So apparently ordinary people are just chum

Another good article about the art and culture cuts that the Tories want to enact:

Toronto Star Article "Ordinary People don't care about arts"

Now whether you agree with government support for the arts or not, recall that a portion of this was for digitization projects which would increase access to many resources. As we all know, many small archives and museums are strapped for cash so any funding for digitization would be very welcome. And most of the arts funding was to send off groups to show off Canadian culture around the world. I fail to see why this is a bad thing. As the article states and many commentors point out, many of these so call "rich" artists barely make much over the poverty line. I think I react the most to the comment of "ordinary Canadians don't care about the arts". It's probably because we don't get a chance to see much art and culture in some areas of the country. Now we may never see it as there's no funding for it.

Also the comments about privatizing the CBC really send a chill up the spine. The ol CEEB isn't doing so hot these days but it would be a real shame to lose it. I would like to direct your attention to a brilliant speech given by Stephen Fry about the BBC in England. I think we could learn a lot from this: Stephen Fry's blog

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in days to come...
-Jess

Cheney can't hide his legacy...

An interesting story from LISnews.org:

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday ordering Vice President Cheney and the National Archives to preserve all of his official records.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's order came in response to a lawsuit filed this month by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The group, joined by several historians and open-government advocates, warned that Cheney might destroy or withhold important documents as the Bush administration winds down if he interprets the Presidential Records Act of 1978 as applying to only some of his official papers. ...

(For more, click here)

Being in Canada, I haven't the foggiest if the PM or anyone else is held by law to keep papers, but as a budding archivist, I would be quite disturbed to see these papers destroyed. History will be the final judge of the Bush Administration and their legacy however the loss of papers will definitely affect the optics. As the journalist states later on, Cheney is considered to be one of the most influential vice presidents ever, and his role in the Bush Administration will continue to be examined for years to come.

This also shows how important laws can be in forcing accountability. Who knows if these historians and other groups will truly be successful in ensuring all the Cheney papers remain, but at least someone is looking out for history.

The Marilyn Monroe files

Just in case you are curious:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/marilyn/marilyn

(courtesy of the ArcanL Listserv)

From the Arcan-L listserv:

"Make the case for culture to ordinary Canadians..." at http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/09/11/arts-panel.html

In the realm of the digital: at http://www.cbc.ca/spark/, episode 44 includes an interview with Brewster Kahle on "why, for the sake of our culture, we need to digitize works of print, audio and video;" and Ed Burtynsky discusses "photographs that will last 10,000 years."

(courtesy of Cheryl Avery, Univeristy of Saskatchewan)

In light of recent announcements of cuts to cultural programs, the CBC article raises an excellent point about arts funding. How does one justify the needs of artists during an election when there are perhaps more pressing needs? Does someone who lost their manufacturing job really care about having touring artists travel the world to show off Canadian culture? Although, I haven't looked, I doubt any of the party leaders have announced any arts or culture funding.

I haven't yet listened to the Spark one, but I find everything to do with the Long Now project just fascinating. I"d be interested to know how they think format shifting will be overcome. People think in such short lengths of time that it is refreshing to see projects that will take perhaps fifty lifetimes to complete. Maybe the Long Now people should talk to our politicians....

-Jess

Welcome!

Welcome to a brand new year at the I School here at the University of Toronto! This will be the ACA Student Chapter blog where we will post articles, upcoming events and other items of interest to students.

Our chapter consists of:
Kate Guay, president
Sarah Niezen, vice president
Rebecka Sheffield, secretary
Jessica Green, treasurer
Kristen Buckley, social chair
Bruce Harpham, member at large

We are looking forward to meeting many of you both in the archives concentration and other students interested in archives. Be sure to come to the Job Talk this evening for insight into summer jobs you too can have after one year at the I school!