Archivist Librarian Appointed

I’m pleased to announce our seventh new appointment, Rick Stapleton.
Rick will be starting his position as Archivist Librarian on November
5, 2007.

Rick graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1985 with a
Master of Archival Studies. His other degrees include B.A. (1981,
history) from Acadia University, a Master of Divinity (1997) from Regis
College, University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Education (2001) from
Brock University. Prior to his appointment in 1996 as an archivist at
the Archives of Ontario, Rick worked at a number of other archives and
institutions: St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver (1985), United Church of
Canada Archives, Vancouver(1985-6), United Church of Canada Archives,
Toronto (1986-9), the University of Toronto Archives (1989-93), and
Upper Canada College (1993-6, with shared work at two other archives in
the Toronto vicinity). At the Archives of Ontario, he has held a number
of senior positions in reference services and collection development
and management. His experience, supervision of staff, and participation
in outreach programs and professional organizations is extensive: Chair
of the Archives of Ontario’s Communications Co-ordination Team, a
member of the Graphic Materials Working Group of the Bureau of Canadian
Archivists’ Planning Committe on Descriptive Standards, etc. In 2000 he
received the Amethyst Award (Ontario Public Service) and in 2003 the
VOICE Award for Customer Service Excellence (Management Board
Secretariat of the Government of Ontario).

A Baroness Looks at Her Mother’s Archives

Shirley Williams or more formally, Baroness Williams of Crosby was here at McMaster University Library on 21-22 August. Her mother is Vera Brittain (1893-1970), peace activist, journalist, feminist, and the author of Testament of Youth (1933); her father is Professor George Catlin (1896-1979). Both the Brittain and Catlin archives are located in Archives and Research Collections. Brittain’s archives have been used extensively by scholars. In particular, Vera Brittain’s diaries, ably edited Alan Bishop, evocatively and tragically document her experiences as a young woman in war-time, but the diaries are also uplifting and redemptive in showing the extraordinary transition in Brittain’s maturity of character. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament and then a founder of the Social Democratic Party, Baroness Williams has been a British politician most of her adult life. She was a full professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government from 1988 to 2001 and thereafter Public Service Professor of Electoral Politics, Emerita. In looking at her mother’s archives, Baroness Williams was selecting photographs and other documents to complement her forthcoming autobiography.