Sweeny has managed research programs, produced reference and learning materials, and consulted with many private and public sector organizations, including as an adviser to the Canadian government's Task Force on National Unity, Library and Archives Canada, Parks Canada, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, National Indian Veterans Association, Assembly of First Nations, Canadian Heritage, eLibrary ProQuest, Nelson Thomson Learning, Quebecor Media, Electric Library Canada and CanWest Global. In 1989, he produced Canadisk, Canada's first multimedia CD-ROM, as a joint venture with Encyclopædia Britannica. In the 1990s, he developed learning materials for Apple Computer's eWorldonline service, and produced the original Encarta Book of Quotations with Microsoft Inc. and Bloomsbury Publishing, London. In the 1990s, he helped get Canada's SchoolNet under way, and developed the On This Day in Canadian History online service for Bell Globemedia. Sweeny has produced and written corporate history for a number of Canadian companies, including Investors Group, Alberta Energy Company, Magna International and Gendis, Inc.. He has done background research for Canadian authors such as W. L. Morton, Peter C. Newman, Richard Gwyn, Pierre Berton and Jeffrey Simpson. He is author of several books, including a biography of Sir George-Étienne Cartier and CanQuiz. His "business biography" of the BlackBerry, BlackBerry Planet, was published by John Wiley Canada Ltd in September 2009, and his book on Canada's oilsands industry, Black Bonanza, was published by Wiley in April 2010. His book Fire Along the Frontier: Great Battles of the War of 1812 was published by Dundurn Press to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Sweeny is currently Executive Director of the non-profit educational foundation The Civics Channel, dedicated to research, teaching and learning in the areas of citizenship and society, politics, human rights and the justice system. He is co-author and producer of Civics Canada Online, as well as its print version, Civics Canada, and the sponsored Canadawiki portal. He is also Vice President of Northern Blue Publishing of Waterloo, Ontario, and co-author and producer of History of Canada Online and Canada's First People, a history of Canada's native and aboriginal nations.
