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Grant Hurley | CV

Current Role

Canadiana Librarian, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto Libraries, Toronto, ON.

At the Fisher Library, I serve as the curator of our significant and extensive Canadian collections with a focus on primary sources and rare books documenting Canadian history and the literatures of Canada. In this role, I:

  • Build and maintain a diverse, dynamic, and responsive suite of Canadian collections through purchase and donation.
  • Create original catalogue records and archival descriptions for printed books and archival collections, including remediating problematic language and metadata in legacy descriptions.
  • Provide reference and research support to students, faculty members, staff, and visiting scholars.
  • Instruct classes through lectures, workshops, and seminars.
  • Serve as Canadiana selector for the general collections at the University of Toronto Libraries.
  • Initiate, organize, and oversee digitization projects.
  • Participate in library committees and task forces.

Current Committee & Service Roles

The Alcuin Society

  • Ex Officio Director (2013-Present) & Toronto Liaison (2023-Present)

Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)

  • Member, Digital Preservation Working Group (2017-Present) & Lead, Policy Subgroup (2020-Present)

University of Toronto Libraries

  • Member, Indigenous Metadata Working Group (2022-Present)

Education

Master of Archival Studies
Master of Library and Information Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
2012 - 2015

Master of Arts in English, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
2010 - 2012

Bachelor of Arts in English (First Class Honours), Minor Canadian Studies, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB.
2006 - 2010

Certifications

The Carpentries Certified Instructor
2021

Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Wines (Pass with Distinction)
2021

Past Roles

Digital Preservation Librarian, Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University Libraries/University of Toronto Libraries, Toronto, ON.
August 2016 - June 2022

At Scholars Portal, I led a key portfolio of preservation and storage services to ensure that the extensive and irreplaceable digital collections held by academic libraries in Ontario and beyond remain accessible into the future. As part of my role, I:

  • Created and managed the Permafrost service for the preservation of unique digital collections held by academic libraries across OCUL. This included designing the service model and technical workflows; overseeing member subscription, onboarding and training; providing daily front-line client support; creating webinars, documentation, and guides; managing software upgrade and migration projects; and collaborating with Systems Team staff to deploy, maintain, and develop the technical aspects of the service. As a result, over 800 digital archival packages were processed and safely stored as part of the service during my tenure.
  • Supported the Ontario Library Research Cloud storage service, including leading team meetings, creating documentation and training resources, and assisting in member onboarding and support.
  • Ensured the preservation of 40 million+ licensed and open access scholarly publications entrusted to Scholars Portal via the Scholars Trustworthy Digital Repository, including reviewing e-resources licenses for preservation terms; leading a project for the preservation of e-books; and reviewing and improving the suite of TDR policies and procedures.
  • Designed and implemented a preservation plan for the Borealis data repository to support the ongoing integrity of deposited research data collections.
  • Advised OCUL members on digital preservation workflows and best practices, developed and hosted workshops and webinars, and presented on Scholars Portal’s digital preservation services at events and conferences.
  • Participated in committees, working groups, and research initiatives to collaborate and share knowledge about digital preservation regionally, nationally, and internationally.
  • Supervised students and staff in project work.

Records Analyst and Archivist, The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. Toronto, ON.
August 2015 - July 2016

  • Managed and operated the day-to-day aspects of records management and archives program, including records scheduling, destruction, and archival appraisal and preservation.
  • Drafted, deployed and communicated policies and procedures for e-mail records management and digital preservation.
  • Completed and consulted on needs and systems analysis for digital information systems.
  • Assisted clients with records and archives training and reference.
  • Researched, wrote and designed a historical anniversary exhibit for the College.

See Student Roles below for positions held while I was a student at the Universit of British Columbia.

Past Committee & Service Roles

The Alcuin Society

  • Book Design Awards Catalogue Project Manager/Editor (2017-2019)

Archives Association of Ontario

  • Member, Digital Preservation and Access Committee (2018-2021)
  • Editor, Off the Record (2015-2020)
  • Director Without Portfolio (2015-2018)

Association of Canadian Archivists

  • Chair, Conference Program Team (2021)
  • Representative, Canadian General Standards Board, Committee on Electronic Records and Image Management (2017-2021)
  • Member, Conference Program Team (2019-2020)
  • ARMA Representative, UBC Student Chapter (2014-2015)
  • Treasurer, UBC Student Chapter (2013)
  • First Year Representative, UBC Student Chapter (2012-2013)

BookTraces Project, University of Virginia

  • Blog Editor (2014-2016)

Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)

  • Lead, Digital Preservation Working Group, Survey Subgroup (2017-2019)

Canadian Research Knowledge Network

  • Member, Canadiana TDR Audit Group (2021-2023)
  • Member, Trusted Digital Repository Task Group (2017-2018)

Digital Research Alliance of Canada

  • Member, Preservation Expert Group (2019-2022)

Mount Allison University

  • Vice President, Board of Directors, CHMA Community Radio (2009-2010)
  • President, English Society (2009-2010)
  • Editor, 7 Mondays (2008-2010)

NASIG

  • Member, Model Digital Preservation Policy Working Group (2020-2022)

University of British Columbia Department of English

  • Conference Co-Chair, Endnotes Graduate Conference in English (2012)
  • ACCUTE Representative, Graduate Caucus (2011-2012)

Teaching

A. Courses

University of Toronto iSchool. INF2403H: Special topics in information: Digital archives workflows. Winter 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2023.

B. Workshops

  • Archives Association of Ontario Professional Development Workshop [Full day]. Introduction to digital preservation: Key concepts and tools. 9 May 2018; 5 April 2019.
  • City of Toronto Archives. Introduction to digital preservation: Key concepts and tools [Full day]. 11 September 2018.
  • Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library workshop. Canada in print [2 hours]. 23 November 2023.
  • University of Toronto Inforum iSkills workshop. Bring out yer SIPs: An introduction to digital preservation with Archivematica [3 hours]. 9 February 2018; 28 January 2019; 21 January 2020; 27 January 2021.
  • York University - Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections. How to Archivematica: A workshop for staff [Full day]. 26 July 2023.
  • York University - Rotman School of Management, Asian Business and Management Program. Challenges to digital preservation & Towards a collaborative digital preservation strategy [Full day]. For Shanghai Municipal Archives visiting delegation. 26 October 2017. With Jim Suderman.

C. Guest Lectures

Lakehead University

  • HIST 4851: Introduction to Archival Science. Keeping digits safe. 16 November 2020; 18 March 2022; 17 March 2023.
  • HIST 4851: Introduction to Archival Science. Preserving digital things: Projects, plans and debates in 2017. 31 March 31 2017.

McGill University, School of Information Studies

  • GLIS 642: Preservation Management. Building bridges for digital preservation in Canada: From theory to practice. 22 September 2020.
    Ryerson University, Chang School of Continuing Education

  • CZIT 427: Data and Information Management for Privacy Professionals. Open government: What it is and why it matters. 22 November 2018.

University of Toronto iSchool

  • INF 2122H: Digital Preservation and Curation. An introduction to Archivematica. 31 October 2019; 24 November 2020.
  • INF2127H: Collections Development. Collecting Canada. 1 February 2023.
  • INF 2175H (2 sections): Managing Organizational Records. Let’s Get Digital, with Emily Sommers. 13 November 2019; 18 November 2019; 17 November 2020; 25 November 2020; 22 March 2021.

Awards & Grants

2023 — University of Toronto Libraries STAR Award
2023 — University Chief Librarian Award for Excellence
2021 — Archives Association of Ontario Alexander Fraser Award
2021 — MISC Outstanding Instructor Award
2019 — University Chief Librarian Award for Excellence
2015 — Association of Canadian Archivists Gordon Dodds Prize
2015 — Arts Co-op Student of the Year
2014 — Student to Association of Canadian Archivists conference travel award
2013 — ARMA International Education Fund Rita Holt Scholarship
2013 — O’Brien Foundation Fellowship
2012 — CLA/ACB Dafoe Scholarship, Canadian Library Association
2010 — SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship
2010 — Allison Watson Beveridge Prize, Mount Allison University
2009 — Crake Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Mount Allison University

Student Roles

Researcher, InterPARES Trust Project, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
June 2013 - December 2017

  • I participated as a student (and then independent) researcher on three research projects:
    • Contract Terms for Cloud-Based Record Keeping Services (NA10)
    • Standard of Practice for Trust in Protection of Authoritative Records in Government Archives (NA03)
    • The Implications of Open Government, Open Data, and Big Data on the Management of Digital Records in an Online Environment (NA08)
  • As part of these research teams, I performed research tasks such as administering surveys and interviews, coding and analyzing resultsm and writing papers and giving presentations.

Curator, Settling the Language: Dictionaries and Language Change, 1490 to Today, Rare Books and Special Collections, University of British Columbia Library, Vancouver BC.
April - May 2015

  • Developed exhibition theme and selected materials to highlight UBC collections for visiting scholars.
  • Collaborated with UBC First Nations Languages Program and the Musqueam Nation to inform exhibit approach and content.
  • Researched, wrote and designed an extensive exhibition catalogue.

Student Intern, City of Toronto Archives, Toronto ON.
December 2014

  • Appraised, processed, and arranged and described the Kent Family fonds using the Rules for Archival Description standard and an in-house database.
  • Re-housed paper records, photographs and artifacts for long-term preservation.
  • Assisted members of the public with research and reference.
  • See: “Grant Hurley and the Kent Family Records”

Curatorial and Informatics Assistant, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia
May 2012 - December 2014

  • Transformed flat database into relational structure and developed FileMaker solution, including scripts and SQL queries, for usability and access.
  • Applied DarwinCore metadata schema to avian and mammal specimen data and published to a searchable multi-institutional online repository, VertNet.
  • Developed new research database management protocol OMBIRDS to improve the preservation of biodiversity data.

Co-op Student, Records Management and Library, Teck Resources Ltd., Vancouver, BC.
May - August 2014

  • Wrote a comprehensive manual of policies, procedures and guidelines for the Teck Corporate Archives.
  • Conducted inventory of potential archival holdings and recommended archival disposition of corporate records.
  • Assisted in archival and business reference for employees, directors and public researchers. Catalogued books for the Corporate Library using AACR2 standard and InMagic DB/Text ILS.
  • See: “2014 UBC iSchool Co-op Student of the Year”

Special Collections Project Assistant, University of British Columbia Okanagan Library, Kelowna, BC.
January - April 2014

  • Authored Special Collections policy to guide collection and provide focus for regional materials and teaching and learning collections.
  • Assessed local materials and made purchasing and transfer recommendations.
  • Liaised with faculty, students and regional partners to create partnerships, involve stakeholders, and determine materials needed for collection.
  • See: “UBC Celebrates Opening of Special Collections Room”

Student Librarian, BGC Engineering, Vancouver, BC.
May - August 2013

  • Planned, documented, implemented and tested a digital information management system using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 to support efficient enterprise-wide access for research.
  • Created a metadata schema for the collection and assigned metadata.
  • Collaborated with SharePoint business analysts and programmers, IT, users, and senior management in system development and training.