Jean Dryden 

Highlights

ACA founding member; pioneering leader in Canada for archival descriptive standards and copyright legislation; archival scholar; expert on international archival copyright practices; has served as an archivist at national, provincial, and university institutions; Archivaria editor 

Education and Background 

Jean Dryden holds a BA from Queen’s University (1970) and an MA in Canadian History and Literature from Carleton University (1972). After entering the archival profession, she periodically took breaks from working in archival institutions to complete further education in the field. She undertook an MLS from the University of Western Ontario (1983) as an opportunity to learn about tools and methods used by librarians that could be adapted by archivists. (Notably, the Provincial Archives of Alberta gave her study leave to do so.) Dryden later continued her education with a PhD from the Faculty of Information Studies (FIS), University of Toronto (2008). Finally, she completed a Master of Laws specializing in intellectual property at Osgoode Hall Law School (2015). 

Professional Career 

Jean Dryden began her archival career as a staff archivist and archival administrator at the Public Archives of Canada (1972-1976), then moved on to the Provincial Archives of Alberta (1976-1986). She then moved to Toronto to become the Chief Archivist of the United Church of Canada/Victoria University Archives (now known as the General Council Archives) (1986-1999). After completing her doctorate, she taught archives and records management at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland (2008-2011). Dryden then moved on to resume her consultancy while also serving as an adjunct professor at FIS. 

Contributions to the Profession 

While working at the PAC and participating in the Archives Section of the Canadian Historical Association, Jean Dryden was inspired by a session led by the Committee of the Future (chaired by Hugh Taylor, a senior archivist at PAC at the time): 

Marion Beyea, David Rudkin and Gordon Dodds started doing their cross-Canada tour to test interest in whether it was time for us to have our own separate association. So they had one of these [sessions] at the Public Archives of Canada. And this community of archivists that was moving away from historians was something that I wanted to be involved in. So I was a founding member of the association in Edmonton when the ACA was established, and I’ve been a member ever since. The ACA has been really important to me in my career. Even though I’ve done different things and worn different hats, and am now an academic [with a] consulting business, and I’m no longer a practicing archivist, it’s just been really important to me to be a member of the ACA, and to make a contribution to it. Professional associations are only as strong as those who serve them. I’d like to think I’ve made a significant contribution over the years. (Excerpts from interview by Shelley Sweeney, Winnipeg, 2001-06-03, with minor wording edits for print authorized by Dryden.) 

Throughout her career, Dryden has been an active contributor to the archival community. A founding member of ACA, she has served as Treasurer (1977-1979), President (1986-1987), as general editor of Archivaria (2011-2013), and also in other roles such as chairing the Communications Committee. During her time as president Dryden was ACA’s representative on the Bureau of Canadian Archives (BCA) when it was first formed. She chaired the BCA’s Planning Committee on Descriptive Standards (1986-1989) which led the development of the Rules for Archival Description. Dryden also served as ACA’s representative to the Canadian Council of Archives in its early days (1986-1987). 

Copyright practices have been a major focus for Dryden. She chaired the ACA Copyright Committee (1993-1999), taking a lead role in successfully lobbying for the 1997 amendments to the Copyright Act that benefited libraries, archives, and museums. Her doctoral thesis investigated the copyright practices of Canadian archival repositories in making their holdings available online. Later, at the University of Maryland, Dryden was principal investigator for a comparative research study examining the copyright practices of American archival repositories and their impact on users. She has authored numerous publications, presentations, and workshops on copyright issues, represented the International Council on Archives (ICA) at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Committee in Geneva (2015-2024), and is a member of the ICA’s Expert Group on Legal Matters.  

Honours, Awards and Recognition 

• Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) James J. Talman Award, 2001, for her pioneering work in national descriptive standards and in Canadian copyright legislation 
• ACA Fellow, 2013 
• AAO Alexander Fraser Award, 2016, for significant contributions to the advancement of the Ontario archival community 
• Archivaria W. Kaye Lamb Prize, 2018 

Further Information 

• Jean Dryden, Demystifying Copyright: A Researcher’s Guide to Copyright in Canadian Libraries and Archives, 2^nd ed. 2014 
• Jean Dryden, Images in Time: A Basic Guide to the Processing and Preservation of Historical Photographs, Provincial Archives of Alberta, Edmonton, 1982. 
• Oral history interview by Shelley Sweeney, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70dhwEhNgF0   

Photo source: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/jean-dryden/  

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