unimaginative2
Senior Member
Ontario archives lost hundreds of items
UNNATI GANDHI
December 12, 2007
The Globe and Mail
Hundreds of items of historical significance, including a valuable Group of Seven painting, have gone missing over the years from the province's archives, the Auditor-General noted in his annual report yesterday.
The report found a number of weaknesses in the Archives of Ontario's inventory control that may have resulted in the losses.
"While progress has been made in the last few years, the Archives of Ontario does not yet have adequate information to ensure that all government records of historical significance are being identified, securely archived and made readily available to the public," Auditor-General Jim McCarter said.
The archives's mandate is to oversee and manage recorded information created by ministries and government agencies, and to preserve historically relevant material and make it publicly accessible.
Among the missing items is a painting by Group of Seven artist A. J. Casson, and several hundred valuable photographs, letters, documents and artifacts, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries.
"We were informed that the losses were likely the result of thefts during the 1970s," the report found.
Two "significant weaknesses" in the archives's inventory-control practices, the report said, are related to the storage of documents such as photographs in containers. The items are not catalogued and the total number is simply estimated, and the containers are not sealed when being transported or while in storage.
UNNATI GANDHI
December 12, 2007
The Globe and Mail
Hundreds of items of historical significance, including a valuable Group of Seven painting, have gone missing over the years from the province's archives, the Auditor-General noted in his annual report yesterday.
The report found a number of weaknesses in the Archives of Ontario's inventory control that may have resulted in the losses.
"While progress has been made in the last few years, the Archives of Ontario does not yet have adequate information to ensure that all government records of historical significance are being identified, securely archived and made readily available to the public," Auditor-General Jim McCarter said.
The archives's mandate is to oversee and manage recorded information created by ministries and government agencies, and to preserve historically relevant material and make it publicly accessible.
Among the missing items is a painting by Group of Seven artist A. J. Casson, and several hundred valuable photographs, letters, documents and artifacts, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries.
"We were informed that the losses were likely the result of thefts during the 1970s," the report found.
Two "significant weaknesses" in the archives's inventory-control practices, the report said, are related to the storage of documents such as photographs in containers. The items are not catalogued and the total number is simply estimated, and the containers are not sealed when being transported or while in storage.