UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Part 12: Open Discussion Directed by Frances Swyripa
Description:
CIUS conference audio (Part 12 of 16)
Outline of presentation:
Change of chair because JPH wanted to continue writing up the discussion.
Need to do a survey of what’s already out there. (Ostap Skrypnyk)
Churches were torn down, closed, burned down. Catholic church wants to preserve heritage and identity. But it comes down to priorities. From the church’s point of view, the parish community is what is to be served. Sometimes in these small communities, fixing up the church takes up too much time and energy, limiting their faith time. The church is worried about the salvation of the community. The building should be for the community, not the other way around. Sometimes only 5 people at a service, sometimes only 1. The Church would like to have a foundation that would have a lot of money and preserve all the churches, but there is no such thing now. It is also important to preserve the heritage. The minutes of meetings and bills would provide valuable information (minute books and financial records). Clergy are an important source. They go out there, perform services, visit the cemeteries. Metropolitan Lawrence also has many photos and videos of his visits – parishioners give him copies. Now he is being given DVDs of services. Old liturgical services are important. Brazil has a similar experience, though much harder. Brazilians have different carols. Different variants of music. Comparative angles. (Metropolitan Lawrence)
Putting too much info on the web could raise security issues. (Oksana) We could restrict access. (Bohdan Hrynyshyn)
Need to collect contact information. Not easy at all. In some cases the only person who is in anyway responsible might be the German farmer next door who cuts the grass. Contacts are aging – he reads the obituaries to see if the guys who opened the churches haven’t passed away. (Jars Balan)
We tried to record everything in full complexity. It’s too much even for students. We have to work on two levels – a research/archival tier which needs a full database and a public level that has been processed by scholars. (Natalka Kononenko)
From Regina. Has a bit of a plan of his own and is looking to merge projects. His project coming from the (Ukrainian Orthodox) church out rather than from scholars. Already when he first began to be interested in these things, he saw ten-inch trees on cemeteries. He would like more technical help, advice about proper documentation. It would be good to be part of a larger, directed project. Not just students but retired professional people. Importance of volunteers. How do we coordinate? avoid duplication? There needs to be some kind of coordinating body laying out a plan of action. Needed: determining the tools, assisting in training. (Yaroslav Lozowchuk)
She remembers how the community was split over saving the Portage la Prairie church. Diocese should help with conflict resolution. The best contacts, in her experience, are old women. Excellent materials in Ukraine – archives of Sheptytsky. Archives of Sister Servants also in Ukraine. (Stella Hryniuk)
This is a project in lieu of preservation. But many conversations go back to physical preservation. Visual? or also archival? documentation? thorough? or documentation restricted to visual culture. (Frances Swyripa)
We need a committee with a representative from each area. Digital storage is a very difficult issue right now. Shortages of digital storage at the U of A. Not just buying, but upkeep, back up. (Natalka Kononenko)
We should restrict ourselves to digital, not materials. We can go beyond the university for cheap storage. (Bohdan Hrynyshyn)
Need to go through church boards. 6-7 of these generally run with one clergyman so you can have a meeting with reps and the clergyman. Have one team going in, or risk more distrust. (Sylvia Chinery)
Her experience – people demanded to be included in the project (historic buildings in 1970s project). (Frances Swyripa)
Every medium will have issues. You have to plan resources for update and maintenance of data. Otherwise you will lose things one way or another. Need to plan for that. (Lee Ramsdell)
4:00-5:00: Technical Aspects, Part 2
Outline of presentation:
Change of chair because JPH wanted to continue writing up the discussion.
Need to do a survey of what’s already out there. (Ostap Skrypnyk)
Churches were torn down, closed, burned down. Catholic church wants to preserve heritage and identity. But it comes down to priorities. From the church’s point of view, the parish community is what is to be served. Sometimes in these small communities, fixing up the church takes up too much time and energy, limiting their faith time. The church is worried about the salvation of the community. The building should be for the community, not the other way around. Sometimes only 5 people at a service, sometimes only 1. The Church would like to have a foundation that would have a lot of money and preserve all the churches, but there is no such thing now. It is also important to preserve the heritage. The minutes of meetings and bills would provide valuable information (minute books and financial records). Clergy are an important source. They go out there, perform services, visit the cemeteries. Metropolitan Lawrence also has many photos and videos of his visits – parishioners give him copies. Now he is being given DVDs of services. Old liturgical services are important. Brazil has a similar experience, though much harder. Brazilians have different carols. Different variants of music. Comparative angles. (Metropolitan Lawrence)
Putting too much info on the web could raise security issues. (Oksana) We could restrict access. (Bohdan Hrynyshyn)
Need to collect contact information. Not easy at all. In some cases the only person who is in anyway responsible might be the German farmer next door who cuts the grass. Contacts are aging – he reads the obituaries to see if the guys who opened the churches haven’t passed away. (Jars Balan)
We tried to record everything in full complexity. It’s too much even for students. We have to work on two levels – a research/archival tier which needs a full database and a public level that has been processed by scholars. (Natalka Kononenko)
From Regina. Has a bit of a plan of his own and is looking to merge projects. His project coming from the (Ukrainian Orthodox) church out rather than from scholars. Already when he first began to be interested in these things, he saw ten-inch trees on cemeteries. He would like more technical help, advice about proper documentation. It would be good to be part of a larger, directed project. Not just students but retired professional people. Importance of volunteers. How do we coordinate? avoid duplication? There needs to be some kind of coordinating body laying out a plan of action. Needed: determining the tools, assisting in training. (Yaroslav Lozowchuk)
She remembers how the community was split over saving the Portage la Prairie church. Diocese should help with conflict resolution. The best contacts, in her experience, are old women. Excellent materials in Ukraine – archives of Sheptytsky. Archives of Sister Servants also in Ukraine. (Stella Hryniuk)
This is a project in lieu of preservation. But many conversations go back to physical preservation. Visual? or also archival? documentation? thorough? or documentation restricted to visual culture. (Frances Swyripa)
We need a committee with a representative from each area. Digital storage is a very difficult issue right now. Shortages of digital storage at the U of A. Not just buying, but upkeep, back up. (Natalka Kononenko)
We should restrict ourselves to digital, not materials. We can go beyond the university for cheap storage. (Bohdan Hrynyshyn)
Need to go through church boards. 6-7 of these generally run with one clergyman so you can have a meeting with reps and the clergyman. Have one team going in, or risk more distrust. (Sylvia Chinery)
Her experience – people demanded to be included in the project (historic buildings in 1970s project). (Frances Swyripa)
Every medium will have issues. You have to plan resources for update and maintenance of data. Otherwise you will lose things one way or another. Need to plan for that. (Lee Ramsdell)
4:00-5:00: Technical Aspects, Part 2
Author:
CIUS
Publisher:
CIUS
Date:
January 26, 2008
Language:
English
Original Format:
Digital audio recording
Files
Citation
CIUS, “Part 12: Open Discussion Directed by Frances Swyripa,” CIUS-Archives, accessed April 26, 2024, https://cius-archives.ca/items/show/2184.
