Carman V. Carroll, Founding Fellow 

Highlights

Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia (1985-1997) after serving as chief of two sections at the the Public Archives of Canada(now Library and Archives Canada or LAC); leader within ACA and related organizations; active consultant, particularly in regarding monetary appraisal 

Education and Background 

Born in Nova Scotia, Carman V. Carroll received a BA in History from St. Francis Xavier University (1966) and an MA in History from the University of New Brunswick (1972).  

Professional Career 

Carman Carroll joined the Public Archives of Canada in 1968. There he worked in the Manuscript Division, mainly with political, social and cultural archives. In 1973 he was promoted to Chief of the Prime Ministers Section, and moved on in 1978 to become Chief of the Public Affairs Section.  

Carroll was appointed Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia in December 1985. In this role he led modernization of the management of government records in the province, pushed for resources for preservation, and supported the work of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives.  

Carroll took early retirement in 1997 and moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where he established Carroll & Associates, an archives and information management consulting firm. One of his first projects as a consultant was to help Mike Swift and Associates to carry out a major review of the Saskatchewan Archives Board. Carroll & Associates also carried out many information management and archival consultancies for government departments and and agencies in Newfoundland and Labrador, other provinces, and the Government of Canada. In 2008, Carroll carried out a review of the National Archival Appraisal Board (NAAB) with recommendations helping to revamp that organization. 

Contributions to the Profession 

During his career, Carman Carroll has taken a leadership role in several professional associations. At the national level, Carroll has held executive and committee positions not only with the ACA but also with the Canadian Historical Association, the Bureau of Canadian Archivists, and the Canadian Council of Archives (chairing its Conservation Committee). He has also served on the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (1992-1998). Carroll was a Program Committee member for the 1992 meetings of the International Council of Archives in Montreal.  

At the provincial level, in 1986 Carroll was founding President of the Halifax Chapter of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, serving on its board for several years. He as was an ex-officio member of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives (1986-1997) and concurrently served on the Board of Governors of the Nova Scotia Museum. In Newfoundland and Labrador, he took an active role within the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, and with ARMA St. John’s. 

Carroll’s interests in the archival field have included preservation, monetary appraisal, and disseminating archival descriptions via the Canadian Archival Information Network. He has given many archival and IM presentations in addition to teaching archival studies at Dalhousie University (Halifax) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John’s). He has resided in Carleton Place, Ontario since 2019. 

Honours, Awards and Recognition 

• The Council of Nova Scotia Archives created the Carman V. Carroll Award for Outstanding Achievement in Archival Preservation in 1997, to commemorate his contributions to the archival community. 
• ACA Fellow, 2004 
• Honorary member, Council of Nova Scotia Archives, 1997 

Further Information 

• Carman V. Carroll, “From Deposit to Donation: The National Archives’ Acquisitions Strategy for Papers of Cabinet Ministers.” Archivaria 25 (January), 29-43.

 Photo source: photo supplied by Carman Carroll.

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