ELK POINT – Over the past 50 years, Elk Point Historical Society has taken part in some large group projects, such as the Reflections and Supplement to Reflections history books in 1977 and the 100-foot historical mural a decade later, along with many individual and small group projects, small books and websites. Now the group is investigating ways to keep gathering important information on the area’s history and to continue preserving it for future generations.
In recent months, Marvin Bjornstad has met with Northern Lights Library System and representatives of the University of Alberta Archives, University of Alberta Library and the Provincial Archives, and told fellow members last week about the pros and cons of each institution as they pertain to perpetual storage of documents from Elk Point’s past. Storage is problematic, he has found, as is the effort of organizing material, telling members that, “Even digitizing will be a large task,” as will be focusing on access in a timely manner.
Bjornstad’s recommendation regarding community records is to collect groups’ records and digitize them, then return them to the groups or help them to get their material to the Provincial Archives. “This allows local access to recent history but doesn’t burden us would ownership and storage.” He noted that while this would require some continual resource gathering, “most work could be done by volunteers at home.” It is possible to rent storage space from Northern Lights Library System for a nominal fee in partnership with the Town of Elk Point and County of St. Paul, and Bjornstad says the group could check out other ways to work with the Town and County, such as online storage and large item scanning.
He also suggested canvasing community groups for organized records, accepting other material for use on websites and digital storage and helping people to get it to the Provincial Archives, and that “We immediately organize and store our own organizations’ records.”
