Workshops, Tours & Surveys

The VRSC is always looking for workshop and tour suggestions so if there’s any aspect of your work as a visual researcher that you’d like to learn more about, or topics that you think would benefit from a small group discussion, please let us know and we’ll try and arrange a workshop in your region. Please contact VRSC/ARAC President at president.vrscarac@gmail.com with any suggestions.

Past Workshop Topics:

  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation – AGM Presentation
    As part of the May 2024 Annual General Meeting event in Winnipeg, members visited the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation office in Chancellor Hall at the University of Manitoba.  The Senior Director of Research and Head Archivist Raymond Frogner shared with us a presentation on the 4 periods of juridical history regarding Indigenous peoples in Canada. This ...
  • True Crime and FOIA Research
    Members have been asking about True Crime and FOIA research for some time.  In March 2024, we were finally able to provide a workshop on the topic. Guest hostRobyn Doolittle; The Globe and Mail’s corporate law reporter led us on a fantastic introduction to obtain material under Freedom of Information in Canada.
  • Introduction to AI
    The October 2023 workshop was led by Getty Images as the team introduced Generative AI and their new platform NVIDIA. It was a mind-boggling presentation and we hope to learn more about how AI is shaping the industry in the future.
  • Financial Confidence in Business
    The 2023 AGM featured a special media tax workshop with Debbie Horovitch; known affectionately as the Tax Fairy Godmother.  As freelancers, running our own businesses is a big decision.  Debbie took us through business structures and tax implications to help empower us in our day-to-day work lives.
  • Visual Research 201
    This winter workshop was held in March 2023; led by Laura Lucas, Laura Blaney and Sonja Carr. It was a brief recap of Visual Research 101, with 201 focusing on updates and new information in our researching world.  It also included a discussion about freelancing from the home office at tax time. Download Supporting Materials — T2125 ...
  • UGC – Everything You’ve Wanted to Know.
    The October 5th, 2022 Fall Workshop focused on User Generated Content or UGC for short. Led by Sandra Coelho and Dominic Dare of Lola Clips and Steve Bedinger of Collab, we learned about the various UGC categories, the main suppliers and the pricing structure of this type of content. You can view the recorded ...
  • IBPOC Communities Workshop
    On November 4th 2021, Debbie Ebanks Schlums shared her research on what it means to locate the archives of IBPOC communities without perpetuating archaic, racist language and reinforcing racist algorithms. Despite some technical hiccups, the session was extremely informative as was the discussion which followed. As a logged-in member, you can view ...
  • Data Organization
    Introduction to Airtable, Slack and Google Workspace In February 2021, we presented an interactive workshop to learn about tools for archive management.
  • Negotiating Your Deal Memo
    On November 17, 2020, VRSC/ARAC presented “Negotiating Your Deal Memo;” a one-hour workshop led by Willa Marcus with some cameo appearances by a few members. The session was designed to help guide members through the process of contracting their services in a fun, interactive and informative zoom conference.
  • License Agreements Decoded
    Entertainment Lawyer Willa Marcus, in conversation with VRSC/ARAC President Elspeth Domville, reviews the essential components of archive license agreements – the basics and the not-so-basic elements of these very important documents. They come in various forms from supplier’s complex agreements to producer’s own materials releases to simple email permissions from individuals. As archive ...

Past Archive Tours:

  • Los Angeles Area Archive Tours, 2019
    The VRSC’s visit to Los Angeles for FootageFest 2019 as well as exclusive guided tours of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Warner Brothers Archive and Studios. VRSC-ARAC Los Angeles Archive Tours Prior to Footagefest 2019 VRSC-ARAC FootageFest Main Day Event Notes Peter ...

Past Surveys:

  • 2019 Survey of Researcher’s Fees
    In 2019 the VRSC/ARAC conducted an anonymous survey of our membership asking members to share information on how they charge clients for their labour. This was inspired by a number of questions you had about what is fair compensation for your level of experience, how to charge clients based outside of Canada, can you charge ...