Terry Eastwood, Founding Fellow 

Highlights

Pioneering archival educator, internationally known archival scholar, leader in developing Canadian archival descriptive standards, mentor for many leaders and practitioners in the archival field. 

Education and Background 

Born in Edmonton, Terrence M. Eastwood (Terry) received his BA in History and French (1965) and his Diploma in Education from the University of Victoria (1972). After teaching school for a number of years in New Zealand and British Columbia, Eastwood pursued post-graduate studies in History, receiving his MA in 1977 from the University of Alberta. 

Professional Career 

In 1974 Terry Eastwood embarked on his archival career, joining the staff of the Provincial Archives of British Columbia (now part of the Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives) as an archivist in the Manuscripts and Government Records Division. He also served as Secretary of the Public Documents Committee, then responsible for approving government records disposition decisions.  

In 1981, Eastwood became the first ever full-time professor of archival studies in Canada, at the University of British Columbia’s newly established Master of Archival Studies (MAS) program in its School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS; now School of Information). In this role he led the first program dedicated to the study of archival science in North America. It was necessary for Eastwood to not only develop an an appropriate curriculum and lead its teaching, but also to convince the broader archival community (and associated professions) of the value of and necessity for a professional advanced degree in archival studies.  

Eastwood served as chair of the MAS program from its inception until 2000, taught courses in all areas of archival theory and practice, and supervised over 70 master’s theses between 1981 and 2007. His teaching specialties included the juridical context of archives, arrangement and description, appraisal, the history and development of archival institutions and the archival profession, and public services and programs of archival institutions. He oversaw the growth of the program in terms of numbers of both students and professors. He retired in 2007 and was immediately appointed Professor Emeritus at UBC.  

Eastwood is recognized for his research and collaborative work in the development of archival standards for arrangement and description, archival theory, and the management and preservation of electronic records. He has published more than 50 articles, book chapters, or commentaries on archival theory, descriptive standards, education, appraisal, and electronic records. He also served as a co-investigator in the International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES) Project from 1999-2006. 

Contributions to the Profession 

Terry Eastwood’s contributions to the ACA have included Editor of the ACA Bulletin (1975-1977), Vice-President (1977-1978), President (1978-1979), and General Editor of Archivaria (1981-1982); he has also served as member or chair of numerous committees addressing education, publications, and other strategic issues. 

He helped found the Association of British Columbia Archivists (now the Archives Association of British Columbia [AABC]), serving as its first Secretary-Treasurer (1974-1976), as well as editor of the AABC’s first five newsletter editions, and later as President (1976-1977).  

A partial list of Eastwood’s other professional contributions includes: serving on the Special Advisory Committee on Archives of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in 1983 that recommended the creation of the Canadian Council of Archives; co-chair of the Bureau of Canadian Archivists' Working Group on Archival Descriptive Standards (1984-1986) and member of its Planning Committee on Descriptive Standards (1991-1996); and member and chair of the National Archival Appraisal Board (1988-1993). He was Editor in Chief of the Archives Library Series of Kluwer (now Springer) Academic Publishers from 2000-2007. 

Eastwood has spoken and lectured widely numerous international conferences, seminars and other events. He served on the Council of the Society of American Archivists (1989-1991), and on the International Council on Archives Committee on Appraisal (n.d.).  

Honours, Awards and Recognition 

• SAA Fellow, 1990 
• Archives Association of British Columbia (AABC) Twenty-years Service Award, 1993 
• AABC Honourary membership, 2007 
• ACA Fellow, 2007 
• Terry Eastwood School Award, awarded annually by UBC to a student demonstrating scholarly excellence and leadership promise demonstrated in the initial year of the Master of Archival Studies program or joint Master of Archival Studies / Master of Library and Information Studies program 

Further Information 

• “Terry Eastwood.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation,  24 Nov 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Eastwood 

Photo source: https://ischool.ubc.ca/profile/terry-eastwood/ 

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