Jamaica Archives and Records Department

Bridge to the Future

Government Archivist

The Jamaica Archives and Records Department is headed by the Government Archivist, Mrs Claudette Thomas.
Mrs Thomas holds a Master of Arts in Library and Information Studies from the University of the West Indies (UWI).  She has been an Information Professional for the past twenty-five (25) years.  In addition to her current role as Government Archivist, Mrs Thomas serves as an Associate Facilitator at the Management Institute for National Development (MIND) and the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC).  Before taking up the post as Government Archivist, she worked as the Director of Documentation, Information and Access Services at the Ministry of Water and Housing.  Prior to this, she was the Information Resource Manager at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. 

Mrs Thomas’ other educational achievements include a Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Studies pursued at UWI.  She has multiple Records Management certifications, which include: 

  • Archives and Records Management from the Central Academy of Cultural Administration in China,
  • Disaster Preparedness and Recovery from the Caribbean Regional Branch of International Council on Archives (CARIBICA),
  • Electronic Content Management from the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), 
  • Records Management in Service to Democracy from the Swedish National Archives’ International Programme in Sweden.

Further to her educational achievements, Mrs Thomas has obtained major professional accomplishments.  Chief among which are: a) successful leadership of the JARD Team to the approval of the Government of Jamaica RIM Policy and Procedures Manual, approved by Cabinet in the Cabinet Decision 25/18.  This was in partnership with the Office of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information; and b) the commencement of activities which led to the acquisition of property, in 2015, for LIAJA.

Mrs Thomas is a member of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme, International Council of Archives (ICA), and the Library and Information Association of Jamaica (LIAJA).