Oak Bay Archives - photo tour, October 2021
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The Archives are not yet open to volunteers, visitors or researchers in person, but we are open for enquiries by email, post and phone. In the meantime, here's a quick photo orientation to the new layout of Oak Bay Archives, following Municipal Hall renovations in 2021.
Planning ahead: before visiting the Archives (once we're open again), you will have made an appointment in advance by emailing archives@oakbay.ca or calling 250-598-3290 and receiving confirmation of your appointment time.
Making appointments is mostly new for Oak Bay Archives, but usual/required in many archives. Our space for visitors is smaller than before, and we want to make sure researchers are able to make the most of their time.
As before, the Archives office and reading room are at the front of the lower floor of Municipal Hall.
From the outside, the Archives windows are the two at lower right, indicated by the yellow oblong above. Step-free access to the Archives will be, as before, via the entrance on the side nearest Athlone Court, indicated by the yellow arrow above.
Access via the side entrance is operated by staff key fobs only, so you will need to ring the doorbell or call 250-598-3290 when you arrive, and the Archivist or an Archives volunteer will meet you at the door and accompany you to the Archives.
You can also access the Archives from the main foyer upstairs; if you have an appointment, ask at the main reception desk. Staff will call down to the Archives and the Archivist or an Archives volunteer will come upstairs to meet you and accompany you to the Archives.
There is no step-free access between the two floors. For step-free access to the Archives, please come to the side entrance on the ground floor.
The internal entrance to the Archives is no longer via the double doors immediately inside the side door, but at the end of the hall. This was the 'staff entrance' to the Archives before and is now the main entrance. There is a single washroom nearby.
At the reception/reference desk, you'll sign in and receive the paperwork and orientation you need to get started. We will already know about your topic of interest from appointment correspondence or conversation, and will have your first box or file of archival material ready for you. This room used to be the processing area and archivist's office, and is now the searchroom.
The big table in the searchroom is large enough for maps, drawings, large reference books etc. Normally this table will be for one user at a time. Does only one person need so much space? Imagine having a laptop, digital camera, a reference publication or two, and just one map on that surface. It will fill up quickly! We need to allow enough space per researcher that all files and documents have enough room on the table without getting piled on each other or hanging over the edge.
Frequently consulted reference works are on the shelves to the left, and files of cuttings and other printed sources for people, places and events in Oak Bay history are on the right. You will be able to consult the Archivist or reference volunteer on duty about scanning or photocopying requests.
While the big windows to the front lawn are familiar, we also have a new window and a new wall! The window between the searchroom and the office improves sightlines between the two rooms, especially when the connecting door is closed, and the new wall separates the office and reference area from the new offices created in what was the large meeting room across the whole front of this floor. The door is unchanged, as is the footprint of the office and reference area.
In the reference area you will find another table/work station and the reference library. Did you know the reference library catalogue is online? Click here to browse our holdings. Sort the collection by clicking on the column headings - Author, Title etc.
All researchers are invigilated, which means that the Archivist or duty volunteer is always on hand tat the reference desk to answer questions, help you to find useful reference works, return archival material you've finished using and bring your next box or file, and assist you with correct handling, especially of large or fragile items.
When your research session is finished, you'll return your archival and reference materials and complete any copying request forms etc. Once you're ready to leave, the Archivist or duty volunteer will accompany you to the exit. Please make sure you have all your belongings with you as you go, as the door will lock behind you!
On the other side of what's now the inner room is the Archivist's office. In the foreground you can see some recent accessions awaiting processing - listing, describing, arranging and packaging - before being moved to the repository for storage.
Let's go back in time...
But what about the archives? Where are all the boxes and volumes on shelves? Where's the map chest? The renovations gave us some more storage space! This means that now all reference material is in the searchroom, and all archival material is in the repositories. The archives are still on site at Municipal Hall and can be produced to the searchroom.
What's next? There is still some moving in to do and some final building-related snagging to be completed. Most of the archives have been moved around for storage and then easier access, thanks to the expanded storage space, so that for example long boxes of maps are no longer stacked several high on top shelves in narrow corners. Shelf locations will soon be finalized and a new locations register completed. Recent accessions will be processed, and hopefully some more new cataloguing will be done before the end of the year.
Stay tuned! We will publish opening dates when they are available.
Teachers: Interested in incorporating archival records, historic photographs, maps, local history into lesson plans? Wondering how to connect school classes with archives during the pandemic? Please get in touch!
Researchers: Doing a house history, genealogy or local history research? the Archives are very much open for enquiries by email, telephone and post. News and highlights will appear here on Connect Oak Bay and on Twitter, and new research resources on the Archives pages of the Oak Bay website.
Donors: Thinking of giving historic records to Oak Bay Archives? Thank you! Please have a look at the BC Archives' donations guidelines at https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/assets/Donating-records_Brochure_BCA2018.pdf. Most of this is relevant to any archival donation - translate 'BC' to 'Oak Bay' of course!
Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/our-community/archives/photographs-view
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290
- Post by Anna Sander, October 2021.
