Not long after the heat wave plaguing the UK ended I arrived in Glasgow for the Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland) Conference (ARA). The theme of the conference, ‘People Make Records’, is a play on the popular travel Glasgow initiative/motto/website: People Make Glasgow. The people do make Glasgow – it’s an incredibly friendly city.

The BCIT Archivist all ready for things to get started at #ARA2018!

The conference itself was challenging, informative and well organized. All three keynotes were inspiring and shaped the conversations throughout each day. Hopefully they will also shape the future with the realization of the Glasgow Manifesto as it was called for in the final panel debate. It’s time to stop just talking and start taking action!

At ARA every day I was moved to laugh, cry and be inspired. I would like to share a few highlights from my conference experience.

Professor Augustine (Gus) John delivered the first keynote inviting archives and records professionals to radicalize the Archives. He began by listing a few anniversaries that happened in August that went by unremarked upon by most including the date August 18, 1518 when King Charles V of Spain issued a charter authorizing the transportation of slaves directly from Africa to the Americas. 2018 is 500th anniversary of the start of the transatlantic slave trade. Not widely known or marked, in contrast to the end of the slave trade. It’s easy to celebrate positive events – it’s more challenging to tell politically unsettling stories and remind the public of less savoury anniversaries. Records are power. John highlighted three main ways in which records can be obviated: willful omission, erasure and malicious changes. Archivists are not neutral. Archivists do have power. Watch his keynote here (scroll to the bottom of the page for all video links – fantastically, many of the presentations are available on the ARA’s website). Homework from Gus John; read: The History Thieves by Ian Cobain (can be borrowed from the BCIT Library).

People make records. People tell stories. If you are ever in Glasgow I urge you to visit the Women’s Library it began in the 1990s with a passionate group of women. Equality, diversity and inclusion are core functions of the Glasgow Women’s Library. It is now funded, has it’s own building, and runs wonderful community, learning and art projects. Quotable quote from Adele Patrick of the Glasgow Women’s Library, “marginalized communities aren’t hard to reach – they are easy to ignore.” [As a sad aside – the Vancouver Women’s Library closed this past August.] You can watch a video of Patrick’s presentation here.

Conference delegates were lucky enough to attend a reception at the Glasgow City Chambers where we were welcomed by the City’s Mayor. I was delighted to find a connection to a presentation from earlier in the day – a portrait of the First Convener of the Water Committee.

Robert Stewart of Murdostroun, Lord Provost of the City of Glasgow 1851-1854 and First Convener of the Water Committee 1855-1856.

The Arlington Baths Club (ABC) could not have started without this man, Robert Stewart of Murdostroun, First Convener of the Water Committee 1855-1856. This portrait was “painted to commemorate his public services in successfully promoting the waterworks act of 1855 by which the citizens obtained an abundant supply of pure water from Loch Katrine.” Fifteen years later, in 1870, ABC opened as a men’s swimming pool club that also featured a library, smoking room and card room. There were no public swimming pools in Glasgow at the time. It still has an annual membership. Members are generally middle class and women were first allowed in 1882 (their first races, judged on style and grace, were held that year and the following year, like the men, they had timed races). The ABC History Group recently started a blog sharing research done at the Glasgow City Archives about past members. The stories found by the ABC History Group are a sweet reminder of the genealogical joys found in Archives. Watch a video of Lucy James’ presentation here.

Michelle Caswell, Assistant Professor of Archival Studies at UCLA, began the second day of the conference with another call to action. Memory work has a political urgency and meaning; marginalized communities see history repeating itself. People need to be reminded that we should not let this happen again – foundations need to be shaken. She has gathered a community and started a project called Archivists Against History Repeating Itself. Homework from Caswell: print out and put up this poster Dismantling White Supremacy. Archives need to ensure they can be trusted by marginalized communities. Watch the video here.

On a lighter note; Tunnock’s is a well-loved Scottish company. All locals were delighted beyond reason that caramel Tunnock’s bars were included in our welcome package and offered at coffee break more than once.

Just a couple more presentations that I would like to highlight:

• Jenny Bunn offered a thought-provoking presentation about the future of Archival Description. She kindly put a post of her musings on her blog, Trailing Along: Rambles through recordkeeping.
• Marion Kenny passionately shared with us the story or Qisetna, Talking Syria. A platform for sharing stories and connecting the Syrian diaspora. Artists, musicians, regular citizens and professional storytellers from Syria have shared their stories and found pathways to healing through this multi-lingual website. The entire panel that this presentation was part of was full of wonderful stories it can be watched here. I especially recommend the final presentation by Alan Butler of the Plymouth LGBT Archives.
• In the UK the Master of Archival Studies programs are only one year. In North America most Masters degrees are two years. I very much enjoyed the discussions in the Skills Digital Archivists Need session surrounding what aspects of the traditional program to cut out now that digital archives skills are required by the profession. At Aberwystwyth University, you can still take courses in Paleography, however, it is no longer possible to graduate without digital learning.

Sibley on stage for the third and final Keynote of the ARA Conference.

Martyn Sibley began our final day in Glasgow with an inspiring and thoughtful key note. He is one of the UK’s most prominent activists and advocates for disabled people, check out one of his projects Disability Horizons. Describing himself as ‘…a regular guy who happens to have a disability called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).’ Sibley challenged the room to be mindful of improving accessibility to archives and records. Rather than see only barriers focus on your strengths and what you can do to include people. Takeaway quote from Sibley ‘being inclusive for disabled people is really about good customer service.’ Watch the final Keynote here.

People make records. People make changes. Believe that positive change is possible. Together the profession can grow in many ways. Embracing the idea of radicalizing the archives to tell the uncomfortable truths in our history as Gus John urged. Dismantling white supremacy. Knowing when it is time to shut up and do the hard work that needs to be done. Ensuring that the records of the marginalized are acquired and preserved so their stories are not forgotten and history does not repeat itself as championed by Michelle Caswell.  Finally, knowing our ‘inclusion superpowers’ as Martin Sibley challenged us. Championing inclusivity in our hiring practices, in education and in serving our communities.

The honoring ceremony begins. Joanne Stone-Campbell explains the BCIT Aboriginal Services blankets that cover the bentwood boxes. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

On February 29, 2016, Leap Day, a few people from the BCIT community gathered for a ceremony to honour the artist James Michels and to seal the two bentwood boxes that he made for this purpose. The boxes will not be opened until BCIT’s 75^th Anniversary in 2039-2040.

Feather and Smudge shell on top of one of the Blanketed cedar bentwood boxes. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

The honouring ceremony began with a cleansing Smudge lead by Alf Dumont, BCIT Aboriginal Services Elder and BCIT Aboriginal Services Advisor. He offered the smoke from tobacco, cedar, sage, and sweet grass to all who were there, as a way of preparing ourselves for the experience we are going into. “This allows us to focus on what is about to happen,” Elder Alf said. “We are putting memories of our community into these boxes, we are all responsible to carry memories.” Everyone present was invited to sweep the smoke over themselves and draw it into their hearts.

Mirabelle Rohatgi taking the Smudge offered by Alf Dumont. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

Joanne Stone-Campbell, BCIT Aboriginal Services coordinator, spoke about the significance of the boxes. They were made by artist James Michels of the Cree and Metis nations, in the traditional Northwest Coast method of steaming and bending a single plank of cedar wood into the shape of the box. Stone-Campbell explained that the blanketing ceremony honours “the importance of our gifts to be put in the time capsule.”

The boxes housed within the bentwood boxes are fireproof and waterproof. They hold memories and stories of the BCIT community as we celebrated our 50^th Anniversary. More than fifty items have been included in the 2014/2015 time capsule. These include local and national news articles about BCIT during its’ 50^th year, 50^th anniversary promotional items and memorabilia, as well as letters to the future. Some highlights include a replica vintage ‘I *heart* BCIT’ button, three banners representing the different BCIT 50 years colours, the special edition BCIT & Beyond Link Magazine 2015, The Vancouver Sun, Saturday, October 4, 2014,’BCIT: 50 years and counting: Institute broke new ground and launched thousands of careers,’ and the gorgeous, limited edition, BCIT 50 Years viewbook (only 60 copies printed). BCIT Aboriginal Services graciously contributed many special items and photographs including a wood box representing a bentwood box, decorated with the Aboriginal Services logo, designed by Chief Ian Campbell, Squamish Nation. The design represents mind, body, spirit and the Coast Salish welcome, hands held up. This item was given to grads and special guests for the June 2014 Aboriginal Graduation Ceremony.

Time Capsule boxes as they were being packed. Photographer, C. McLellan

Bill Their and Rene Jacques sealing the boxes. The storage boxes were packed with foam, then a layer of plywood, more Styrofoam, tape and then a fast-drying sealant. Once dry they will be topped with the artist-made solid cedar lids that are painted to match the House Post. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

BCIT Aboriginal Services thanked everyone involved in the process of the safe housing of the Time capsule; from the artist to the people from facilities who did the planning for the sealing and the labour.

Once Their had smoothed the concrete Dumont was given the honour of marking the wet sealant.

Elder Alf Dumont getting his hand dirty for posterity! Photographer, Scott McAlpine

The date, Dumont’s handprint and signature. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

For the sealing of the second box everyone got in on the fun. Writing in wet cement is harder than you might guess. Donna Woo made it look easy!

The ‘I LOVE BCIT’ sticker fell off Sandra Matsuba’s jacket and there it stays for the next 25 years! Photographer, Scott McAlpine

Thanks to everyone who made it a special event! And a heartfelt shout out to those who had other places to be. Photographer, Scott McAlpine

Where will you be in 2039-2040? What significant changes do you see happening to BCIT in the next 25 years? If the people planning the unveiling plan it just right they can do it on a Leap Day. See you on February 29^th 2040!

I was honoured to be a part of this project and delighted with my silk scarf decorated with the Aboriginal Services logo. As an archivist I spend a fair amount of my time looking back at history. I believe that looking back is a powerful way to plan and be ready for the future. Putting together this Time Capsule invited us to meditate on where we might be in 25 years. I will end with the quote about Archives and the power of Archives that I used at the end of the ceremony. A dear friend and fellow archivist in the UK, Geoffery Yeo:

Archives and records are important resources for individuals, organizations and the wider community. They provide evidence of, and information about, the actions of individuals, organizations and communities and the environments in which they occurred. They extend and corroborate human and corporate memory and play a critical role in maintaining awareness of how the present is shaped by the past…they are among the tools we can use to help us understand where we came from and where we are going.

Yule Link from December 1965.

Happy Holidays and all the best for 2016 from the BCIT Archives! This is some fun original art created for the December issue of the Link from 1965 – a very different look from the slick BCIT Student Association publications that we are accustom to now. If you want to read the full issue from 1965 it can be found here. The BCIT Archives has put historical issues of the Link online.

A word cloud of #DLFforum hashtag. Using R to see the top 200 words used under the #DLFforum hashtag.

The first time the Digital Library Federation (DLF) held it’s DLF Forum outside the USA they decided to come to Vancouver. I was lucky enough to be on the Planning Committee for this wonderful event, present at, and attend DLF2015. The weather was glorious. The venue lovely, and the people amazing. Being surrounded by American accents all day gave the conference an out-of-town flavour for me! DLF forum is a conference that has a loyal following and the first conference I have encountered that sold out before the conference program was even announced!

DLF celebrated its 20th Anniversary while in Vancouver. The party included a French fry bar with cheese curds and gravy for poutine as well as a delicious curry sauce for the more adventurous.

DLF Forum (#DLFforum) was a packed event with up to five steams to choose from and often three presentations happening during ‘lunch break,’ one of which was an improv class where improv techniques were used to raise issues within digital scholarship – silly me went to an intense open source software workshop. The program as a whole included a mix of practical workshops, presentations and snapshot sessions, where presenters had seven minutes to present and two minutes for questions.

I would like to share just a few highlights from my conference experience with you.

“Science can tell you how to clone a tyrannosaurus rex and humanities can tell you why this might be a bad idea.” And the scientists at MIT assure their Library Director that cloning a tyrannosaurus rex is not actually possible.

I met Chris Bourg, Director of MIT Libraries. If you are the sort of twitter-user who follows intelligent and witty librarians who also describe themselves as: Sociologist. Feminist. Butch. Lesbian. Queer. Then do follow @mchris4duke. She is currently in charge of an exciting project at MIT planning the future of the libraries at MIT. This project relies heavily on student input. Check out Bourg’s blog, Feral Librarian, she’s much funnier than I am.

Bourg agreed to do a keynote for the DLF preconference only if the keynote would be collaborative and participatory and if she could invite her twitter friend Cecily Walker. Cecily is Vancouver Public Library’s Assistant Manager for Community Digital Initiatives & eLearning. She spoke to us about a project she was involved in that she ended up getting emotionally involved in; a project to preserve the Women’s Memorial March Quilt and make accessible the stories of the women who are missing or dead. The final project will be launching January 2016. Together Bourg and Walker reminded us that what we librarians do matters. They completely succeeded in getting the room to participate and set the tone for an exciting day.

@safiyanoble keynote should be required listening for all undergraduates! Power, Privilege and the Imperative to Act #DLFforum

— shannon m robinson (@shannonmtherese) October 26, 2015

Safia U. Noble @safiyanoble continued the trend and blew everyone’s minds with her keynote, “Power, Privilege, and the Imperative to Act.” Dr. Noble shared some of her research on search engines and the power wielded by the few who write the algorithms of what is seen and not seen by the public. She argues that Librarians play an important role in teaching and empowering other researchers to acknowledge that search results are never neutral.

https://twitter.com/paigecmorgan/status/658707096469266432

Lesson learned! Now I will always start presentations with my twitter handle!

Along with Mahria Lebow I gave a 7 minute Snapshot presentation called “Meaningless Metadata: Maintain the Trust of our Academic Communities.” We are both metadata geeks; ’nough said.

The Snapshot sessions were fun and very popular. In a seven minute presentation there is no time to be boring. The most interesting and relevant things people have to say is all that there is time for. My favourite Snapshots included:

• BigDIVA , a new way for Digital Humanities researchers to discover and curate digital artifacts. Presented by Timothy Duguid, Texas A&M University.
• Also out of Texas, Elizabeth Gushee, Harry Ransom Center, talked about their new fantastic open access policy. Project REVEAL, makes available 22,000 pages of manuscript content of some of the best-known names from American and English literature to be used for any purpose without restriction.
• The Provenance Online Project (POP) is a crowdsourcing initiative out of the University of Pennsylvania that is turning out to be very popular and actually answer some exciting research questions. Check out the POP flickr feed. Presented by Laura Aydelotte, University of Pennsylvania.
• And for you math-lovers, from our neighbours at UBC, YouTube for Mathematics (almost, but digitally preserved) – BIRS and UBC Collaborate to Create a Digitally Preserved Mathematical Video Archive, Presenter: Eugene Barsky, University of British Columbia. Lectures from the world’s best mathematical minds are turning out to be far more popular than initially anticipated when the team started to preserve these videos for the longterm and make them available on YouTube.

The view from the generously provided quiet room on the 19th floor. One of the few photos I took over the course of my whirlwind DLF experience. Too busy schmoozing, learning and note-taking to take photos for the blog post I was planning to write! Sorry about that.

Purdom Linblad presented her work on Take Back the Archive, an inspiring and challenging project out of the University of Virginia (UVa). The aim is to preserve, visualize, and contextualize the history of rape and sexual violence at UVa. Much like the Women’s Memorial March Quilt the project Take Back the Archive honors the individual stories of survivors. These will be preserved along with official documents of the university and newspaper articles. The biggest challenge is in sharing stories in a safe way, presenting the final website with all of the gathered materials in a manner that respects the survivors and challenges those complacent in the violence to examine their attitudes.

An interesting presentation on collaborating to bring the history of women in higher education together in one searchable portal, College Women, ended up generating a small amount of controversy. The project includes seven American women’s-only colleges. Known as the “Seven Sisters” they include: Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley Colleges, and the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. Even with their history of collaboration dating back to the late nineteenth century aligning metadata and approving design in a pilot project with only one-year’s worth of funding was challenging. Future steps will hopefully include reaching out to other women’s colleges. The audience at DLF immediately wondered why Spelman College, and other traditionally black women’s colleges were not invited to participate. Inclusion is an issue that the project team would like have the opportunity to address. This blog post about Vassar’s first black students shows the historic tensions that still reverberate today.

That just made my day: "whiteboard" listed as the most useful tool / tech to help with metadata management. #DLFforum

— Corey Harper (@chrpr) October 28, 2015

https://twitter.com/bembrarian/status/659076929614557184

Talking about digital preservation and metadata was what made me the happiest!

Of the workshops that I attended, my favourite was the one on Fedora 4; an open source software project that is a repository platform for the management and dissemination of digital content.

The four days that I attended DLF Forum 2015 to be inspiring and a little overwhelming. Major themes that emerged for me included enthusiasm for collaborations, open source, open access, supporting diversity and the importance of good and thoughtful communication.

If you need a break from end of semester stress check out the Cornell Hip Hop Collection! More than 500 party and event flyers from 1977-1984 will cheer you up. I promise.

Notice the ashtray on the desk of the Student Association voting table. March/April 1980. BCIT Archives item no. a001312.

Until the mid-nineteen eighties smoking around the BCIT campus was normal. The clean air policy was implemented, to some controversy, in September of 1986 and then delayed until the new year to allow staff and students time to get used to the idea or to quit smoking.

In the beginning smoking was fairly controlled at BCIT. The BCIT Student Information Brochure from 1964/65 included a section on smoking.

“Smoking is not allowed during lectures or during labs. Smoking is allowed in halls, during period breaks. Students must use ashtrays.” Taken from the BCIT Student Information Brochure, 1964/1965. pg. 15.

‘Student behaviour and dress’ from the BCIT Student Information Brochure, 1964/1965. pg. 15.

During the rainy months todays’ smokers, however, might have enjoyed being permitted to smoke in the hallways during class breaks. While by today’s standards the smoking policy was quite permissive some might find the section of student behaviour and dress very restrictive.

When the school first opened men were required to wear shirt and tie. I especially like the afterthought comments for the obviously not very well represented female students; “Women should be attired appropriately in accordance with the regulations for men. Slacks or shorts are not appropriate attire for women students.” (p. 15)

A frank and somewhat silly little piece on how restrictive it would have been to not be allowed to smoke in classrooms. The Link September 13, 1978, pg. 5.

By the 1970s it appears that it was the norm to smoke (and eat) during lectures. That smoking and eating were prohibited in classrooms in the mid-1960s was a huge shock to students in 1978. A Link article from September 13, 1978 scoffs at the idea of not being able to smoke in the classroom. The writer even offers advice on constructing an astray from the foil liner of cigarette packages.

No smoking in the new racquet ball courts. Link 1983-03-30 p.4

There have been some changes going on. The Prices of beer are up and we now have table service. And there’s a no smoking section. No picture of that ‘green pasture’ because people who don’t smoke don’t photograph well. From the Link 1981-01-21 p.3.

Restrictions on smoking began to slowly creep in. In 1981 the pub created a non-smoking area.

The new Student Association Campus centre (SE16) opened in 1983 with a no smoking policy. A short quote from the article above demonstrates an open attitude toward the idea that smoking is not appropriate everywhere: “ I know that the campus centre was built for students, all students, however smoking is already permitted in most areas of the SAC (except for a small section in Growlies [the pub])…so if students do get the urge to ‘light up’ it is only a short distance to the nearest smoking area.”

The smoking survey results. From the Link, April 23, 1986, pg. 8

BCIT’s Clean Air Policy was jump-started in January of 1985 after a petition from 30 staff members requested their office area be designated non-smoking. Shortly after their request, Dr. Barbara Copping, BCIT Medical Services Director asked the Health and Safety Committee to initiate an Institute smoking policy. After a year of gathering health and legal information the BCIT Smoking Policy Committee met. The committee consisted of smokers, nonsmokers, ex-smokers, students, teaching and support staff, managers and Health and Safety Committee members. The BCIT Smoking Policy Committee conducted a survey of staff and students to gauge attitudes towards smoking in shared spaces at BCIT. The results showed students (78%) and staff (90%) in favour of a formal policy restricting smoking at BCIT. The list of shared spaces that the majority of students thought should have no restrictions on smoking or designated areas included: entrances/foyers, student lounges, the cafeteria, the pub, and recreational areas. Of staff respondents over half thought it reasonable to have no restrictions or designated smoking and non-smoking area of staff lounges, cafeterias, and the staff dining room (staff were not surveyed about the pub).

Quit smoking program ephemera from 2008 – does this look dated to anyone else? Photograph by, Cindy McLellan.

The Clean Air Policy was implemented January 1, 1987. It has since been revised several times. If you are interested in the current smoking policy at BCIT you can find it here BCIT Policy no. 7501.

Peace out. I leave you with an image of BCIT’s first streaker. He is making the peace sign and smoking a cigarette. I assure you that he is also wearing a tie. Image is taken from The Link March 15, 1974 pg. 4

Cleaned-up cover of The Girls of BCIT 1985 calendar.  BCIT Archives accession #2014-07. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

Despite the tantalizing cover, actual dirt, mould and rust were the dirtiest elements of this calendar. Although honestly the last page is rather frightening, more on that later. As I indicated in my previous post about the 1984 time capsule, there were a few items found not in the official time capsule, but nestled beside it. The items in the concrete cavity, beside the capsule, with only an unsealed plaque to block out the elements fared poorly. The above calendar was badly damaged after 30 years. Upon arrival at the Archives the calendar was damp, mouldy, warped, water and rust stained and many of the pages were stuck together.

The Plexiglas time capsule still in its concrete cairn. Here you can see another item that was stored without much protection from the elements, the BCIT Student Association President’s business card. (photographer, Scott McAlpine)

Our first glimpse of the damaged The Girls of BCIT 1985 calendar. (photographer, Scott McAlpine)

The Archivist’s first shot of the cover back at the Archives. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

Once the calendar was in the BCIT Archives I put clean paper between the damp pages where I could and left it to dry in an archival box and folder for several weeks. Before the Christmas holidays, once I was sure the calendar was completely dry, I took the time to clean it. I was very careful as this is the only known copy. Because of the mould (now dry and relatively harmless) I wore a mask and handled the calendar wearing gloves. To clean I used chem sponges to clean the worst of the stains and a gentle Japanese brush to carefully remove dirt.

Some of the Archivist’s supplies; brush and gloves. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

The chem sponge – before use and after, the darker one has taken on some of the dirt. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

Once I carefully peeled back the pages and removed the rusty staples I got to see the photographs inside. The ladies kept it classy. The style was professional head-shot with name and chosen area of study rather than pin-up.

Ready to be cleaned! Photographer, Cindy McLellan.

After cleaning! Miss Brenda Bal[?]gh – Marketing – April 1985. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

One of the joys of being an Archivist in a small Archives is getting to do many different tasks. From reference services and arranging and describing the holdings to conservation and preservation work. I had a great deal of fun cleaning these pages for long term storage in the Archives.

Ready to be cleaned! (Photographer, C. McLellan)

After cleaning! Miss Carolyn Currie – Marketing – December 1985. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

I mentioned that there was one image that was not so fun to clean. The ladies of BCIT kept it classy, not it would seem, the masked men of the 1985 survey class.*

The Archivist’s first glance at the back cover and final page of the calendar. (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

BCIT 1985 survey class as clean as I could get it! (photographer, Cindy McLellan)

Hope you enjoyed this conservation post from the BCIT Archives! Ending on a classy note. Here is one more beautiful woman of BCIT and the back cover of the calendar which reads: A tribute to the beautiful [and intelligent] women at BCIT!

Miss Brenda Smith – Hospitality and Tourism – May 1985

The missing half of back cover as it arrived in the Archives. A tribute to the beautiful women at BCIT!

Unveiling the 1984 Time Capsule was part of BCIT’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, for upcoming events see BCIT 50 Years.

*Update! May 25, 2015: Through the attention this post has generated I learned the context of this addition to the calendar. The naked photograph of the survey class was in retaliation for a certain advertisement placed (by the Engineering students) in the December 5, 1984 issue of the Link Volume 19, Number 14. Someone in the print shop was friends with a Survey student. Unbeknownst to the Engineers and the women featured in the calendar, survey students were given access to a box of around 100 printed calendars to which they glued their unauthorized addition. Everyone involved in producing the calendar was quite offended. Pranks between the Engineering and Survey students may have ended with this escalation.

Cheeky ‘help wanted’ ad apparently placed by the BCIT Engineering students. From The Link, Volume 19, Number 14, December 5, 1984.

In 1984, during BCIT’s 20^th Anniversary year, a concrete cairn was created in Campus Square to hold a Plexiglas box made by the 2^nd year Civil & Structural students and their instructions. And in this box BCIT students and staff placed items that they felt represented BCIT in 1984.

The plaque being removed to reveal the cavity beneath. The plaque reads: 1964-1984-2014 This capsule was placed here on the first day of March nineteen hundred and eighty five to commemorate the twentieth anniversary year of the British Columbia Institute of Technology by the Honorable Robert G. Rogers Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. To be opened on BCIT’s fiftieth anniversary in the year two thousand and fourteen. Quisque Dominus Summi. Photographer, Scott McAlpine.

The Plexiglas time capsule container being removed from its’ resting place. Photographer, Scott McAlpine.

Transcribed from the plaque: The 20th Anniversary Time Capsule was designed and constructed by 1985 2nd year Civil & Structural students: Bernie Serne, Greg Pierzchalski, Louis Nasr, Gary Neilson, Keith Pribyl, Ken Thompson, Loris Tommasel, Bruce Cranna. Supervising instructors: Marsh Heinekey Cet., Tom Abbuhl Cet., Jim McLean Cet., and Bob Butler P.Eng. Landscaping by the 1985 Horticulture students. BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.001.

On October 5, 2014 BCIT turned 50 years old. There are many ways that BCIT’s anniversary is being celebrated this semester and the next. Check out the BCIT 50 website for all of the fun events! Following the intentions of the creators the time capsule was opened as part of BCIT’s 50^th Anniversary Celebrations.

Kathy Kinloch and special guests unveil contents of time capsule at the Fab50 Event, October 4, 2014.

The contents of the box have been passed to the custody of the BCIT Archives where they will be preserved and made available for future generations. The Archivist would like to share a few of her favourite items with you.

This brochure shows off some fabulous 1980s fashion. On the back is listed the specialties of graduates from BCIT’s Engineering Technology, Health Sciences and Management degrees. BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.016.

Here is an aerial view of the BCIT Burnaby campus in 1984. Can you find where in this photograph you spend the most time on campus now? BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.011.

This is the front of the invitation to the rededication of BCIT held Friday September 14, 1984. This is a good example of the logo used in 1984 to promote the 20th Anniversary. BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.018.

Examples of merchandise available in 1984 to celebrate BCIT’s 20th anniversary! Photographer, Scott McAlpine.
BCIT Archives item numbers: BCIT 20 1964-1984, pen F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.028, BCIT 20 ’64-’84 men’s tie F1-S2-SS25-2014-12-.030, BCIT leather coasters F1-S2-SS25-2014-12-.029, BCIT pin F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.032, and BCIT 20 keychain F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.033.

This is the map included with the invitation to the rededication of BCIT in 1984. This map would be of little use for getting around campus today! BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.019.

Over the thirty years that the items were outside on campus in their specially designed box they suffered very little considering the changes in temperature they experienced and the unavoidable moisture courtesy of the west coast rain. Paper items showed some warping and all metal items removed from the time capsule were damaged by rust. The one item that was placed in the concrete cairn beside the Plexiglas box, rather than in it, was quite badly damaged by mould. Once I have cleaned it stay tuned for a conservation blog post and the big reveal of this unofficial addition to the time capsule.

Photo of typical rust damage found on all time capsule items with staples or paperclips. This is the cover of the collective agreement between BCIT and the BCIT Staff Society from 1983. Photographer, Cindy McLellan.

A classic time capsule item is a local newspaper. The creators of the 1984 time capsule included the Year in Review Section of the Vancouver Sun from December 31^st 1984. Some quick facts from that section:

• In 1984 Canada had three Prime Ministers – Trudeau, Turner and Mulroney
• Michael Jackson released Thriller and came to Vancouver as part of his Victory Tour. Three sold out nights at BC Place Stadium
• Prince Harry was born
• Canada’s first test tube twins were born in Toronto
• Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space
• There is severe famine Ethiopia
•  Pope John Paul visited Canada

Anniversaries are a time to look back as well as into the future. BCIT is planning to bury a time capsule in the spring of 2015 as part of the 50^th Anniversary celebrations. What sort of content or specific items would you like to see included? It is the items with a personal touch that I enjoy in a time capsule. The personal touch that stuck out for me among the contents of the capsule was a quick handwritten note from a BCIT staff member.

Greetings back to you Susan Walters! I hear you retired recently. Congratulations! BCIT Archives item number: F1-S2-SS25-2014-12.024.

Being as how I am also a Librarian I could not resist highlighting one final item. Looking through the publications in the time capsule I found this little gem! In 1984 BCIT was ahead of other academic institutions, a quote from the below article: “BCIT will be the first library in British Columbia, if not Canada, to have an entire catalogue on-line available to students and faculty.”

Short article, ‘New database system adopted by Library,’ from BCIT Messenger: Special ‘BCIT Week’ edition Vol. 14, No. 1, September 6, 1984. p.7 & 8.

This system was very advanced for 1984 and granted students and faculty freedom from the microfiche catalogue! Do you know how to use a microfiche reader? The Archivist wants to know!