22nd Polar Libraries Colloquy - Monday, June 2, 2008

When I first woke up this morning, I admit I had second thoughts about volunteering to take Monday as my day to blog about the Polar Libraries Colloquy. My flight into Edmonton didn't arrive until late on Sunday night, so I was feeling a little too sleep-deprived to focus on the day's events with enough attention to record it all. Fortunately though, I picked a great day after all, for the opening day of the 22nd PLC proved to be captivating, and I quickly overcame my fuzzy-headedness.

We began the day with many greetings – from representatives of the host institutions and local library associations. Feeling very welcomed, we then went through introductions of the delegates, and of the steering committee. Reportedly there are 56 attendees this year, and this is the 3rd time the Colloquy has met in Edmonton.

Our opening keynote session was delivered by anthropologist, film-maker and author, Niobe Thompson. He treated us to the first North American screening of his documentary film about the sea mammal diet of the Chukchi people in Siberia. Throughout the screening, he shared his thoughts on the role of documentary film-making in polar studies, noting that film can act as a bridge between academia and polar communities, and also suggesting how and why keepers of polar collections might use films in their work. This session was certainly the highlight of the day for me, and it was a great way to kick off the week.

Thompson joined us again after lunch for another film screening, this time of the documentary, Tar Sands: Canada for Sale, a thought-provoking look at the oil boom in Fort McMurray, Alberta covering a variety of players and perspectives. Afterwards, the audience and Thompson had some time to engage in questions and discussion generated by the film.

Next up on the agenda was a presentation on the University of Alberta's impressive William C. Wonders Map Collection by David Jones, the map librarian. Jones described the cartographic resources found in the collection, the online bibliographic access to the resources, and he showed us samples of the works within, from the very old to the new. Later after his session, we were able to view the collection in person, on our walking tour of the University of Alberta campus.

Before we broke into groups for our campus tour, the winner of the 2nd William Mills Book Prize was announced...or rather, winners. For this year, the quantity and quality of nominees for the prize was such that one winner was chosen and another author was recognized with an honourable mention. Beau Riffenburgh won for the Encyclopedia of the Antarctic, and Ann Fienup-Riordan was awarded an honourable mention for Yuungnaqpiallerput / The Way We Genuinely Live: Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival.

For some, the PLC activities for the day then ended with the stroll through the campus in the sunshine...for others, the opening day polar libraries fellowship continued in true Canadian style – at the local pub, with malt beverages and a hockey game.

Posted by: Rae-Lynne Aramburo, Nunavut Arctic College