• Q2.    What are the major impacts of new technologies on your cultural sector or industry?

"New technologies are going beyond affecting what we keep and how we keep it, by affecting how we present our materials to researchers. Our users are becoming ever more computer-smart and media savvy, and they have an ever-increasing appetite for information. The CRTC has asked that the multi-channel universe, for one, have a significant portion of Canadian content in the information that's available for consumption. Canadian archives have that content, and archivists must have the time to be able to direct materials of special importance to the television industry. Archivists must also be able to present their materials via the Web to an increasingly distant user; this means presenting the records with context of creation and functions clearly delineated. This means teaching school children how to search for archival material and how to interpret them once they find them. We must prepare the next generation to not only feel comfortable with surfing the Web, but also to be able to understand and chew what they find. They must be able to make connections beyond the "sound-bite" equivalents that they see on the screen to the literally billions of bytes of information that lurk in organizations and repositories. In other words, archivists have a unique role in preparing the next generation to be information-wise. The federal government has a role to play in facilitating web-based initiatives."

"This is perhaps the most interesting question. People are living longer, but retiring earlier. The boomers are now getting set to retire. This means a huge number of potential archival users are on the horizon. Many have already shown up knocking at our doors. Genealogists are doing their genealogies, retirees are writing local histories, individuals are exploring topics of historical interest in numbers greater than ever. Archival research is in fact becoming a major leisure activity. Since archivists can barely cope with the demand now we will certainly not be able to handle this increase without some assistance. In tandem with the increase in users is the increase in the sheer amount of records being produced. Archivists must use increasingly sophisticated appraisal methods to winnow the almost overwhelming amounts of records down to a manageable number. Again, this takes time. Both learning how to cope with novice (but enthusiastic!) users and learning how to apply global appraisal techniques require training, something the ACA is prepared to do."