PROMOTION OF MS. ELAINE TOOTE

Nassau, The Bahamas, 10th September, 2004. The Ministry of Education recently announced the promotion of Ms. Elaine Toote, to the position of Director of Archives, replacing Dr. Gail Saunders who was promoted to Director General of Heritage.

Ms. Toote assumes responsibility for the day to day operation of the Department of Archives. This includes the custody, preservation, arrangement, repair and rehabilitation, and the duplication and reproduction of records maintained at The Bahamas Archives. She is also responsible for the Records Management Programme of the Archives and the Public Service.

Ms. Toote received an Associate of Arts Degree in History with credit from the College of The Bahamas in 1981, a Bachelor of Science Degree (Cum Laude) from Barry University, Florida in 1986, and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the University of Miami, in Florida in 1989. She also completed the Advanced Certificate in Public Administration Programme, Nassau in 1996. She is a statutory member of the Board of Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation, and an ex-officio member of the Advisory Council on Public Records and the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas.

Ms. Toote joined the Archives staff in January 1971. She moved through the Public Service serving as Senior Assistant Archivist and Deputy Director of Archives. She received a United Nations Fellowship in Archives Procedure and Records Control, and completed an attachment between 1971-1972 at the Jamaica Archives, Spanish Town, Jamaica. She also received a Commonwealth Fellowship to promote Commonwealth understanding in 1991. She, along with eleven (11) other Commonwealth fellows, spent two (2) weeks in London and two (2) weeks in the South Pacific. Between July and August 2001 Ms. Toote on the request of the Government of Dominica assisted Dr. Gail Saunders in setting up the National Archives of Dominica.

Ms. Toote presently serves as Treasurer of the Caribbean Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives and is the Chair of the Association of Caribbean Archivist and Records Managers (ACARM). She has presented papers and facilitated sessions on the training of Records Management. Ms. Toote has also participated in workshops on Distance Education Planning for the University of the West Indies, Archives and the Records Management Programme.

We wish her well!