Guardians of Past to Talk about the Future

Collaboration, co-operation and community will be the three words spoken most often at Heritage Conference 2000, which runs from Thursday, May 25, to Saturday, May 27, in Halifax and Dartmouth.

For the first time, the Council of Nova Scotia Archives, the Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage and the Nova Scotia Museum have combined forces to create a special opportunity for dialogue within Nova Scotia's wider heritage community. More than 100 participants, including archivists, board members, curators, educators, executive directors, interpreters, museum managers and volunteers in the heritage field from across Nova Scotia, will take part in the landmark conference.

"We are collaborating to create a new strength and voice within our heritage community and beyond," said Johanna Smith, education, outreach and network archivist for the Council of Nova Scotia Archives and a conference spokesperson. "All of the organizations represented at the Heritage Conference 2000 are committed to exploring new ways to encourage people to discover and value Nova Scotia's heritage."

The three-day event will include the launch of ArchWay, an online database of descriptions of Nova Scotia archival materials. Ian Wilson, a national archivist, will speak at the launch.

A month-long exhibition, entitled The Future of Our Past, will be opened by Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism and Culture, on Thursday at the Nova Scotia archives building. The exhibition salutes the province's visionary, pioneer archivists. Twenty-six heritage institutions and societies supplied archival documents, photos, registers, certificates, maps, scrapbooks and many other items for the display. Wade Co. Ltd. is corporate sponsor for the exhibition.

Wide-ranging conference sessions will look at topics such as the impact of the museum on the cultural, economic and social needs of rural communities; the future of heritage information and new computer systems to organize it; provincial and municipal initiatives for heritage properties and districts; co-operative community projects in community-based museums; and networking genealogical resources.

Sessions take place at the Nova Scotia Museum, the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management and at the Shearwater Aviation Museum.

Annual and spring meetings of the three organizations will also take place during the conference.

The Council of Nova Scotia Archives, with over 100 member organizations, promotes archival standards, procedures, and practices among institutions and organization entrusted with the care of Nova Scotia's documentary heritage.

The Federation of Nova Scotian Heritage is a non-profit, private- sector umbrella organization helping preserve Nova Scotia's heritage by its advocacy of heritage issues, its professional development programs, and through its membership network of more than 160 heritage-related organizations.

The Nova Scotia Museum, part of the Department of Tourism and Culture, is a family of 25 museums in locations across the province. On behalf of the province, the Nova Scotia Museum administers the Community Museums Assistance Program, which provides partial funding for the operation of 56 community-based museums throughout Nova Scotia.