Digital content programmes: Northern Ireland
From Digipedia
This list of current projects has been submitted by the Library and Information Services Council, Northern Ireland
Armagh Obervatory
| PROJECT | Libraries and Archives |
|---|---|
| Content | A wide variety of books, documents and other materials of scientific and historic interest |
| Partners | |
| Size | Several 000 pages. Several GB |
| Timescale | Since 1990s and ongoing |
| Access | To be free via web. Possible charges for commercial use |
| Sustainability | The main back-up arrangements for digitized material are the same as for the rest of the Observatory’s electronic data, namely multiple back-ups to a RAID system |
| PROJECT | Met Archive and Databank |
|---|---|
| Content | Over two hundred years of meteorological readings, dating from c.1795, from Armagh Observatory. |
| Partners | |
| Size | 7000 pages. 2GB |
| Timescale | Since 2002 and ongoing |
| Access | Free via web |
| Sustainability | Multiple back-ups to a RAID system. |
Belfast Education and Library Board
| PROJECT | Embassy to China |
|---|---|
| Content | George Leonard Staunton's account of the first British Embassy to China, 1792 |
| Partners | British Library Hidden Treasures |
| Size | 61 Pages |
| Timescale | 2007 |
| Access | Via British Library website |
| Sustainability | To be hosted by British Library for three years |
Linen Hall Library
| PROJECT | Electronic History |
|---|---|
| Content | Contemporary material relating to: 1.The United Irishmen; 2. The Famine in Ireland; 3. Marches and Commemorations. |
| Partners | |
| Size | |
| Timescale | 1997-1999 |
| Access | By subscription |
| Sustainability |
| PROJECT | Troubled images |
|---|---|
| Content | Posters and Images of the Northern Ireland Conflict from the Linen Hall Library |
| Partners | |
| Size | 3400 images + text & audio |
| Timescale | 1998-2001 |
| Access | CD ROM on sale. Free consultation in library |
| Sustainability | 35mm slides and high resolution scans of all images |
Library and Information Services Council Northern Ireland
| PROJECT | Act of Union Virtual Library |
|---|---|
| Content | |
| Partners | NOF funding and several institutions. CDDA |
| Size | |
| Timescale | Completed 2003 |
| Access | Act of Union Virtual Library |
| Sustainability |
Northern Education and Library Board
| PROJECT | Ballymoney Grocers' Handbills |
|---|---|
| Content | Handbills from Grocers who all traded in Ballymoney in the 19th century |
| Partners | |
| Size | 20 images/pages. 2.72 MB |
| Timescale | Complete |
| Access | via NI-libraries website |
| Sustainability | Website hosted by Amey through ELfNI contract |
National Museums of Northern Ireland
| PROJECT | Digitisation of Analogue Sound Recordings |
|---|---|
| Content | |
| Partners | |
| Size | 11,000 recordings |
| Timescale | 50% complete. Material digistised on demand |
| Access | Public access through recently upgraded audio facilities. NMNI websites are currently being rebuilt and will include some sound recordings on line. |
| Sustainability | We digitise to file formats as recommended by International association of sound and AV archivists. |
| PROJECT | Digitisation of Glass Plate Negatives |
|---|---|
| Content | |
| Partners | |
| Size | 4,000 plates |
| Timescale | November 2009 |
| Access | Direct public access via refurbished audio visual facilities. New web site being constructed to provide on line access. Access is free, charges made for reproduction. |
| Sustainability | Museum is carrying out a scoping strategy for digital access and preservation. This material is held on museum server with remote back up |
| PROJECT | Fine Art Collection Digitisation |
|---|---|
| Content | |
| Partners | |
| Size | 1400 images |
| Timescale | Phase 1 (900 images) complete Phase 2 pending |
| Access | Access through refurbished audio visual facilities. NMNI website currently being rebuilt to include on line access to collections |
| Sustainability | Museum is carrying out a scoping strategy for digital access and preservation. This material is held on museum server with remote back up |
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
| PROJECT | Freeholders Records |
|---|---|
| Content | Pre -1840 Freeholders' Records and Poll Books held in PRONI. Index of names linked to images. |
| Partners | |
| Size | 5,500 pages. 84 GB |
| Timescale | Complete |
| Access | Via PRONI website |
| Sustainability | Uncompressed TIFF and JPEG and DJVU images stored on-site for preservation on live server and backed up to tape with copy held off-site also |
| PROJECT | Index to wills |
|---|---|
| Content | Index to wills 1858-c1920 in will calendars and linked to images of copy wills. |
| Partners | |
| Size | Index 271 MB. Images 1.15TB. JPEGS 44.1GB |
| Timescale | Index completed and on website. Wills not complete |
| Access | Free access to the indexes. There will be a charge for access to images. |
| Sustainability | Uncompressed TIFF images and JPEG versions stored on-site for preservation on live server and backed up to tape with copy held off-site |
| PROJECT | Ordnance Survey Maps |
|---|---|
| Content | Ordnance Survey maps of NI Ireland |
| Partners | OSNI |
| Size | 20,564 items. Approx 76 GB total |
| Timescale | Complete |
| Access | OSNI website. Free viewing but charges for copies |
| Sustainability | OSNI preserving the data as part of the GeoHub |
| PROJECT | Street Directories |
|---|---|
| Content | Pre -1900 street directories held in PRONI |
| Partners | |
| Size | |
| Timescale | 3 months. Completion date Sep 08 |
| Access | Text scanned and OCR’d - Free access |
| Sustainability | Uncompressed TIFF images and JPEG and DJVU versions will be stored on-site for preservation on live server and backed up to tape with copy held off-site |
| PROJECT | Ulster Covenant of 1912 |
|---|---|
| Content | c 500,000 signatures to the Ulster Covenant |
| Partners | |
| Size | 53,996 pages Uncompressed TIFF, JPEG, DJVU and PNG |
| Timescale | Complete |
| Access | Free access to indexes and digital images on PRONI website |
| Sustainability | Uncompressed TIFF images and JPEG and DJVU versions stored on-site for preservation on live server and backed up to tape with copy held off-site |
Queen’s University Belfast
| PROJECT | Core materials on Ireland |
|---|---|
| Content | A major e library of materials relating to Irish Studies - journal pages, monographs and manuscripts |
| Partners | JSTOR, JISC and others |
| Size | 670,000 pages |
| Timescale | Jan 07 - Dec 08 |
| Access | Through JSTOR platform. Free in UK and Ireland |
| Sustainability | JSTOR will incorporate the Ireland Collection into their existing collections and storage / preservation policy will be afforded to the collection as per JSTOR policy |
| PROJECT | Special Collections -Digital Image Gallery |
|---|---|
| Content | A sample range of materials from a number of the Special Collections manuscript collections |
| Partners | |
| Size | Several 000 images and growing |
| Timescale | Established 2004 and ongoing |
| Access | Free via QUB website and mostly unrestricted |
| Sustainability | These issues are being met within the University and are integrated into operational processes in terms of staff expertise and financial ramifications |
| PROJECT | The Stormont Papers - 50 yrs of NI debates online |
|---|---|
| Content | |
| Partners | AHRC; Kings College London, A and H Data Service |
| Size | 92,000 pages |
| Timescale | Available online since 2006 |
| Access | http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/stormontpapers/index.html |
| Sustainability |
South Eastern Education and Library Board
| PROJECT | Banbridge Almanac |
|---|---|
| Content | A yearly publication running from 1880’s to 1930s providing info on the town, population and local business |
| Partners | QUB for tech input |
| Size | 53 vols |
| Timescale | Complete Feb 08 |
| Access | CD ROM |
| Sustainability | Stored on CD, we have multiple copies. QUB can produce additional copies on request – at a charge |
University of Ulster
| PROJECT | Eurotext: Learning materials on Europe |
|---|---|
| Content | Key documents on the EU, mostly taken from the European Commission's COM Documents series |
| Partners | Univ of Hull and others |
| Size | 24,845 pages. 500 MB |
| Timescale | 1996-99 |
| Access | Free to .ac.uk domain via Eurotext website http://eurotext.ulster.ac.uk |
| Sustainability | The site and its content, while hosted on a university server, are not being actively maintained |
Western Education and Library Board
| PROJECT | Irish Emigration Database |
|---|---|
| Content | Primary source documents on Irish emigration to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries |
| Partners | |
| Size | |
| Timescale | Since 1989 and ongoing |
| Access | |
| Sustainability | The Irish Emigration Database is currently stored on the server of Queen’s University Belfast and on a dedicated server at the Centre for Migration Studies |
| PROJECT | Omagh Bomb Archive |
|---|---|
| Content | 10,000 + newspaper articles |
| Partners | |
| Size | 10,000+ articles 90 MB |
| Timescale | Since 2000 and ongoing |
| Access | Via website. www.omagharchive.co.uk |
| Sustainability | WELB have built an archive room, built with special preservation conditions. It is accessible to all via request to Omagh branch library |
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