My First Trip to The Archives: Kamloops Museum & Archives
When deciding to do my research paper on Kamloops’ Beattie sisters, I quickly learned that searching the web would be little help for me in finding information and resources regarding this topic. Because the topic has only been discussed by a couple of people, and is a local story, I figured my best bet at finding sources was to make my way down to the Kamloops Museum & Archives to start my search.
After a quick conversation over Facebook with the Archivist, Jamie, I was delighted to find out that they indeed had several documents and photos for me to browse through regarding the Beattie family.
I was oddly nervous for this little trip of mine. There is something about going into a quiet room, with valuable documents that intimidated me. However, I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and looked outside the box for resources, as it was a great experience for me as a student, and as a prospective teacher.
The archivist helped me in the right direction by guiding me on how to use the number system, and what to do if I wanted to make copies of anything. I ended up spending about 2 hours reading through old letters, news articles, student papers, and looking through photos. Once I determined what documents I felt would help my research, I made copies and filled out a form.
After my initial writing and research, I returned to the archives to let the museum know exactly what documents I will be sourcing, and purchased copies of photos so that I can include them within my paper. I was somewhat surprised to realize that it cost me $15.00 per photograph to use…but I truly believe that a picture is worth a thousand words and felt it was important to include them in my final product.
I now feel much more comfortable turning to the archives for any local history that may spark my interest and would highly recommend it to my peers.