Sharon Alexander-Gooding
Sharon Alexander-Gooding, a Commonwealth Scholar, is a graduate of the University of the British Columbia (UBC) Canada and of the University of the West Indies (UWI). She attained a post-graduate Certificate in Instructional Skills and Workshops (1994) and a Master’s degree in Archival Studies (1995) from UBC. She is also holds an honours undergraduate degree in History andwith Social Sciences (1992) and a Certificate in Capacity Building for Financial Sustainability of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from the UWI, ACP Secretariat and the EU. She is continuing to work on a PhD in History with a focus on the historical development of record keeping in the English speaking Caribbean at the UWI.
In her career as archivist/records manager and educator, she has held many positions, including Acting National Archivist and Manager, Government Records Centres in Trinidad and Tobago; Trainee Archivist, York University Archives, Canada; University Archivist and Head, Archives and Records Management;, Senior Registrar and Senior Lecturer in Heritage Studies at The UWI. She was also course coordinator and curriculum developer in the Records Management Certificate programme at the University of the West Indies;, a Member of the, Barbados Government Advisory Board on Archives and Records and a Visiting Lecturer at the UBC SLAIS I-School in the post-graduate programme in archives and records management.
She has also completed many consultancies of a records management and archival nature with local, regional and international agencies, including the European Union, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the IRMT/World Bank (South Africa Project), the CARICOM regional body, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, The Caribbean Export Agency, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Agency, The Bahamas Financial Services and various Governments in the Caribbean.
She has also served in many voluntary capacities over the years including; International Board Director at ARMA International, mMember of the - Board of Trustees at the ARMA International Educational Foundation, member of several Committees and Working Groups of ARMA International and is a founding member and honorary advisor to the Barbados Association of Records and Information Management
At the International Council of Archives (ICA), she volunteered in many areas over the years, including as a trustee of FIDA, Vice-President of CARBICA, Secretary to the former Training Committee ICA - CPT, panelist and Chair at ICA SUV conferences, Speaker at international Congresses and Conferences, Representative at WIPO regarding copyright and intellectual property issues that affect archives, libraries and museums, and has been a mentor in the early years of the New Professionals programme.
She authored chapters in four books including the following: Training for Records Managers and Archivists: Tradition and Innovation at The UWI Cave Hill; “Running to Keep Walking in the Information Race” a Chapter in “New Directions” edited by Elizabeth Watson. Jamaica: The UWI Press, 2007; “A Photographic Journey of West Indian Nationhood 1958-2008) – A coffee table book on the West Indies Federation co-edited with Cherri-Ann Beckles and Stanley Griffin, published 2008; “Eric Williams – Protagonist or Antagonist of Caribbean Integration” in Into the Postcolonial Moment: The Legacy of Eric Williams published by the University of Mississippi Press, March 2015; 2 chapters, “Introduction to Historical Developments in Caribbean Archives and Record Keeping” and “The West Indian Federation Archives,” in the seminal Archives Reader Decolonizing the Caribbean Record: An Archives Reader published in 2019 by Litwin Publishers and over 40 articles and conference papers: between 1994 and the present.
Sharon was among a small select group of UWI staff chosen to be mentors tofor the hosting of inspirational town hall sessions, and was elected to serve on the executive of the University’s staff Union (WIGUT) and the University’s Credit Union from 2003 to 2020. She has also received many awards for excellence during her academic life, including The Principal’s and Pro-Vice Chancellor’s awards for excellence, and was nominated in 2014 for the prestigious global Emmett Leahy award based on her outstanding archival endeavours.