Dr. Glenn Colton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Music, Lakehead University:

"As a researcher specializing in the musical traditions of Newfoundland and Labrador, I have found MUNFLA’s archival collections indispensable to my work for many years. The archive provides access to primary sources on Newfoundland culture not found anywhere else in the world, and the knowledgeable support of Pauline and her team makes every visit a rewarding experience."

Wayne Jones, host, Newfoundland Boy podcast:

"I can't say enough about the quality, the breadth, and the detailed depth of the collections at MUNFLA. During my visits there when I was working on a research project, I was able to consult student essays from the 1960s, just as one example of the specific types of material the archive has that you simply won't be able to find anywhere else in the world. I'm also a former librarian and I am impressed by the excellent design that has obviously been dedicated to making the search tools not only comprehensive but also very intuitive and easy to use by any researcher at any level. And finally (but not leastly), the staff I dealt with at MUNFLA were simply stellar. They offered all kinds of help and not for a moment did I feel like I was being a burden, nor was I ever treated second-hand. I feel I got the same service as any tenured scholar in Newfoundland history and culture would have gotten. MUNFLA is an excellent resource in all respects and a model for how an archive should be put together and managed."

Anna Kearney Guigné, Folklorist, Adjunct professor, School of Music, Memorial University of Newfoundland:

"MUNFLA, which celebrates its 57^th  year,  is one of the most unique archives in Canada. This world-class facility is an essential resource for anyone conducting research on the folk traditions and culture of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. For close to forty years, I have drawn on MUNFLA for a range of purposes including research on family and community folklore, genealogical data, farming and foodways traditions, contemporary legend and other aspects of popular culture, architecture studies, photographic collections, dialect studies that include riddles and proverbs, information on traditional medications, folktales and folksong traditions. I particularly value the hundreds of student collections, dating back to the 1960s. These studies of various aspects of community life are time capsules of our province at a particular time and place, through the eyes of community members themselves.

I first started using MUNFLA as a graduate student in the 1980s and so I know its collections well.  In recent years, I have drawn on MUNFLA’s holdings to examine the province’s extensive song collections as documented by such individuals as Kenneth Peacock, MacEdward Leach, Maud Karpeles, Elizabeth Greenleaf, Herbert Halpert and Kenneth Goldstein.  As MUNFLA has their original field collections I have been able to access their first hand material including sound recordings, music notebooks, diaries, photographs and other data on singers to enable me to formulate information on song traditions and singer networks in specific areas of the province. As one example, Peacock’s song collection, which led him to create the three volume collection Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, includes over 600 sound recordings created between 1951 and 1961 at a time when the use of tape recording was a new thing.  Peacock managed to document a range material highlighting historical events such as ship wrecks, alongside broadsides, songs from the French and Scottish traditions, songs about logging and other work songs, love ballads and popular music hall songs, alongside the occasional country and western song. The collection encapsulates what singers were interested in at a particular time. Having access to these recordings I have been drawn into the room listening to incredible singers perform, while other members of their community are present, witnessing their reactions and their emotions and their comments. I also learned much about Peacock the collector.

MUNFLA is a special place, that also comes to life through the extensive knowledge of its staff, headed up by archivist Pauline Cox. More than once I have benefitted from their comprehensive familiarity with the collections and their ability to turn things around when you most need it. Simply put, MUNFLA is my starting point for anything related to Newfoundland and Labrador’s traditional culture."

Ursula A. Kelly, PhD, Professor Emerita, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland:

"MUNFLA houses a rich, rare and eclectic collection and is staffed by knowledgeable, supportive and enthusiastic personnel. It is a treasure trove of culture, the precious ‘attic trunk’ of the province."

Michele McCarthy:

"I had the pleasure of utilizing the services of MUNFLA during my research and transcription work related to the history and traditions of Scottish ancestors in the Codroy Valley. The staff were incredibly thorough, pleasant, and responsive throughout the process. They consistently went above and beyond, ensuring that I had access to the materials and support needed to bring my project to life. Their dedication and expertise were invaluable, and I am deeply grateful for their assistance."

Karin Murray-Bergquist, PhD candidate, Department of Folklore, Memorial University:

"It is no exaggeration to say that the PhD project in which I am currently engaged would not exist without MUNFLA and the people who work in it. In their dedication to safeguarding information and historical material, and the knowledge of how to search for what might otherwise be needles in a haystack, everyone in the archive has been stellar at helping me to find and access the documents I need. The environment of the archive is also friendly and welcoming -- it is a place where knowledge is not only preserved, but shared and expanded."

Derek Piotr, Lead Archivist, Fieldwork Archive:

"The scope of material housed in the repositories at MUNFLA is so unbelievably historically significant; but the crowning achievement of their archives is a knowledgeable, patient and interactive staff willing to go to the ends of the earth to allow researchers to interface with the entire collection -- in this way, they continue to allow crucial documents of the past to continue enriching and benefiting the world in an accessible, vital way."

Dr. Jonathan Roper, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu, Estonia:

"I first came to MUNFLA to read (and hear) testimonies of Newfoundland and Labrador life in 2000. Already during those early visits, I found the arrangement of the materials familiar – but there was a simple reason why, namely that the folklore archive I knew in Sheffield, England, had been organised along MUNFLA lines, thanks to the interactions of great names like Halpert and Widdowson and others. 

I have been coming back to MUNFLA for a quarter of a century now, and have learnt something on every visit. And I can add that I have been learnt almost as much from my interactions with the staff (and indeed fellow visitors) as I have from the valuable paper and audio records. What a trove it is."

Deannie Sullivan-Fraser, Graduate Student, St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia:

"MUNFLA is an invaluable resource… My time there was not only fruitful but a pleasure, as it was facilitated by a knowledgeable and helpful staff."