Archives closure and access in 2021-22

June 2023: The Archives are open to visitors & researchers in person by appointment in advance during staffed hours, normally on Tuesdays and Fridays 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.. Enquiries are also welcome by email, phone and post. For all archives enquiries and appointment requests:

Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Tel: 250-598-3290 (please include an email address in your message if possible)
Oak Bay Archives
2167 Oak Bay Avenue
Victoria, British Columbia V8R 1G2

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Archives access in 2022:

Archives enquiries: As of January 2022, Oak Bay Archives remains closed to volunteers, researchers and visitors in person, but open for enquiries by email, post and phone. Anna is in the office half time as usual.

Contact the archivist: email archives@oakbay.ca . *Please use email if possible, as most responses will include links to online resources. Alternatively, you can leave a phone message at 250-598-3290 - be sure to state your name and contact details clearly within the message.

Archives donations: Please contact the Archivist in advance to discuss prospective donations of archival material.

  • Oak Bay Archives welcomes donations of records of persons, families, businesses and organizations that help to document the history of Oak Bay.
  • We acquire mainly textual and photographic records, as we do not have specialist storage or conservation facilities for most types of objects.
  • The Archives concentrates its accession policy on original documents rather than copied or published material.
  • Thinking of giving historic records to Oak Bay Archives? Thank you! Please have a look at the BC Archives' donations guidelines. Most of this is relevant to any archival donation - translate 'BC' to 'Oak Bay', 'provincial' to 'municipal' etc of course!

Visiting the Archives: Dates and arrangements for reopening to researchers and visitors in person will be announced in due course. When the Archives eventually open again, all visits will be by appointment in advance. Booking appointments will be new for Oak Bay Archives, but is usual for archives in general. An appointments system will help us to adapt to future developments in public health regulations, and will ensure that researchers and visitors can be accommodated effectively in our refreshed but smaller search room.

More information:

- updated January 2022

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As of September 2021, Oak Bay Archives remains closed to volunteers, researchers and visitors in person, but open for enquiries by email, post and phone. Anna is back in the office (half time as usual), unpacking and rearranging the repositories and working areas following 6 months of renovations at Municipal Hall. Once the archives and reference materials are fully reshelved, there will be lots of source checking for Feb-Aug 2021 enquiries to catch up on.

Dates and arrangements for reopening to researchers and visitors in person will be announced in due course.

When the Archives eventually open again, all visits will be by appointment in advance. Booking appointments will be new for Oak Bay Archives, but is usual for archives in general. An appointments system will help us to adapt to future developments in public health regulations, and will ensure that researchers and visitors can be accommodated effectively in our refreshed but smaller search room.

To contact the archivist: email archives@oakbay.ca . *Please use email if at all possible, as most responses will include links to online resources. Alternatively, you can leave a phone message at 250-598-3290 - be sure to state your name and contact details clearly within the message.

- updated December 2021

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February - August 2021: Oak Bay Archives has been closed to volunteers, researchers and visitors in person since the pandemic was announced in mid-March 2020. Anna Sander, the current Archivist, started working (half time) in early May 2020 and has been based in Municipal Hall with the archives since then, carrying out research and reprographics on behalf of enquirers.

Now that Oak Bay Municipal Hall is closed for renovations, the Archivist will be working from home from 22 February, without physical access to the collections, until the renovations are complete and staff are able to move operations back to the Hall. This is currently expected to happen in late August 2021.

Once Municipal Hall is in use again, a timeline for reopening the Archives will depend on developments in the public health situation and regulations.

Archives enquiries: the Archivist is happy to receive enquiries during the renovation period, and will endeavour to respond with the digital resources available. Inevitably, some resources will be limited until physical access to the collections is restored.

Archives donations: the Archivist is unable to accept donations of archival material during the renovation period.

For information about the renovations: please check for project updates at https://www.oakbay.ca/municipal-hall/departments/engineering-public-works/municipal-hall-renovation

To contact the archivist: email obarchives@oakbay.ca . *Please use email if at all possible, as most responses will include links to online resources. Alternatively, you can leave a phone message at 250-598-3290 - be sure to state your name and contact details clearly within the message.

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