Archives as a Cornerstone of Community Growth: Developing Community Archives in Brandon, Manitoba

In the twentieth century, small communities, particularly in rural areas have struggled to survive. Sustainable growth is particularly difficult because of a population shift from rural Canada to urban centres. Limited population and financial resources are barriers to the growth of small communities. However, the emergence of the knowledge-based economy has enabled some rural communities to leverage local knowledge to increase their economic advantage and community appeal. By collecting local records, a community archives may be able to position itself as an institution that protects local knowledge resources, helps connect residents to related archival and other information elsewhere, and assists in applying these resources to community strategic development initiatives. A city that could benefit from the establishment of community archives and the services they provide is Brandon, Manitoba.;In order to gain insight into the roles archives currently play in society and develop a better understanding of the potential for enhancing these roles this thesis draws on the opinions and experiences of archival and community development professionals obtained through a community archival questionnaire. The thesis concludes by suggesting that a community archives is an institution that forward-looking community planners can use to mobilize past local knowledge to lead their communities into the future.;Brandon is Manitoba's second largest city and a major service centre for Southwestern Manitoba. Brandon's place in the changing rural economy is guided largely by a community strategic plan that contains no mention of archives or records management. Part of the reason for the lack of attention to archives and records management in Brandon's strategic plan may be that most community development literature does not draw direct connections between archives and records management and community growth. Another reason for Brandon's lack of archives may be a caricatured vision of the role archives play in society, namely the perception that archives are obscure "dusty" institutions that cater only to a small number of specialist academics. This thesis explores some possible approaches to better integration of archives with communities and engagement of archives with local community development initiatives.