Video Transcript: Tour of the Archives

(00:01):  Tour of the Archives

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(39:06):
Let us show you what we do with the records once they arrive at the United Church of Canada Archives, trained staff sort through the boxes of items and process the records for preservation and access purposes. All records are stored in acid-free folders. We identify the contents, the congregation or pastoral charge, the record type and the date range that records cover. We record this information on the folders along with an assigned accession number, box number and file number. It is the accession number which tracks the location of the records once placed in the archival storage room, the records are then placed in acid-free archival storage boxes. We often receive records that have been damaged over the years from water, fire, or mould. We examine the records for any possible damage. This minute book has minor damage to the cover, in most cases we remove the binding when possible, to prevent further contamination and other more extreme cases. More specific conservation techniques are necessary. This ledger has minutes glued to the pages. This was commonly done in the past, but we don't recommend this method as glues make the paper more volatile. We check to make sure all pages are secure, and no loose pages are at risk of falling out. Once the records are processed, we label the boxes with the accession number and box number. The contents are listed in our online catalogue and the accession and box number help with retrieving these items. We then place the boxes in the main archival storage room. This room is environmentally controlled, so that it is the ideal temperature and humidity for the preservation of paper. For security reasons only staff have access to this space. We have maximised the use of the archive storage room by having movable shelving on tracks. All of the boxes are organised by the assigned accession number. The final step is to then place the box on the shelves in the right spot. The records are now fully archived. The history of the United Church of Canada is stored in this room and all of these wonderful boxes. For other special media like oversized architectural records or photographs, we place them in a separate photo archive storage room. This room is also environmentally monitored for humidity and temperature. We place the items in large acid-free folders and place them in map cabinets so they can remain flat and be best protected. So that is what happens to the records you send to the archives. Please visit us. We encourage researchers to learn more about the history of the United Church and its communities of faith.

(04:19): Course on CHURCHx.ca - Disbanding Your United Church With Grace

Hi, my name is Jill Strapp. I hope that you found this video helpful and informative. It was creative by TUCC as part of my course called How to Disband Your United Church with Grace. If your community of faith has recently decided to disband or is likely to do so, then I encourage you to take my course. The course provides practical and spiritual guidance for your community of faith, clergy and leaders. It invites you to celebrate your past ministries, provides practical tips about how to care for your members as you grieve your loss of community, and offer suggestions for how you can find other ways of worshipping together. The course also provides practical information, like this video about archiving, and a video from a previous chair of trustees who shares their frank observations and experience with closing her church. Finally, the course walks you through what to do with your church property and suggests where to find more information before you close, including what to do about managing a cemetery if your church property includes one. All these and more are included in the course, how to Disband Your United Church with Grace on churchx.ca. In the meantime, I wish you all the best with your archiving.

(05:55): Contact the Archives & Credits

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