Greg Bak

• HIST 1270 - Play: Interactive Computing from the 1940s to the 1990s
• HIST 3110 - Contested Heritage
• HIST 4000 - Archives and Society
• HIST 7372 - History of Archiving and Archival Records
• HIST 7382 - Archiving in the Digital Age

I specialize in archival studies and digital histories, with a particular focus on archival decolonization and the history and current practice of digital archives. I teach archival studies through the Archival Studies stream of the Joint Master's Program in History. Additionally, I teach archival studies, heritage studies and digital history at the undergraduate level. Prior to 2011 I was a senior digital archivist with Library and Archives Canada.

While at Library and Archives Canada, I was part of the team that sought to build a Trustworthy Digital Repository (TDR). My role on the team was to develop a core set of archival metadata.I have described this work in two articles. Upon arrival at the University of Manitoba I was brought onto the team that wrote the successful bid to steward the archives and research centre to continue the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. This Centre is now located on campus and is known as the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. This work inspired several articles, including “Four Views on Archival Decolonization Inspired by the TRC’s Calls to Action,”  “Counterweight: Helen Samuels, Archival Decolonization and Social License," and “A Nation is Ill-Served by a History which is Not Genuine.”

• PhD (History), Dalhousie University, 2001
• MLIS (Library and Information Studies), Dalhousie University, 2000
• MA (History), University of Toronto, 1993
• BA (History), University of Toronto, 1991

Research interests

• Archival decolonization
• Digital archives (current practice and history)
• Histories of digital culture(s)
• Archives and public memory

Research summary

Archives are part of the memory infrastructure of contemporary society. In my teaching and research I foreground the personal and community impacts and uses of archives, especially digital archives. My teaching and research focus on the two major issues confronting archivists at the moment: archival decolonization and digital archiving.

Research affiliations/groups

• Digitization and the Future of Archives, Aalborg University, Denmark

• Raymond Frogner, Crystal Gail Fraser, Greg Bak, and Genevieve Weber, “A Conversation about the Reconciliation Framework.” Archivaria 97 (2024).
• Greg Bak and Kenton Storey, “‘A Nation is Ill Served by a History which is Not Genuine:’ The Past, Present and Future of RG10, the Records of the Department of Indian Affairs.” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 34, no. 1 (2024).
• Greg Bak and Marianne Rostgaard, eds. The Nordic Model of Digital Archiving. London: Routledge; 2023.
• Tom Nesmith, Greg Bak and Joan Schwartz, eds. All Shook Up: The Archival Legacy of Terry Cook. Society of American Archivists, 2020.
• Esyllt W. Jones, Shelley Sweeney, Ian Milligan, Greg Bak and Jo-Anne McCutcheon, Remembering is a Form of Honouring: Preserving the COVID-19 Archival Record. Ottawa: Royal Society of Canada, 2021.
• Greg Bak, “Continuities and Innovations: Comparing Danish and Canadian Digital Archiving.” In Bak and Rostgaard, eds. The Nordic Model of Digital Archiving. Routledge 2023.
• Greg Bak, “Counterweight: Helen Samuels, Archival Decolonization and Social License.” American Archivist 84 no. 2 (2021): 420-444.
• Greg Bak. "Not Meta Just Data: Redefining Content and Metadata in Archival Theory and Practice." Journal of Archival Organization 13, no. 1-2 (2016): 2-18. [Published 19 Jan 2018].
• Greg Bak, Tolly Bradford, Jessie Loyer and Elizabeth Walker. “Four Views on Archival Decolonization Inspired by the TRC’s Calls to Action.” Fonds d’Archives 1 no. 1 (2017), pp. 1-21.
• Greg Bak. “Media, and the Messengers: Writings on Digital Archiving in Canada from the 1960s Through to the 1980s.” Archivaria 82 (2016), pp. 55-81.
• Greg Bak. “How Soon is Now? Writings on Digital Archiving in Canada from the 1980s to 2011.” American Archivist 79 no. 2 (2016), pp. 283-319.
• Greg Bak. “Trusted by whom? TDRs, standards culture and the nature of trust.” Archival Science 16 no. 4 (2016), pp. 373-402.

• Greg Bak, "For the record: Digitizing archives can increase access to information but compromise privacy." The Conversation.
• Greg Bak, “Collaboration Through Open Source Software.” Digital Preservation Coalition Blog.