The University Archives has secured the support of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1928, in the processing of their archival holdings which we have been acquiring since 1988. Since then, the collection has grown to occupy 157 Bankers Boxes and approximately 80 linear metres of shelf space. The records date from the Local’s founding in 1955 and include financial, legal, administrative, human resources, and collective bargaining materials.

This month, the IBEW Local 1928 will provide the Archives with a cheque for $25,364 to purchase archival supplies and to hire two students to process the collection. 

The processing project will involve an appraisal of the entire collection to identify records possessing archival and historical value as well as flagging records that need to be restricted for privacy or other legal considerations. The records will then be organized into series or categories determined by how the records were used and maintained by Local 1928, and then described at a file level.

At the same time, the records will be rehoused in acid-free folders and archival boxes. Detailed information about the entire collection and each file will be published in the Archives’ online catalogue AtoM (about 5,000 new descriptions). Records of significance or particular historical interest will be flagged for inclusion in a later digitization project. The processing project will take place over 16 weeks from May 9–August 26, 2016.

“This is only the latest effort undertaken by the Dalhousie University Archives to more actively engage our community of donors and to involve them in the ongoing management and preservation of their records, which they have entrusted to the University,” says Dalhousie University Archivist, Michael Moosberger.

Thank you to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1928 for their significant contribution to this project.

“The IBEW Local 1928 executive and its members are pleased to be able to contribute to the archival records for Labour history in Nova Scotia and as we look to the future we anticipate a fruitful partnership with Dalhousie Archives,” says Jim Sponagle, IBEW Local 1928 Business Manager.