Introduction

2021 was a challenging year as the global pandemic continued to impact our daily working lives. As the year began, staff worked remotely and from the office while adapting to the shifting realities of COVID-19. Working from home gave staff the opportunity to focus on database descriptions. Additional access points were added to existing descriptions, making material more accessible for online researchers. Staff continued to provide reference services to the public who were unable to visit the Archives and spent additional time answering emails and phone calls, and digitizing and preparing research requests.

Throughout the year, staff digitized photographs and documents, and hundreds of descriptions were added to Quest as records were acquired and processed. Outreach activities included a series of popular online exhibits that highlighted the records in our holdings.

As the year came to end, a full complement of staff was back working physically at the Archives, becoming experts at social distancing and hand sanitizing; while providing the full range of archival services by drop-in and appointment.