Fonds MsC-192 - Jim Douglas fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Jim Douglas fonds

General material designation

  • Textual records

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

  • Source of title proper: Title is based on the name of the creator.

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

MsC-192

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1968-2006 (Creation)
    Creator
    Douglas, Jim

Physical description area

Physical description

83.5 cm of textual records
9 photographs : col. slide

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1924-2016)

Biographical history

James Jardine (Jim) Douglas was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1924 and immigrated to Canada in 1954. After working as a book peddler and sales representative off and on since he was 15, Jim founded first Douglas Agencies in 1964, then J.J. Douglas Ltd. in 1966 and established himself as one of the first major book publishers and distributers in British Columbia to generate significant sales outside of the province. He had an interest in representing Canadian authors and content, especially books about Indigenous peoples and culture, guidebooks and histories. This later grew into the internationally renowned publishing firm Douglas & McIntyre in 1979, from which he retired in 1982 when he sold his shares to partner Scott McIntyre.
Aside from his entrepreneurial endeavors, Jim was heavily involved with the Association of Canadian Publishers, serving as President from 1975-1977 and again from 1983-1984. He was also one of the founding officers of the Association of Book Publishers of B.C., and a key figure in the genesis and design of the publishing program at Simon Fraser University. Jim sought to professionalize and create standards for the publishing industry and has since been acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of BC publishing. He was named a Companion to the Order of Canada in 2008 in recognition of his profound influence on the book publishing industry.
Jim Douglas died in North Vancouver on September 24, 2016.

Custodial history

This fonds was donated to Simon Fraser University by Heather Douglas in 2017.

Scope and content

This fonds contains textual and photographic materials compiled by Jim Douglas, primarily relating to his various business and professional work in the field of book publishing. There is also printed material he compiled while researching legal topics relevant to publishing such as libel, copyright, contract and professional standards.

The series contained in this fonds are as follows: Series 1: Business records (1968-2006), Series 2: Records pertaining to legal topics (1982-1990), and Series 3: Project files (1970-1985).

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Arrangement of the files was primarily imposed by the archivist, with files assigned to one of three common identifiable themes. Contents within each file were left undisturbed. Most file-level titles were assigned by the creator. Where these titles were not assigned or illegible, they were assigned by the archivist based on the contents of the file. Such titles are indicated by the presence of square brackets.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

No known restrictions

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

A file list is available in addition to a series-level description.

Generated finding aid

Associated materials

Accruals

No further accruals are expected

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

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Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

RAD, July 2008 version. Canadian Council of Archives

Status

Published

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Entry created 24 April, 2018. JMH

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

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