Reminder: Canadian Week in Review

Check the Canadian Week in Review tomorrow morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

It has the most recent news about New/Updated Websites, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles.

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in the country!

It has been a regular post every Monday since April 23, 2012.

Family History/Genealogy at The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (CJHN)

If you have Jewish ancestors, have you checked the latest addition to the genealogical database at http://www.cjhn.ca/en/family-history.aspx

You can search in the following databases -

· Jewish Colonization Association individual farm settler reports from Western Canada and Quebec (1906-1951) This includes a scanned form describing each individual farming family at various points in time.

· Yiddish obituaries from the Keneder Adler (1908-1932) This Montreal-based daily newspaper has been translated and indexed.

· Hebrew Sick Benefit Association of Montreal membership listings from 1897-1945. These records have been transcribed from the membership books, translated from Yiddish.

· Canadian Jewish Casualties in the Canadian Armed Forces These listings include servicemen who died while serving in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. These records often include additional details such as war stories and photographs. 

· Saint John, New Brunswick Jewish Residents, Businesses, Burials & Obituaries These records contain burial information dating back to 1873, hundreds of full text obituaries, detailed photographs of tombstones, and business and residential directory details about all the known Jewish residents of Saint John from 1863-1999.

· Jewish Immigrant Aid Services client name lists from 1922-1952 The CJHN) say that “The JIAS listings are the only records in this database which do not present all the available data online. Access to this information is restricted to the persons named in the file or, if deceased, their direct descendants. The archival records associated with these listings can contain a single index card to more than a dozen pages. Fees for copying and delivery apply; payment can be made to the CJCCC National Archives via Paypal or Canadian funds cheque”. 

White you are at the site, do not miss their extensive archival materials, digital images, and education material at http://www.cjhn.ca/en 

Hommage à Lac-Mégantic exhibit

There will be an exhibit called Hommage à Lac-Mégantic from March 30th to May 25th, 2014 at the  Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre, 9 Speid Street, Sherbrooke.

“Following the tragic events in the town of Lac-Mégantic last summer, the Uplands exhibition committee has decided to honour Mégantic artists by mounting an exhibit which will bring together eleven artists of this region. 

The public is cordially invited to come and meet the participants at a vernissage to take place Sunday, March 30, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.. 

In addition, two “slam” poets, Marie-Pier Landry and Kyra Shaughnessy, will be present at the vernissage to share their poems inspired by the disaster.

Throughout the course of the exhibit, there will be an opportunity to make donations, which will be given to a cultural organization of the Lac-Mégantic region, selected by the participating artists”.

Remember, the Hommage à Lac-Mégantic exhibit will continue until May 25, 2014.

The website of the Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre is http://uplands.ca

Looking at Canada – 40th Anniversary Symposium

 The Bill Belier Memorial Symposium will take place Saturday, April 26, 2014 at Jackman Hall, Toronto. The AGO will follow the next day Sunday, April 26, 2014 by the 2nd annual Image Show at Branch 101 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Long Branch.

The speakers at the symposium will be Blake Chorley (Mammoth Tintypes), Harry Enchin (Moments in Time), Andrea Kunard (NFB additions), Cassandra Rowbotham (Connon and the panorama camera) and Robert Wilson (Baltzly and BC Landscapes).

To find out about the registration, go to http://phsc.ca/camera/?p=3610

Service Disruptions at the Archives of Manitoba

During the next few months, the Archives of Manitoba, including the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, will be replacing mechanical equipment and building components in several of the archival storage vaults at 200 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg causing service disruptions. And this disruption will continue over the next one to two years. 

The nature of this work requires the temporary relocation of records stored within the vaults during each phase of the project. This project is necessary to ensure that the environment of the vaults continues to be acceptable for the preservation of archival records.

Services which will be disrupted will be

• times when some records are not available for consultation. 

• delays in retrieval of records may occur. 

• there may be noisy times due to the renovation work. 

Please note that records stored offsite will not be affected by these renovations.

Updates will be posted at the website as the project progresses and you can contact them if you have questions at archives@gov.mb.ca

The website is http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives

Old Stones - from Exploration to Preservation

The Nova Scotia Genealogical Society is having a two-day cemetery conference in Truro where there will be great speakers, all meals and breaks will be included, a networking social, and poster displays. 

The conference will be held May 24 and 25, 2014 at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Campus, Truro, NS, and there will be six lectures given by Dr. Allan Marble, Gary Wright, Bill Curry, Kevin Bartlett & Sean McKeane, Heather Lawson, and Deborah Trask.

And there will be a field trip to the historic Onslow Cemetery. 

For more information about the conference and a registration packet, contact Dawn Josey at info@novascotiaancestors.ca 

The registration form is at http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca/upload/files/GANS_CemeteryConference2014_Registration.pdf 

The GANS website is at http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca 

The Onslow Cemetery is at www.onslowislandcemetery.ca 

The Onslow Island Cemetery holds the remains of Planters (settlers from New England who came to Nova Scotia in the 1700s), and as such, it is one of the oldest cemeteries in Nova Scotia. 

Last year, the 250th founding of the cemetery was highlighted, and celebrated. Some of the burials at the cemetery are on Find a Grave at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GScid=2297634 

LAC’s new code of conduct/ Nouveau code de conduite de BAC

Some good news this morning -

Political pressure sometimes works. In a victory for staff, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has withdrawn its controversial Code of Conduct put into effect in early 2013. The code contained severe restrictions on staff behavior, both in their public and personal lives.

The restrictions on LAC employees garnered media and public scrutiny and, in the wake of intense public pressure, LAC administrators placed the code under review. In December 2013, a revised Code was introduced.

This new code represents a significant improvement. Employees are still encouraged to report on their colleagues for any failure to comply with the code, a shameful policy that contributes to an unhealthy workplace. However, restrictions on employees’ professional development activities have been substantially reduced and references to discipline for personal opinions expressed in limited access forums have been removed.

At a time when Canadian culture institutions are being decimated, it is easy to become overwhelmed and forget to celebrate our victories, however small. The changes to the LAC code of conduct were only made because we spoke out collectively, an example of how we can make a difference. Our current government may be attempting to rewrite the past, but together we are in control of the future. 

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Les pressions politiques portent parfois leurs fruits. Bibliothèque et Archives Canada (BAC) a retiré son controversé Code de conduite entré en vigueur au début de 2013, une victoire pour le personnel de l’institution. Le code imposait de sévères restrictions aux activités tant publiques que personnelles des employés. 

Les restrictions imposées aux employés de BAC avaient suscité l’intérêt des médias et du public, et donné lieu à des protestations publiques qui forçaient les administrateurs de BAC à le réexaminer. En décembre 2013, BAC adoptait une version révisée du Code.

Le nouveau code constitue une nette amélioration par rapport à la version antérieure. Les employés sont toujours invités à signaler à l’employeur les activités de leurs collègues contraires au code, une mesure honteuse qui contribue à la détérioration des relations de travail. Cependant, BAC a considérablement assoupli les règles régissant les activités de perfectionnement professionnel des employés et a éliminé toute mention de mesures disciplinaires pour l’expression d’opinions personnelles dans des forums à accès public. 

En cette période où les institutions culturelles canadiennes sont décimées, on oublie facilement, dans notre accablement, de célébrer nos victoires, aussi petites soient-elles. Si BAC a modifié son code de conduite, c’est parce que nous avons protesté collectivement. Voilà un exemple de notre capacité à faire bouger les choses. Le gouvernement actuel peut bien essayer de réécrire le passé, mais ensemble, nous forgeons l’avenir. 

Rosa E. Barker 

Professional Officer / Agente professionnelle 

Canadian Association of University Teachers / Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université 

2705 promenade Queensview Drive 

Ottawa ON, K2B 8K2 

Tel / tél 613-726-5166

Fax/ télé 613-820-7244

barker@caut.ca