Canadian Genealogy Centre symposium On Friday 13 September 2002 I received a letter from Ian E. Wilson - National Archivist of Canada, inviting me to attend the first symposium of the Canadian Genealogy Centre entitled "Canadian Genealogy Online: Building an Innovative Model of Co-operation" to be held in Gatineau, Quebec, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization on November 1, 2 and 3, 2002. The letter of invitation stated: "The National Archives of Canada, with the National Library of Canada, is developing the Canadian Genealogy Centre in order to better serve Canadian genealogists. With the assistance of Canadian Heritage and other partners from archives, libraries, and genealogical and historical societies, this new Centre will also offer genealogical content, services, advice, research tools and the opportunity to work online on group projects, in both official languages. We hope to foster dialogue between genealogists, and current and potential partners in order to gain a better understanding of their needs and expectations." The symposium will consist of a number of plenary sessions and group discussions as follows: Session 1: Relationships between users and stakeholders providing genealogical services. 1. Which consultation strategies and methods should the CGC adopt? 2. What are the needs of the users and service providers? What genealogical products and services do users and providers wish to have access to through the CCG? 3. What projects should be set as priorities in developing online CGC components and what partnership projects would be required to achieve them? Session 2: Partnerships at the Canadian Genealogy Centre. 1. What are the challenges (responsibilities, commitments, advantages) of participating in the CGC as a partner? What do we mean by the term governance? What governance model would be most effective for the Centre under the leadership of the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada? 2. What services should the CGC provide and what balance should there be between free services and billed services? What role could the private sector play in all of the CGC's activities? What ethical issues could the CGC raise? 3. What would the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders be in implementing the CGC in terms of access to information, protection of personal information, and security with regard to developing Web tools? Session 3: Approaches for the Canadian Genealogy Centre and stakeholders with respect to the production and sharing of content. 1. What projects could partners carry out together? (e.g. indexing, research tools and genealogical resource directory.) 2. What's new in the exchange of genealogical information? (e.g. online collaborative tools such as Meeting Place and volunteer mobilization efforts.) 3. What protocols would have to be put in place for quality control of the content? Some meals are provided, and a closing banquet will be given in conjunction with a guided tour of the National Archives of Canada's Gatineau Preservation Centre. Cost of transportation and accommodation, however, is the responsibility of those attending. I suspect some attendees will have assistance from some of the genealogical and historical societies they represent. Others who have been invited may be unable to attend because of the costs involved. Thanks to having collected Air Miles for the past several years I have managed to arrange to attend this symposium. I am advised that Ian Holmes, President of the Alberta Genealogical Society, George Lake, chairman of the Alberta Family History Society, and Rick Roberts of Global Genealogy will be attending the symposium. I look forward meeting them. I have not heard from any others that might be attending. Happy Hunting. Gordon A. Watts gordon_watts@telus.net Co-Chair, Canada Census Committee Port Coquitlam, BC http://globalgenealogy.com/Census en français http://globalgenealogy.com/Census/Index_f.htm Permission to forward without notice is granted.