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Kelley Ware
Multimedia Coordinator

4 UNBC Life—

here is a fourth floor to the library.

For many students, it is uncommon
to venture beyond the third floor of the
UNBC library for their research or studying.
However, if you press that “4” button in the
elevator, or walk up that extra set of stairs,
you will find a very special department that
calls the fourth floor home: the Northern BC
Archives.

The Northern BC Archives states a

very broad mandate on it’s website:
acquiring, preserving, and providing
access “to materials of permanent value
related to the institutional history and
development of UNBC,” and “archival
materials of value related to the history
and culture of Northern British Columbia.”
These primary documents can include
photographs, negatives, records, textual
material, campus artwork, and ceremonial
regalia. Any type of record imaginable

can be found, from medical statements to
policing reports to author manuscripts are
available, yet few students know about it.

“People aren’t as socially aware [of an
archive],” said Records Management
Coordinator Erica Hernandez-Read.
“When you are little you go to a library,
but you don’t go to an archive. So
people don’t really become aware of

it until they are quite a bit older.’

Archival documents are a great resource to
almost any student. Whether the assignment
requires primary research, or it is just
utilized as a tool to really make a paper

pop, the archival documents are there for
everyone. To help facilitate student research
and accessibility, the UNBC Archives have
established quite the online database on
their website for students to navigate the
world of archives. Simple subject searches
can be done on the database, but do not get
discouraged if your inquiry does not reveal
results online. Because of the vast amount
of documents, uploading to a database can
be slow. Just because your inquiry is not
online does not mean it is not available;

the ladies at the archives are only a click
away and they are always willing to help.

“Anybody [can access the archives]...
they just need to access us through
email...” said Hernandez-Read. “If there
was something back there that a student

needed, we would do our best to make
that information accessible... Even if
they want to know how to do primary
research, we help them with that.”

Having access to archival documents is
incredibly important. As the saying goes:
we need to understand the past to know
the future. Almost every degree can benefit
from access to the archives. Hernandez-
Read could only think of one degree
program that may not get a direct benefit
from the archives--computer science.

Even then, it is more of a matter of when
documents will be available rather than if.

Possible creative and effective uses of
archival documents could be analysing
photographs of a mountain range to
indirectly measuring how a glacier has
been melting over decades. A student
was once researching health in the Great
Depression; while no direct documents
were available, the ladies at the archives
helped find a funeral leger from the early
to mid-1990s. By researching the leger,
the student was able to see what people
were dying of and analyse the causes.

Using the UNBC Archives can enrich your
studies, but it does come with its own
challenges. “The wonderful thing is you

get out of it what you bring to it...” said
Hernandez-Read. “It really depends on your

Postcard Collection, UNB

perspective and if you are willing to do the
work. The difference between secondary
and primary research is in primary research
you provide the analysis. That can be
challenging, and it can be daunting. You
can then prop it up with your secondary
research, and we are here to help.”

If students plan to use the archives, it is
strongly advised that they begin their
planning early. It can be a time-consuming
process and it is important to prepare for

it. There can be set-backs and hold-ups.
Students may not be able to find exactly what
they need and plans may have to change.
However, if they find that coveted piece of
gold, it can change the entire feel of a paper.

“It is exciting research, but it does take
time,” said Hernandez-Read. “It is not

the type of research you can do the night
before the paper is due... We are here to
help, but we are not miracle workers.
Contact us as soon as possible, right when
you get your assignment if you can.”

If there is one thing the readers can
take away it is this: history is at our
fingertips, and it is in the archives
waiting for people to find it.

To access the UNBC Archives, either visit
http://nbca.library.unbc.ca or email them at
archives@unbc.ca. They are open Monday
through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.