As a result, I am very interested in the history of the Dutch-Canadian immigrant experience which also had WWII as its defining event. I hope to prototype a virtual collection dealing with the Dutch-Canadian experience as part of my research.

You quoted above, the idea about how musicians are sitting down with their fans to talk about access issues and how this raises the question as to why archives users and donors don’t do the same thing. I think my thoughts on this are only indirectly related to restrictive archival practices or the poor use of available technology.

I’ve been hearing from many of those in my parent’s generation and within the J-C community in general. As their years mount and the passing of friends and relatives become more frequent, I hear more about what is important to them – their past. Not only do they want to hear more stories and tell more stories, they want to see someone bring their personal histories out to share. Many want access to what has already been donated; to what has been documented, collected, retained/maintained in archives, museums and the like so as to hear & read about people, places and events that they have known. Gaining access by J-C elders provides a means of sharing memories, and for many, is a way to verify that something important about *them* is there for others to also appreciate in the future. As potential users and donors, they want to see records that relate to their history, but many never think of how their own records might contribute or be of value. More frequently in recent years, however, I’ve heard questions raised about what the elders in the J-C community should do with their records, and this is where I think I can be of service. This has led me to question how I, or certain archives, might better use technology to provide greater access for viewing/sharing or in gathering information (e.g., oral histories, identifying elements in photos, etc.).

The records of my parents and grandparents generations represent a significant part of Canadian history due to the saga of internship during WWII. My thought has been that there is still much that needs to be maintained & preserved with much important information & many stories (in records) yet untold. Increasingly, stories I’ve heard emphasize the very real and significant geographic element of *place* since much of their stories relate to three distinct places & phases in J-C elders’ lives and to which there are strong affiliations: a *hometown* (where they derived and where their parents/grandparents first settled in BC), a *ghosttown* (the word used to refer to one of a number of areas where Japanese Canadians were interned), and a resettlement town/city in the post-war period where many remain until today. The strong affiliations with such locations make me wonder how well their histories, as part of these places, is 1) documented; 2) maintained and/or preserved, and 3) made accessible.

There are many potential donors & users in the J-C community out there. These records might still reveal aspects of history that could not otherwise be discovered unless such records, and the details they contain, are maintained and made accessible. The question of whether they actually get donated is secondary to my attempt which, first and foremost, is to get people to try and help ‘salvage’ (not sure if that’s a good word to use) missing information (such as in naming people & places in photos and establishing dates) and by simply mitigating further damage being done through, e.g., scrapbooking, poor storage, etc. There is also the growing tendency to distribute photos after pulling apart albums, and the possibility of records being discarded is becoming more real (since some/many see no reason to leave their families something they think no one is interested in anyway. Unfortunately, many of my generation also do not appreciate the value of their family records).

It has been suggested to me that enough of the J-C history as this relates to the internship has already been gathered. I have yet to determine if this is true, and perhaps need to test how strong this voice is by asking even more members of the community whether such an effort is worthwhile or redundant. As well, I wonder if the aspect of *place* as I have described above has been addressed. So, with respect to the quote you gave, what I’ve heard directly from the J-C community indicates a need to help educate others in my generation (& beyond) to maintain their family’s records and to find a way to make them accessible so they can be shared by J-C elders.