What more can I discover through
historical Archives?
Archives are exciting places brimming with history. They hold one-of-a-kind documents, rare materials and sometimes have collections such as local history books, obituaries, photographs, specific scrapbooks, as well as private papers of persons, files and minute books of organizations and series of government records. Generally, they do not have books, but can have newspapers mainly on microfilm. Records can be in all kinds of languages, representing various ethnic groups.
At an archives, staff answer inquiries are made by researchers in person, and also by letter or by telephone. Archival materials are not lent out, but they can be copied in a majority of cases and made available.
The joy of an old letter, the flourish of an entry in an autograph book, a photograph of dear faces, events thrilling or sobering ... you find them all documented in archives. Key spots for genealogical research or gathering facts about your town, for finding data for an essay or collecting background material for a novel, or photos to grace your tourist pamphlet, archives are essential to knowing ourselves, with resources that have great creative potential.
What you will find depends on what is the scope of the particular archives’ work. It comes as a surprise to many that the province of Saskatchewan has more than 45 archives – provincial, university, religious, community, theatre and special interest. A list of them is found at: http://scaa.sk.ca/membdirectory.php
What does this say for our province? Clearly, we love our history!