Doug Kirby Award
for Outstanding Achievement in Archival Preservation
Who was Doug Kirby?
Doug Kirby was Archivist and Media Librarian at CBC/Radio-Canada in Halifax for 40 years. He worked tirelessly to preserve and provide access to regional CBC radio and television records. He was instrumental in the transfer of the CBC records that are now housed at the Nova Scotia Archives. He was also one of the founding members of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives. He was a wonderful friend and mentor to many over the course of his career in archives.
What is the Doug Kirby Award?
Preservation Management is the integration of preservation measures into every aspect of archival activity. The goal of the Doug Kirby Award for Outstanding Achievement in Archival Preservation is to foster an appreciation of preservation and recognize its place as a vital component within the ongoing daily operations of an archives.
What is the prize?
The winner will receive $200 and a Commemorative Certificate acknowledging project details.
Who can be nominated for the award?
An institution or an organization which is a current member in good standing of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives. Any projects that are administered, funded and carried out by CNSA employees are not eligible.
Eligibility
- Nominated projects must be completed by March 31st of the last fiscal year before the AGM, i.e., completed by March 31st of 2020 to be eligible for the awards presented in 2020.
- Nominations must include as co-nominees all parties directly involved in the project.
- Co-operative ventures between one or more institutions are also eligible.
- Self-nominations are accepted.
What sorts of activities would qualify for an award?
The award is intended to recognize exemplary projects, which have focused in some way upon preservation management or have promoted the concept of archival preservation or have displayed excellence in a specific preservation function. Specific examples include:
- preservation policy development
- staff training initiatives
- innovative problem solving in the area of environmental control
- holdings maintenance activities such as re-housing and reformatting.
How are nominations submitted?
- Nominations may be submitted by the governing body of the institution/organization concerned; by an outside body; or by an individual.
- Project report and any necessary accompanying documentation must be submitted together with the nomination form by the annual deadline – watch for an announcement in News & Events or contact our Archives Advisor.
The Process
To nominate a CNSA member institution for this award, please fill out the online Doug Kirby Award Nomination Form.
- The judges will be selected by the Awards Committee Chair and will be announced before the Award deadline.
- The Chair of the Preservation Committee acts as a judge for the Doug Kirby Award.
- The decision of the judges is final.
- Submissions will be assessed on the basis of an applicant’s commitment to, and the project’s reflection of, the preservation management concept together with an holistic assessment of the collection/fonds in terms of its condition and use.
- The judges will take into account such variables as the size of the institution or organization, staffing/membership levels and project budget.
- The judges will also consider how projects fit within an organization’s broader preservation strategy and whether projects were undertaken in response to a global preservation assessment.
- The submissions will be evaluated on the quality of the nominated project rather than the size of the supporting resources.
- The committee reserves the right to make no award if, in their opinion, the nominations received are not of a sufficiently high quality.
- The award winner will be announced during the annual general meeting of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives or at the CNSA Annual Conference.
- Applications and supporting documentation become the property of the CNSA, with the exception of published books and audio-visual presentations, which will be returned to the nominees after judging.