Shelley Sweeney

Sweeney has written three reviews of Canadian university archives: with Ian Forsyth. “The Jewel in the Crown: An External Review of the Queen’s University Archives” 2004;“External Evaluation of the University of Calgary Archives’ Strategic Research Plans" 2002; and “State of the Archives: An External Review of the University of Saskatchewan Archives,” Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 1995.

Sweeney was the first person to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree with an emphasis in Archival Enterprise from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002, having taken a two-year educational leave from the University of Regina from 1995 to 1997 in order to complete course work. She studied under Dr. David B. Gracy II. Her dissertation was entitled: "The Source-Seeking Cognitive Processes and Behaviour of the In-Person Archival Researcher." Sweeney teaches the section on description within the first year Archival Studies course at the University of Manitoba.

Sweeney was Editor of the ACA (Association of Canadian Archivists) Bulletin from 1985 to 1987 and President of the Association of Canadian Archivists from 1998 to 2000, among other positions. She was the principle author of the Code of Ethics for the Canadian archival profession. She was made a Fellow by the ACA in 2011. She served as Secretary of the international Academy of Certified Archivists from 2003 to 2005. She helped found the Saskatchewan Council of Archives and Archivists in 1986, the Saskatchewan Archivists Society in 1988, and the University Special Interest Section of the International Council of Archives in 1992. From 2006-2008, she was Secretary General of the Bureau of Canadian Archivists, appointed by the ACA and representing Canadian archival professional interests abroad. She was appointed the ACA representative on the Sectoral Committee of the Canadian Commission on UNESCO in 2009.

After completion of classwork, she accepted a position as University Archivist at the University of Regina, from 1983 to 1998. She was appointed Head of the University of Manitoba archives in 1998 and, subsequently, Coordinator of FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) and later, PHIA (Personal Health Information Act) for the University. Responsibility for these two additional portfolios ended when the University's organizational structure shifted the FIPPA Office to the Vice-President Administration in 2008.

Sweeney graduated from Alberni District Secondary School in 1977 and subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts in Latin from the University of British Columbia in 1981. She was among the original ten students to enter the first Masters of archival studies program in North America at the University of British Columbia, receiving her Master's degree in 1985. Her thesis was entitled: "A Comparative Study of the Record Keeping Practices of the Anglican, Baptist, and United Churches in British Columbia." She studied under archival theorists Terry Eastwood and, for a brief time, Hugh Taylor. In 2011, she was awarded a 50th Anniversary Alumni Service and Leadership Award from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia in recognition of her support of the program and her work as a role model in the field.

Shelley Sweeney (born 1959) was the Head of the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections from 2009 to 2019. She helped found three archival organizations and is a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists. She wrote, with colleagues, the code of ethics for the Canadian archival profession.