Hello AAO,

Please take a break from shoveling snow find a cozy place to sit and peruse our newest issue of Off the Record! 

Members can access the issue here. 

First off, welcome to guest editor Jocelyn Oprzedek, who will be replacing Simon Vickers as co-editor following the Spring 2026 issue. Off the Record is in good hands!

The excellent submissions have continued to flow in over the past months, with several articles connecting how archiving the past shapes our present and future. Both Elsbeth Brown and Corey Orszak reflect on the relationship between activism and archives, though from vastly different contexts with Orszak sorting through CUPE 3903's mountain of records and Brown foregrounding ephemeral histories of the 1998 Pussy Palace raids. Stephanie Martin and Syriah Bailey in turn reflect on their efforts to open the Arquives to more Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (QTBIPOC) engagement through their series of Archiving Our Stories workshops designed to share archival knowledge and practice. Maddy Bognar then goes into detail about processing a fascinatingly unique (and somewhat challenging) collection of student publications from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University. Finally, our student spotlight section features Avory Capes, a recent graduate from University of Toronto's Masters of Museum Studies program. 

See you in the Spring 

Happy reading!

Isobel, Jocelyn, and Simon