NRAM Newsletter Articles on Registers of Archives

The Development of Union Lists in Canada

Janet McMaster

Canadians love acronyms. ULM, BCAUL, ANA, PISTARD, and CAIN are just some of the examples of the names of union lists that have been developed or are in the process of being developed in Canada. I'll explain what these various terms mean shortly, but first - what is a union list? Broadly defined, a union list is a composite list of the holdings of several archival repositories. It is similar to a register or catalogue of archives and manuscripts, and in most cases, it includes institutional (or sponsorial) records, as well as private records.

The earliest example of a union list in Canada was The Union List of Manuscripts in Canadian Repositories (ULM). The Public Archives of Canada (now the National Archives of Canada), in association with the Humanities Research Council, began this project in 1961, and the first edition was published in 1968. The original list contained approximately 11,000 entries from 124 Canadian archival repositories. Although the ULM was revised and enlarged in the 1970s, keeping the list current proved to be an unmanageable task, and efforts aimed at revising and expanding the list were ultimately suspended.

The next development in this area came from Canada's most westerly province, British Columbia. From 1985-1988, the 'Archival Automation Project' was undertaken at the University of British Columbia Library, which involved the development of a database of archival descriptions followed by a feasibility study begun in 1991, spearheaded by the Archives Association of British Columbia (AABC), to determine whether or not fonds-level descriptions from throughout the province could be combined into a union list. The province of British Columbia was fortunate to have a well-developed and active provincial archival association whose members were forward-thinking and aware of the many benefits that could be realized through the creation of an automated province-wide union list.

Following the approval of the feasibility study in 1992 by members of the AABC, a three-month pilot project was launched, which in turn was followed by Phases I, II, and III (1992-1995) of the British Columbia Archival Union List (BCAUL) project. This project has been very successful, and since 1995, work has continued on BCAUL as a component of the Archives Advisor/Network Coordinator program of the AABC. (BCAUL can be viewed on the Internet at http://aabc.bc.ca/aabc/bcaul.html).

From the outset, the development of a union list in British Columbia was seen as an integral part of the development of a provincial archival network, and it became evident that education, outreach and advocacy were all important components of the project. BCAUL was seen as the by-product, rather than the goal, of a training process designed to promote the use of descriptive standards (particularly the Rules of Archival Description). Funding for the project has been provided by the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) and by the provincial government. The BCAUL project has attracted a great deal of recognition (both within the province of British Columbia as well as nationally), and it is looked upon as a model for other provincial and regional projects.

Alberta is the second province in Canada to create a successful union list, as described in Susan Kooyman's article in this issue. Why is it that Canada's two western provinces have taken the lead in this area? There is not a definitive answer to this question; however, the strong leadership of individuals like Chris Hives and Bill Purver in British Columbia, and Susan Kooyman in Alberta, has certainly been an important factor. There is also a certain 'frontier' mentality and spirit of grass-roots cooperation evident in both provinces. It is interesting to note that neither in Alberta nor British Columbia did the provincial archives step forward to take a leadership role. In order for that to happen, the respective provincial archives would have required their own well-developed databases, and this was not the case in either province.

There have been several spin-offs and tangible benefits from the development and maintenance of union lists in both Alberta and British Columbia. One of the key benefits in both provinces has been increased knowledge of the holdings of archival repositories for both archivists and researchers and, in several cases, this has led to the reuniting of split fonds. The development of union lists has also fostered a spirit of cooperation within the archival community in both provinces and communication between the provinces as well. The development of BCAUL and ANA has additionally resulted in an enhanced understanding of the importance of standards and a more consistent use of the Rules for Archival Description, although this will be an ongoing area of training and development for many years to come.

Over the past year, there have been union list projects started in several other Canadian provinces. Archivists in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are collaborating to create a union list of the archival holdings from both provinces. PISTARD is a database of archival holdings that has been established from nine regional archives centres in the province of Quebec. The Archives Association of Ontario has established a special committee responsible for providing leadership and guidance in the development, maintenance and management for the Archives Union List of Ontario Project, and they have recently advertised a 'Name the Union List' contest. Archivists in Nova Scotia, through federal funding, cooperation of the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, and the support of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA), are actively working on the development of their union list project, entitled ArchWay.

Finally, on the national level, the Canadian Council of Archives (CCA) has taken an active role in promoting the Canadian archival community's contribution to the Information Highway. In May 1996 the first Archival Information Network Roundtable was held, which was attended by representatives from the CCA, the National Archives of Canada, L'Association des Archivistes du Quebec (AAQ) and various provincial territorial associations. This was followed by a second roundtable in November 1997, when the CCA Information Highway Task Force presented the document 'Raising CAIN: Building Canada's Archival Information Network.' CAIN, or Canada's Archival Information Network, is a vision of a national automated union list linking the holdings from the more than 800 archives across Canada. (For more information about CAIN, refer to the CCA's web page at http://www.cdncouncilarchives.ca/cain.html). Following the approval of the CAIN strategy and action plan, committees have been set up to commence work on the CAIN project.

When considering the development of a national union list, we can identify some lessons learned from the provincial experiences in Alberta and British Columbia that can be applied on the national level. To begin with, it is crucial that dedicated and forward-thinking individuals lead the effort. Secondly, a strong awareness of the importance of standards (i.e. data content, data value, and data structure standards) must be a central focus of the project. Finally, sufficient funds must be allocated for the development and continued maintenance of the project. By its very nature, a union list is an ongoing entity and there will always be a need for additions and revisions; therefore, it should be recognized from the outset that an uninterrupted commitment of time and resources to the project will be required.

This is an exciting time for union list development in Canada, both at the provincial and national levels. The pace of change in the last decade has been phenomenal, and there is no doubt that there will be many more exciting developments ahead.