a full summary description of the contributions that the nominee has made (suggested scope of a 1000 word narrative of contributions). The deadline for receiving nominations this year is Thursday, March 31, 2011. Recipients will be announced at the AAO Conference in Thunder Bay in June.

If you have any questions, require further details, or if you wish to submit names that you think should be considered for nomination but do not have the time to submit a formal nomination, please feel free to contact me at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by telephone at 819-934-7333 or contact any of the other three members of the Awards Committee at  [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .