Presented as part of "Realising the Opportunities of Digital Humanities" (#RODH2012) Oct 23-25, 2012, Ireland. More info: www.dri.ie/programme

1. National Archives of Ireland
Digital partnerships
23 October 2012

2. Irish Census Online
 Partnership with Library and Archives
Canada
 Proven expertise in digitisation of census
records
 Share our ethos in relation to preservation
and access to records
 Contributed material about the Irish in
Canada to the site
 Kept finding ways to add value to the site
within the existing budget

9. Irish Census Online
 Project characterised by partnership
in terms of content:
 Association of Genealogists of Ireland
 National Library of Ireland
 Royal Society of Antiquaries of
Ireland
 Several small archives
 Several county museums

10. Irish Census Online
 Partnership with CMOD extremely important
 Now in partnership with Failte Ireland and
Tourism Ireland to use site to attract roots
tourism both within and into Ireland
 Partnerships with various scholarly bodies,
including Queen’s University and The North
Atlantic Population Project
 Have placed entire 1911 census on Europeana,
the EU digital cultural portal
 About to share census data with Imperial War
Museum for “Lives of the First World War”

11. Irish Census Online
 Synergies between different state agencies
important and fruitful
 Value for money enhanced by multiple
partnerships
 Joined-up thinking in terms of the many
uses such a site can serve: genealogical,
cultural, educational, tourism-related
 National narrative improved by accelerated
learning about personal, local and national
history

12. Bureau of Military History
 Partnership between National
Archives and Military Archives
 Online since August 2012
 Oral history of nationalist activities
1913 – 21.
 35,000 pages of fully searchable text.
 600 photographs; 12 voice
recordings.
 Ancillary contextual material.

15. Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
 NAI partners in Documents on Irish Foreign
Policy, which has so far published seven volumes of
documents relating to Irish foreign policy during the
years 1919–1945, the vast majority of them held in
the National Archives.
 The project, a partnership between the Royal Irish
Academy, the Dept. of Foreign Affairs and the
National Archives, operates from the National
Archives.
 Has a significant online presence at www.difp.ie.
 Volume V111, 1945 – 48, to be published November
2012.

17.  Frank RYAN was captured with his battalion on the road
between Alcaniz and Gandesa on the day on which Gandesa
was occupied by Franco's forces, either Friday 1st or Saturday
2nd April. Ryan is a Captain in the Major Attlee Battalion of
the 15th International Brigade and Carney believes that he is
actually Commander of that Battalion. He was captured with
about 350 others of British, American and other nationalities,
having been taken by surprise by Italian troops. Carney says
that if these men had been captured by other than Italian
troops they would have been shot out of hand; he says that
the Italians are anxious to avoid reprisals on Italian prisoners
in the hands of their enemies and saw to it that these men
were loaded up in lorries for removal to Zaragoza. He states
that other 'guarantees', without specifying the nature of these,
were taken by the Italians for the safety of their prisoners. It
is apparently quite a normal thing for prisoners to be put to
death on the roadside by their captors whilst being escorted
from the front to the rear. Carney says that the Tercio
(Foreign Legion) and the International Brigade are particularly
ferocious towards each other and that it is definitely
established practice not to take any prisoners alive when these
forces meet in battle.

18. Genealogical partnerships
 Three partners: National Archives, LDS,
Brightsolid.
 Mixture of free to access and short-term
commercial expolitation, followed by free to
access.
 Follows international best practice, eg NARA.
 Using genealogical digitisation as a strategy to
make archives available for scholarly use.
 Importance of browse facility.

19. THE ISSUES
 National Cultural Institutions have vast
amounts of content, but increasingly
diminishing resources for digitisation.
 Government badly needs to establish and
adopt a national cultural digitisation policy; DRI
will be key to this.
 Joined-up thinking needed: Minister Sherlock's
remarks re open access in contrast to the trend
in D/AHG to move towards commerciallisation.

20. THE ISSUES
Reasons for free access to Irish cultural
heritage online.
 Need for partnerships between the
state and its cultural institutions, the
academic sector, and industry.
 DRI a key driver of awareness, policy
and infrastructure for our digital
heritage. Have achieved a great deal
in a short time.