Developments at PRONI, Northern Ireland's national archive

I was unable to attend the recent user forum meeting at PRONI (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) in Belfast on March 2nd, so am grateful to Gavin McMahon for a copy of the minutes. The following are the key developments at Northern Ireland's national archive just now...

Anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918:

There will be a number of activities on this in 2018, being organised by NI's Department for Communities -

· NI Direct has a web page which pulls together activities of key stake holders,
· An information pack is being developed and an interactive learning packages for schools.
· An Exhibition which will be launched on 2 July


Steps to Partition:

Two PRONI facsimile packs are being updated for next year, one on the Plantation which is being revised and updated by the Ulster Historical Foundation, to be launched in May 2018.

PRONI is working with Dr Timothy Bowman and Jim McBride CCEA in revamping an educational resource (Steps to Partition) that will be aimed at A Level students and which anyone can use. Approximately 30 documents will be added into the pack which will be a PDF document and should be released in May.


Archive Accreditation:

PRONI is continuing its efforts towards Archive Accreditation.


Cataloguing:

Cataloguing of the papers of the Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club (D4614) is now complete, and will be published shortly.

Work continues on cataloguing papers relating to the Women’s Legion in the 1930s/1940s within D3099/14/2/1/2. This includes correspondence (organised by correspondent) and correspondence (organised by theme) and correspondence relating to the Mechanical Transport Section. Work has also started on papers relating to the Air Section. There are approx. 6 boxes still to be catalogued including papers relating to the Land Army, the Mount Stewart canteen, the Red Cross and the War Service Legion.

There are improved catalogue descriptions and updated access decisions for D4403 (Bangor Union masonic Lodge).

Work is ongoing with the Harland and Wolff Drawing Office Papers deposited by Titanic Quarter. Specifically carrying out cataloguing on ships plans at D4413/5/14. There are about 30 boxes of plans dating from 1930’s to 1970’s. Ship numbers and names will be included in catalogue descriptions.


New accessions:

Shaw and Moat Family Papers (D4654) – Papers of Richard Humphreys Shaw (c.1808-1888) of Dunmurry, Belfast and Tobermesson, Co. Tyrone comprising personal correspondence, including letters from his sisters who immigrated to Mississippi; accounts, including bills, receipts and handwritten lists mainly relating to his farm at Tobermesson, and a small amount of printed material and newspaper cuttings (c.1841-1919).

Hugh Alexander Papers (D4655) – Papers relating to Major Hugh Moore Alexander comprising two annotated albums containing photographs by Major Alexander during his service with the Royal Army Medical Corp and depicting scenes of army and civilian life in Mesopotamia and Northern Russia during the First World War. Major Alexander was born in County Cavan in 1892. (c.1917-1944).

Royal Belfast Golf Club (D4650) – Minute books relating to the Royal Belfast Golf Club, the oldest golf club in Ireland. Four additional volumes were received, 2 each for the men’s and lady’s branches of the club. We now have 8 volumes of minutes for the club, 1888-1922.

Islandreagh Beetling Mill (D4656) - Lorraine and Liam visited Islandreagh Dyeing and Finishing Company in Dunadry on Wednesday 21st February to appraise and bring back records. There were five or six sacks of binders with business records dating back to c.1930 as well as several boxes of records in the manager’s office. Three boxes of material were taken including sample thread book; an order book; a day book; a sales ledger; an account book and samples of correspondence demonstrating the international dealings of the company. C.1930-1992. Unfortunately earlier material for the mill was reportedly destroyed by the previous owner. The mill has probably been in operation since the late 18th century.


Church records digitisation:

The PRONI Reprographics Team has now completed digitisation and QA on 46 volumes for this year’s Church Records digitisation scheme. This is out of a total of 73 volumes it hopes to digitise this year, leaving up to 27 volumes to go. The original records will be returned to the participating churches and the digital copies made available in the PRONI search room later this year.


Volunteering:

PRONI is rolling out a pilot volunteering scheme for which 30 people submitted applications. The project will involve bringing in three volunteers for six months. Training will be included as part of the scheme. Projects will be based in Private Records, Reprographics and Public Services. In Private Records, it is hoped that the volunteer will contribute to work around indexing and cleaning documents from the Young and Mackenzie (architects) archive. The terms for volunteers being able to claim for expenses etc. were outlined. The volunteer in Public Service will be name indexing absentee voters.


Beyond 2022:

PRONI is particpating in the Beyond 2022 project, which is aiming to create a virtual repository of the Public Record Office (Four Courts, Dublin). The virtual repository layout has been created but not populated. The proposal is to create links to surrogate archives held elsewhere eg PRONI. Further details can be found on the Beyond 2022 website at https://beyond2022.ie.

(With thanks to Gavin and all at PRONI)

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

PRONI stakeholder forum report from Belfast

Yesterday (Friday June 2nd) I attended the regular stakeholder forum for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) in beautiful Belfast. The following is a quick summary of recent developments at the archive.

We first heard from Lorraine Bourke on cataloguing. Work continues on the papers of the Brabazon Sharpe family of Galway and Mayo, which are being catalogued under D4523, and also on the Northern Ireland Women's Football Association records from 1973-1993. Another major new accession is a series of posters collected by Northern Ireland civil rights activist, and amateur historian and archivist, Fred Heatley, who died earlier this year. These document a range of political issues over the years on everything from elections in the province to the hunger strikes, and are being catalogued under D4629. Papers from the Belfast Co-Op Society's former York Street premises, including admin records, photos, etc. have been acquired, and these are being catalogued under D3895.

Another interesting project is work in progress to preserve the Prisons Memory Archive of about 175 walk and talk oral history interviews of from people who were at the Maze/Long Kesh, and Armagh prisons, including staff, chaplains, prisoners. This is a collaboration between PRONI, Queen's University and the Prisons Management Group, which as  Heritage Lottery Funded project was formally launched on March 29th. Posts are currently being filled to get this underway, but the plan is to work on 12 recordings a month, and to have them available for consultation in due course at the archive, and posisbly at relevant access hubs across the country.

We had a brief update also on plans to update the catalogue inside the archive (not the online version), with regards to accessing digitised holdings, such as some church records. One of the key points made about the length of time it takes to catalogue and make materials available for consultation was the lack of metadata that is supplied by those making deposits to the archive, which the archive has to address. Metadata is 'data about data' - e.g, you might gift a photograph to PRONI, but who is depcited within the photograph? That's the metadata bit!

Janet Hancock then gave us an overview of PRONI's plans to seek UK archive accreditation during 2017/18. This involves aspiring to reach key standards of work practice in three areas, namely  longevity, collections care, and stakeholder engagement, and essentially helps the archive to focus on which areas it needs to perhaps concentrate more on, and to recognise which areas it is already making good progress in. If PRONI achieves this accreditation, its standards would then be re-evaluated again every three years, to keep pushing for better practice. Anyone who holds an archive can apply for such accreditation.

We were informed that there is a possibility that the archive might seek to install library editions of some of the more popular genealogy websites. I asked how popular the usage of the four GENI (https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk) platforms at PRONI have been since they were made available - the system that allows you to search for the GRONI's birth, marriage and death events from Northern Ireland. The terminals (see below for a pic of the area where they are located) have been quite popular, particularly for those seeking post-Partition Northern Ireland records, which are not available on the free Irish Genealogy (www.irishgenealogy.ie) site, as well earlier pre-1922 records not yet available on the southern hosted platform. There are no plans to increase the number of terminals - not only has the IrishGenealogy site making many records available for free taken some pressure off expected demand, the new GRONI search room at Stranmillis is also now up and running. Four seems to be a good number at PRONI, so everyone's happy!

Stephen Scarth also updated us on the latest communications developments, the biggest development being PRONI's new Facebook site (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/proni-is-now-on-facebook.html). The plan is to try to put out posts at least a couple of times a day, on a range of things from news to interesting features from the archive. One other change which some may already have been advised of by email is that those who subscribe to the PRONI Express, the archive's newsletter, will have to re-subscribe, due to an update of the system. The plan is for this to become a monthly newsletter, and not so ad hoc - though Janet also advised that they weren't averse to still throwing in the occasional ad hoc edition!

Some other changes include a desire to try to produce four main 'headline events' per year at the archive, such as the current series of lectures commemorating the Messines in the First World War. If attending events at the archive, from now on you will need to book via Eventbrite.

Finally, we were taken on a tour behind the scenes of the archive's reprographics department, where we were told how some items were digitally enhanced or restored (and catalogued as a new item), as well as some of the work the department does to produce promotional materials for exhibitions, and projects such as the then and now photographic image mixes of key locations across time.

And below is a wee sneaky glimpse of the conservation area, which I snapped as I passed it...!

A great day in Belfast - topped off by my finally finding a record in the Registry of Deeds that actually concerns my family!

Visit Belfast - ye'll love it! :)

(With thanks to Stephen and the staff at PRONI)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

National Archives (Kew) user forum meeting

The next user forum for the English based National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) takes place at Kew this coming Thursday 18th May 2017, from 12.30-13.45.

The following is the agenda:

1. Welcome - Emma Markiewicz, Head of Advice & Records Knowledge
2. Matters arising - February meeting notes
3. User Advisory Group (UAG) update - Anne Samson, Onsite Personal Interest Delegate
4. Reading Room changes update - Lee Oliver, Head of Venue Management & Services
5. Open discussion
6. Date of next meeting: Thursday 17 August 2017, 12.30 -13.45

The event is free. For further details visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/user-forum-tickets-32464207318?aff=ebapi.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

PRONI stakeholder forum update

I was unfortunately unable to attend the most recent stakeholder forum at the Public Record Ofice of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni), but I have been kindly sent the minutes from the meeting. The following are a few highlights from current developments of interest for family historians:

New accessions to PRONI include papers of the Belfast Naturalists Club (with cataloguing to commence in early 2017), and a smaller collection relating to the life of Samuel J Edgar and the York Street Flax Spinning Company (one of my lot worked there, should be a useful set to look up!).

A significant amount of cataloguing was completed in the summer months on the Londonderry Papers (D3099), and likewise, cataloguing is ongoing on the papers of the Irish Council of Churches (D4602).

The new GIS mapping application (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/latest-news-from-proni-user-forum.html), which provides OS maps with historical information overlays, should be released imminently.

The archives new Rules and Fees legislation should come into force on 16th November 2016, though final approval has still be passed at the Assembly. This will be the first time that they have been revised since 2009, and amongst new changes there will be clearer rules, a Code of Conduct, and a new table of fees. Most significantly for users, photocopying will no longer be offered, with visitors allowed to use their own equipment to photograph documents, subject to signing a copying and declaration form. To be allowed to do this, users will have to sign an undertaking about copying and copyright awareness before any documents are issued.The facility to obtain high quality copies will still be available.

A conference with the Western Front Association is to be held on the 8th October 2016. A £10 admission fee will be charged by the WFA to cover lunch.

PRONI now has four terminals providing access to GRONI's Geni service, offeirng access to digitised civil registration birth, marriage and death records, up to the present day (unlike the online service, which has imposed closure periods for each category). See http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/proni-search-room-offers-access-to.html for more on this story.

Finally, PRONI’s new Director is Maeve Walls.

(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)

Chris
 
For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

PRONI user forum meeting March - report

Yesterday I attended the latest stakeholder forum at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk) in Belfast. The following is a summary of the latest state of play at the archive.

First up, as previously reported, the archive is moving from being a part of the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure, to the new Department of Communities. Tied in with this will be several changes, not least of which for the main PRONI website itself, which is being moved to a new platform on Northern Ireland Direct - the new website address is likely to be www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni, though is not up and running as yet (the current address www.proni.gov.uk will redirect to this in the short term, once it is made live). Following on from that, PRONI's main email address will change in a couple of months time also. A further result of recent changes is that the new fees order, including the charges for self-service photography, looks likely to slip to the autumn.

We had a sneak preview of the new PRONI platform from Janet Hancock, who gave us a quick tour through its various pages. Functionally it will retain all of the current platform's key resources, though the team are taking the opportunity to remove some of its 'dead wood', documents hidden within its current labyrinth of options that are out of date. One possible project happening soon may be an update to the site's most useful research guide, detailing PRONI's holdings concerning church records, to reflect some recent additions (an updated PDF will be made available online if this happens). Aesthetically, my main observation is that the site is visually bolder and has been redesigned to be as tablet friendly as it was previously home computer friendly.

Janet also gave us an update on the new GIS based maps platform that I have recently blogged about (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/new-proni-maps-database-sneak-peak.html). This is coming along nicely, with some great features. As with some other recently hoped for developments, this has slipped a bit in terms of its release, but will certainly be worth the wait. Janet demonstrated the difference between the basic search and advanced search functions, the points of interest that can be looked for through pins on the maps (under topics such as legal, church, education, health, etc). As well as permitting mixes between a current map and a historic OS map, the site will also have aerial imagery sourced from OSNI that is geo-referenced to the equivalent maps - something I could certainly have used in December when I spent ages online trying to establish exactly where the abandoned Ballypriormore graveyard was to be found in Islandmagee!

On cataloguing, we were informed that a plan to release a major update to the system at PRONI in December hit a problem, which required the archive to roll back to the previous version again. It is now hoped that the new version, which will include some digital documents as returns in a small number of searches, will happen towards the end of March. Amongst these records hoping to be included are the ED/1 Co. Down National Schools application records. The same records for Co. Antrim are now complete also, but these have still to be processed, but should hopefully follow soon after, if not at the same time as the Down collection. I asked if users would be able to save these documents to their computers, and was informed yes.

Also on this front, the Eva Chichester papers have been catalogued under D4563. This covers material from 1870s Newcastle (Co.Down) onwards for Chichester, who was a Sunday School teacher, amateur photographer and travel writer, and includes correspondence. Chichester was also in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916, and recorded events in the city such as being trapped in one of its private parks as soldiers blocked the entrances, a lot of the correspondence captures the confusion for the public in the event.

Papers of the Rev. George Good, president of Methodist Church in Ireland, have been catalogued under D4382. These are from the late 20th century, and include some material on the early Troubles, although they mostly deal with missionary work in Sri Lanka.

We were also informed that cataloguing of the archive's holdings on Constance Markiewicz are being improved, and should be ready end of this month. Some of the materials are to be digitised (for on site access). Elsewhere, work continues on the Londonderry Papers, the team now looking at the records concerning Lady Edith, including some of her correspondence. A travelling exhibition on the collection is in Dungiven in April, whilst a talk on the set is being given in Lisburn Library on March 16th. PRONI is holding a Depositors Day event on Wednesday April 13th, to thank folk who've deposited material with it in the last 12 months, at which they will show how the records have been catalogued and looked after.

The statutory 1988 records release took place at the end of December, and the Conflict Archive on the INternet (CAIN) was updated in January to include material from 1986, the era of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Amongst new accessions to be coming soon to PRONI is the Prisons Memory Archive, though this will only be made accessible on site, and only for material that is officially open to public consultation. There is a plan to make the same collection accessible across Northern Ireland through library and university based subscriptions also, but not to place it online. This should be accessible at PRONI towards early August. One of the new challenges posed by this collection for PRONI is that it includes audio-visual materials, for which the archive has had to come up with some new cataloguing standards to incorporate it into their system.

Other new accessions include additional material from the Irish Football Association from 1910-2010, catalogued under D4196. There is also an attempt at the moment, in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Women's Football Association, to encourage members of the public to donate privately held material to the organisation, which it is hoped might be transferred to PRONI for safe keeping.

Forthcoming events:
A conference for family history newbies is to be held at PRONI on Saturday June 4th. Entitled Connecting People and Place: Exploring Your Ulster Events, it is being produced in association with the Federation for Ulster Local Studies). There will be a fee (amount tbc), and a small number of exhibitors will be present. It should be noted that PRONI will not be open to the public on this day, only for delegates.

A 'collection day' in May, partnered with the Digital Repository of Ireland, will ask the public to bring in historic materials to have them digitised for posterity. Following a Jutland themed event on May 26th, further events will include a Temperance conference on June 23rd, a talk on August 17th on East Belfast folk in the First World War, and a follow on event involving Northern Ireland Screen a day later. A big Somme themed commemorative conference will also be held at PRONI on October 9th.

A 20 panel exhibition on the BBC's first Northern Ireland based transmitter, at Lisnagarvy, launches next Thursday 10th at the archive, whilst there will be an Ulster Architectural Heritage society exhibition in June, and another on lighthouses in August.


Pastie baps
Following the meeting, I did some client research, and then, with a couple of hours to go until I got the ferry back to Scotland, I went for a dander around Belfast City Centre. Belfast, oh Belfast, where have all your pastie baps gone...?! I spent three quarters of an hour trying to find one, the only chippy I could find selling one was closed, and I ended up eating a zinger burger at KFC. I was inconsolate - I may have to campaign to get them returned to their rightful place at the heart of Norn Iron!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

National Archives - October events at Kew

The National Archives at Kew in England has published its list of October and November hosted events. Talks include a session on rugby in the First World War and how to use the London Gazette, there's a user forum meeting also, and various other events including a workshop on the battle of Agincourt.

For a full list visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/visit/events.htm.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

National Archives user forum meeting at Kew

The National Archives in England (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk), based at Kew, is holding a public user forum meeting on August 20th 2015, from 12.30-13.45. In attendance at this meeting will be the archive's Chief Executive Officer Jeff James, "to go through The National Archives' annual report and take questions on the strategic priorities".

For further information on the archive's forthcoming user forum meetings,. please visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/get-involved/user-forum.htm.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

PRONI user forum March 2015 proceedings

Yesterday I had the great pleasure to attend the latest stakeholders meeting at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk) in Belfast, where as usual, there is a lot happening! The following is a brief summary of the proceedings.

The first speaker at the forum was Joy Carey, who discussed the reprographic unit's recent project to merge some of the archive's historic streetscape and landscape photos with contemporary images of the same view. This has a similar aim to the History Pin project (www.historypin.org), but with two big differences - specially commissioned photographs of the modern scene are used, and the integration between the two is just beautiful! The project's results can be viewed at PRONI's Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/proni. Of particular note for me are the two taken from Carrickfergus, where I grew up - one depicts the North Gate at the top of North Street (https://www.flickr.com/photos/proni/16192653380/), which I regularly used to walk through to get to the train station shop, where I used to do a newspaper delivery run from, the other with a view of the castle from the harbour (https://www.flickr.com/photos/proni/16192309048/). Another wonderful effort sees two views of the Shankill Road Mission (https://www.flickr.com/photos/proni/15848166848/), and a wonderfully effective merge between an old tram and a modern bus. Only 17 images were created, the purpose behind the project being to highlight the photographic holdings of PRONI, which successfully gained a lot of press attention in Northern Ireland and beyond. It was so successful that more images will be created soon in collaboration with Strabane and District Camera Club.

Click to visit PRONI's Flickr page

The current big digitisation project still ongoing at the moment is the ED/1 National Education Commisioners Grant Aid Application forms for school across the north of Ireland. The following is th catalogue description:

In September 1831, the Commissioners of National Education were established to administer a fund of 30,000 per annum placed at the disposal of the Lord Lieutenant for the education of the poor in Ireland. They were empowered to make grants to local schools on condition that part of the required sum was raised locally and in addition they supervised the work of the schools, supplied textbooks and trained teachers. This class of records which bears the PRONI reference number ED/1, consists of 33 volumes of applications made to the Commissioners for grants for building schools, payment of teachers, provision of textbooks, equipment etc. The applications were made on printed questionnaire forms (occasionally accompanied by correspondence), which were filed and bound together in date order and arranged county by county. They cover the period 1832-1889. ED/1/1 to ED1/28, are available on microfilm and bear the reference number MIC/548, Reels 1 to 52. The National Archives in Dublin hold a few unbound applications from Counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh and Meath, as well as a volume of Rejected Applications from Ulster schools for the period 1868-72.

So far the records for counties Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone have been completed, and work is now ongoing with County Antrim. I recently looked at these records for Islandmagee to try to find one of my schoolteacher ancestors, and although unsuccessful (he taught just before the period in question), I can see how they will be very useful for those wishing to understand more about the creation of the National Schools movement. Elsewhere on the digitisation front, various private records have been worked on, including church records for Ballynahinch Congregation Church and a project to digitise the registers from St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast. These will not go online but will be made accessible instead within the search rooms.

On the cataloguing front, we heard from Jayne Hutchinson about the ongoing work to prepare government papers for release from 1987/88, and then more importantly on the family history front, on efforts to further catalogue the 1939 National Identity Register holdings - at present PRONI receives just 10-15 look up requests a month for these. This has been something of a nightmare collection to access, in that there are no original finding aids for the collection which follows no rhyme nor reason in the way that they have been collated (I apologised to Jayne for having made the first FOI application on these five years ago! See http://scottishancestry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/1939-northern-irish-foi-request.html). The good news is that these are now being catalogued by address, with all of Belfast now completed, and with just 90 of the total 751 volumes still to go. Once this has been completed, PRONI intends to make a big song and dance about them, so watch this space. I did flag up that the online news story about their access has disappeared from the PRONI news site, this is because there was a recent switch to a new news delivery platform, and it seems to have been lost in the move, but the records are accessible via a Freedom of Information request to the facility at no cost. I did also ask for clarification about the 1937 Northern Irish census, following the recent news that the 1926 census for the north no longer exists, and have had it confirmed that the 1937 census DOES still exist, but that it won't be available until 2037. This therefore means that the National Identity Register from 1939 is going to be an immensely important census substitute for some time to come - something I can certainly testify to as the record obtained from my original FOI request confirmed my grandfather's date of birth in Belgium, for which there had previously been a bit of a question mark.

Elsewhere on the cataloguing front, work continues on the Robert Hunter papers, the papers of Sean Murray who was a local Communist of note, the family papers of Dr Andrew Johnston (1929-49), Thomas Dobson's diaries at D4390 (Dobson was key in the development of a process to freeze Irish milk for worldwide export), the Londonderry papers (including photo albums from Mount Stewart under D3099), papers from the Royal Victoria Hospital, and more.

On the exhibitions front, PRONI will be hosting a Derry diaspora exhibition soon, and has also created its own First World War pop-up exhibition on various themes from the home front and women, to 1916, the Somme and the Easter Rising. This will be hosted at PRONI and then at selected venues across the countries. From June 6th an exhibition on the Connaught Rangers will also be on display at PRONI, which has previously been travelling around the country also.

Television series Who Do You Think You Are is currently preparing for a new run, and as a part of this the production company has been back to Belfast to film with well known celebrity XXXXXXX...! When they're good and ready to announce who it is, I'll update you - but it's certainly an individual I'll be interested to watch! :) Suffice to say that the filming went well, and it will be great to see PRONI given a UK wide platform on screen to show off its wares yet again.

On the talks front, a series of ten talks entitled 'Your Family Tree' will be kicking off from March 11th right through to May 13th. These will be filmed for inclusion on PRONI's YouTube channel at a later stage. A new hands on monthly training session for PRONI newbies is also proving extremely popular, offering a 2 hour session for 14 people maximum, with one hour on the facility's online offerings, and the other the searchroom (as well as orientation around the facility). Sessions for March and April are already fully booked, with more to come. (For all forthcoming talks and events, keep an eye on the PRONI website and this blog!). PRONI will also be participating again in European Heritage weekend later this year in September.

On other developments from key partners to PRONI, Libraries NI has an interesting digitisation project on the go just now, digitising the letters of library staff who went to war from 1914-1918. This will be promoted in June and the results will be accessible from the Libraries NI website (www.librariesni.org.uk).

That's about it for now! As usual I was able to do a few hours client research after the meeting, before getting a quick session in at the end of the day for my own research, before getting the late ferry back to Scotland. I was able to call up five productions, including two financial accounts for the Scottish army in my home town of Carrickfergus and Islandmagee in 1643 (the brother of one of my Islandmagee ancestors was in the Scottish army and was based there), a rental roll for Islandmagee in 1819, and two other productions. I was able to obtain all of these records, scan them on the large self-service scanner, and check out of the building within the space of 20 minutes - and the scans only cost £3 in total (30p an image). THAT is how to run an archive service! (Useful tip - the self-service scanner is for USB thumb drives only, so always worth carrying one if making a visit.)

(With thanks to the staff at PRONI)

Chris

For details on my range of genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

TNA seeks new user group members

The National Archives at Kew, England, is seeking new voluntary members for its user advisory group. In particular, they are looking for the following categories to be better represented:

• academics - we are especially interested in hearing from historians, and those with links to one or more of the learned societies, and who are involved in encouraging post-graduates to work with archival material
• map room users - particularly those working with medieval records
• county/external archives
• on site personal interest researchers - particularly those interested in areas other than genealogy

The full story is at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/965.htm

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And please consider purchasing the great new version of Caledonia by The Libations at 79p via www.caledonia2014.com - all profits go to help fund Scottish foodbanks

National Archives at Kew - user forum dates

The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) will be holding public user forum meetings on the following dates:

Wednesday 20 August 2014, 12:30-13:45
Thursday 16 October 2014, 12:30-13:45
Tuesday 18 November 2014, 17:30-18:45
Thursday 22 January 2015, 12:30-13:45
Tuesday 17 February 2015, 15:15-16:30

Full details are available at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/get-involved/user-forum.htm.

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And please consider purchasing the great new version of Caledonia by The Libations at 79p via www.caledonia2014.com - all profits go to help fund Scottish foodbanks

Comparing the UK's three national archives

This is something I have considered doing for a while, but after a trip to the NRS in Edinburgh yesterday that just about did my head in (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/national-records-of-scotland-needs-to.html), here it comes at last. The following is my take on comparing the provisions of the UK's three leading national archives providers - the National Archives at Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk), the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk), and the archive facility at the National Records of Scotland (www.nas.gov.uk). It should be noted that the NRS is a recently merged body comprised of the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland - I am deliberately not including the GROS/ScotlandsPeople side of things in this regard, as TNA and PRONI have no similar provision, only the NRS archive service (i.e. the NAS). In my view there are some positives for the NRS, but just as many, if not more, negatives when compared to its sister institutions in England and Northern Ireland. Here goes:

Coverage/responsibility?
TNA: Officially the United Kingdom, but predominantly the national archive for England and Wales, with some British collections involving all four nations (and from the former British Empire), and some Irish and Scottish holdings. Recently tasked with providing a strategic lead for the English and Welsh archive sector.
PRONI: Northern Ireland, with some pre-Partition southern Irish holdings also. Northern Ireland does not operate county archive centres as in Britain and the Republic of Ireland, so PRONI is a curious mixture of being both the local archive for the province and its national archive.
NRS: Scotland only. Has no strategic role in leading the Scottish archive sector in the way TNA does down south.

Centralised location?
TNA: No. About as central in London as I am in the west of Scotland! Underground stop is a few minutes walk from the archive, but long trip from central London. On site parking.
PRONI: Nearly. Buses to Titanic Quarter, but an easy 5-10 minute walk from the city centre, basically on the other side of the river. No on site parking, but large car park directly across the road, facing Odyssey.
NRS: Very. On Prince's Street in Edinburgh, hop off the train and be there in a minute. Parking in nearby St James Shopping Centre car park, few minutes walk away, and regular trams and buses in city centre.

Convenient opening hours?
TNA: Yes. TNA recently redesigned its hours so that it is now closed on Mondays, but open Tuesday to Saturdays 9am-5pm, with two late evening sessions to 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Saturdays best option for those working Mon-Fri 9-5
PRONI: Yes. Mondays to Wednesdays and Fridays 9am-4.45pm, Thursday 10am-8.45pm for those working a regular Mon-Fri 9-5. Last production orders 30 mins before closing. Occasional weekend opening of search rooms if PRONI is hosting an event.
NRS: Not really. Mondays to Fridays 9.00am-4.30pm, inconvenient for those working Mon-Fri 9-5. No evening opening; no weekend opening. Latest document ordering 3.45pm.

Wifi access?
TNA: Yes, freely available throughout the building.
PRONI: Yes, freely available throughout the building.
NRS: Why-fi? Some limited access to a pre-arranged list of vetted websites on NRS computers only. 3G tablets should pick up a signal in the search room.

Cafe facilities?
TNA: Yes, on site, ground floor.
PRONI: Yes, on site, ground floor.
NRS: Not in General Register House (which houses the archive search room), but a basic cafe facility is located in a separate building, New Register House (also part of NRS), located next door. Shopping centre across road has a food court.

Ordering documents:
TNA: Several search rooms available on site on a few floors. Once in a search room, a range of computers are available to allow you to order up documents using the internal catalogue. Panels can be consulted to see if your production is available to view, allowing you to go off for a coffee, or check emails etc, whilst keeping an eye on progress. Microfilm is now an endangered species at Kew.
PRONI: There are two main search rooms, one has a dedicated collection of computers that can be used to order documents, though worth bearing in mind the on site based catalogue is different in construction to that available online (the on site one is far superior). As with TNA, it is also possible to keep an eye on screens to see when productions are available to consult. There is a also a dedicated microfilm area with several readers available, including two printers.
NRS: Only one main public search room (a separate legal search room is on the same floor, with some microfilm access) with a series of computers at one end hosting digital resources, which although they host the on site catalogue, can not be used to order documents. To order documents, you have to go to the other end of the room to use one of two other computers to make the order - but you are not allowed to use the catalogue on those! Completely ridiculous set up. There are no screens providing progress on order deliveries, you have to just wait, though usually not for long. Unfortunately a substantial and seemingly growing amount of material is held off site on the other side of Edinburgh at Thomas Thomson House – there is no public search room access there or at West Register House (which used to offer such a provision). Only 12 items stored off site can be ordered in advance for a day's visit. And once you've gone through those? Sorry, it's tough luck.

Digitisation programme?
TNA: Almost messianic in its zeal. Some content digitised and made for sale through TNA website on pay-per-view basis. Some digitised as part of digital microfilms initiative, and made accessible for free. Umpteen number of projects with licensed partners such as Ancestry, FindmyPast and The Genealogist.
PRONI: Yes – as a small archive it tends to try for one 'big' release a year involving its own records, though other smaller releases or enhancements do go online from time to time. All records freely accessible through its own site. Has worked with FamilySearch on recent Valuation Revisions Books project, and its index to post-1858 wills calendars and wills collection is partially available through Ancestry as a free third party web linked database (search via Ancestry, but redirect to PRONI for results).
NRS: Fairly substantial digitisation programme, though access to the collections is available predominantly in its Edinburgh based search room only through its Virtual Volumes facility. Some records content is digitised for provision through its ScotlandsPlaces portal (in partnership with NLS and RCAHMS), a subscription site, at £18 for 3 months access (inc VAT). Has recently successfully adopted a limited crowdsourcing indexing programme. Wills and a few valuation rolls accessible via ScotlandsPeople.

Cataloguing?
TNA: Online access via Discovery, its relatively new Borg technology based catalogue which will seemingly soon assimilate all known catalogues that have ever been hosted on the TNA website (inc NRA, A2A etc). Takes a bit of getting used to, but does work.
PRONI: There are actually two catalogue systems for the public – the one available online (eCATNI), which is good, but nowhere near as useful as the on site version. Cataloguing is ongoing, though a current historic abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland means some staff resources are currently being redirected into that, and for the foreseeable future.
NRS: Very effective, by far the biggest success I would attribute to NRS. It has its quirks, but usually provides a good level of detail for that which has been catalogued. May be showing its age a bit though, has had a few reported problems last couple of months from online users.

Can you take photos?
TNA: Yes. Go for it! No charge. Rostrum stands available, but usually good results at your desk also, well lit search room.
PRONI: No, not with your own camera. There is a space-age scanner available that can be used, which costs 30p per image, and which saves to USB stick only. Watermarks images with PRONI logo across middle of the page, however, though usually possible to position small documents on either side of area where that would appear, as image base is A3 in size, so lots of room to play with. (UPDATE 12 FEB 2015: PRONI is now actively considering allowing photography in the near future, though a small fee may be implemented for the privilege)
NRS: Yes. No charge. Restrictions on copying some material, however, such as most Gifts and Deposits (privately deposited material indexed with GD). Not a bright search room though, so either use the rostrum stand if available, or ask for a table near the window, where you'll get more daylight, which should help with image quality.

Social media use?
TNA: Again, almost messianic in its zeal. Official blogs, Twitter account, podcasts, regular newsletters. TNA has a message that it is an archive that will help you, and it gets that message out, very effectively. Some staff tweet in a personal capacity, and Audrey Collins' unofficial blog The Family Recorder (http://thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.co.uk), although not updated in a while, is a real treat.
PRONI: Very ambitious. Regular news stories on its main site, plus a recently introduced weekly newsletter called the PRONI Express. A keen advocate of using FLICKR to share photographic resources and to gather info on the images interactively from the public, whilst PRONI's YouTube channel is a real success story for those who cannot get to Belfast to attend talks. Document of the month feature on main site. No Twitter account, though some staff tweet unofficially in a personal capacity.
NRS: Very limited use of Twitter. The occasional archive based news story every month or every other month on its own NAS website. No dedicated archive newsletter (there is a ScotlandsPeople newsletter that occasionally mentions archive events). You rarely get to hear about anything happening in the NRS archive. Almost a closed shop.

User base engagement?
TNA: There is a regular stakeholder group, which includes family historians and others, that meets at the archive. Volunteer opportunities with some programmes are also available, for example with the current war diaries project, whilst a Friends of the National Archives group raises funds to help make TNA collections accessible, as well as involved in indexing collections. Heavy use of social media to communicate archive strategy. There is an active talks and conference based programme at the facility. Disappeared from WDYTYA Live for a few years, but back in the game again. Actively beta tests online developments with users.
PRONI: A stakeholder group meets every three months to hear about developments and discuss progress on key objectives. As with TNA, the archive is almost messianic in providing a strong talks programme on site and across the province, with occasional forays to Britain (mainly WDYTYA Live). No Friends based support group.
NRS: Although there is ScotlandsPeople user group that rarely meets now, if there is a dedicated user group for the archive, I've never heard of it – and if it exists, I have absolutely no idea what it talks about. As with PRONI, there is also no Friends based support group. NRS makes little, if any, attempt to inform its user base about on site developments. It attends WDYTYA Live each year on a joint platform with ScotlandsPeople, and occasional shows in Scotland. The recent crowd sourcing project on ScotlandsPlaces is the only non-show based project I can think of where NRS has attempted to interact with its user base.

If the archive had a motto, what might it be?
TNA: “We may not be amused, but we can certainly help!”
PRONI: “We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland! Search room's just through the door love...”
NRS: “Gonnae no dae that. Just... gonnae no.”

Enjoyable to visit?
TNA: The National Archives at Kew is a huge facility, and so on any visit I rarely get a chance to know any staff or talk to them, it's more a huge machine that just happens to work brilliantly for the most part. So I never come away having enjoyed or not enjoyed a day there (unless, for example, I've been at a conference), but I do tend to come away on most occasions with a sense of satisfaction after a good day's work. And that's fine, because that's exactly what I want - it's not a tourist attraction after all!
PRONI: My favourite archive in the UK. Don't get me wrong, at times there are frustrations, some of the online help guides, for example, could do with being a bit more specific. But when you go there and have a good craic with any of the staff, including the security personnel, and achieve what you want, yes, by a long shot it is an enjoyable facility. Like TNA, PRONI knows that to flourish, it needs to deliver what is asked of it.
NRS: In short? No. There is rarely a visit I make these days where something doesn't go wrong, or some bit of insane bureaucratic rule rears its head to tell you off, or when a productive day is cut short by inadequate facilities. NRS just doesn't get it, and is by a long shot my least favourite archive in Scotland, despite having some of the country's best resources. The staff are by and large friendly and informative - but the system itself oppresses everything that can possibly help to achieve a user friendly experience. It's like spending a day out at a civil service department.

Conclusion: As I stated yesterday, I think NRS has some work to do...

Copier at PRONI. If I don't use it, I stand and admire it...

Main documents consultation room at PRONI

Main search room at PRONI - dedicated microfilm area also at far end

Census conference I attended at TNA, organised by Friends of TNA in 2013

TNA - a 21st century institution fit for purpose

NRS General Register House - and that's either Wellington or the daily dispatch rider to Thomas Thomson House...

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And FindmyPast - please reinstate the original Scottish census citations on your new site.

FindmyPast creates customer participation group

On Saturday 2nd May I took part in an international panel discussion in Ontario concerning social media and its use within family history (it's online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5TXenbLqCA&feature=share). One of the questions asked by John Reid was how we saw the next five years panning out in terms of online developments. I commented on the growing and positive use of DNA and on crowd sourcing, but also made a point that there was one thing that I specifically did not want to see continue as a trend over the next five years - the efforts of many major websites to reinvent themselves without taking their customer base's support with them, and without treating their user base with any form of respect (you'll find it at 21 mins 50 secs in on the recording).

Several vendors and projects in the last couple of years have produced new platforms that seemingly only work half as well as their predecessors, or don't work in any meaningful sense, despite constant assurances at how much 'better' they are, as if the user base is somehow stupid, and as if all it takes is a good bit of patronising to bring us into line to see the inspired ways of suited up management over such sites. There are a whole host of examples on this of sites that have done just that, but most recently, and perhaps most spectacularly, the biggest PR disaster on that front must surely have been the attitude of FindmyPast to its customer base when it launched its new platform - apparent arrogance does not even begin to start covering it. And in return, they well and truly got the backlash they seemingly deserved from that same user base, with customers venting their fury on FindmyPast's own feedback site, and on other forums, including in the comments section of posts I have written on this blog.

FindmyPast is now in humble pie mode. Another apology issued on Saturday by new CEO Annelies van den Belt, has included details of a new user group being created by the company:

I know that as well as being hugely passionate about family history, you, our members are the experts. We really do value your judgment, and we care about your opinion. I am pleased to announce the creation of our ‘customer participation group’ to help us better understand your needs and your ideas for future development. If you would like to be part of this group, to attend future online and offline events, and help us shape the future of findmypast, please sign up by emailing participate@findmypast.co.uk. I believe that together, we can continue to improve findmypast and make it the resource you need for your family history journey.

The full apology is available at http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/2014/an-update-from-findmypast-2/?sourceID=13, and there will now apparently be weekly updates from Annelies van den Belt, which I am sure readers will be looking forward to for more positive developments, but certainly not for any corporate spin. How sincere the intent is within this apology, and how useful the support group will be, will only be known in the weeks and months ahead.

FindmyPast continues to add datasets to its new platform - but if it does not get this right, it may find itself all dressed up with no-one coming to visit. There are other data sites, and whilst we want FindmyPast to succeed, as a user base, many of us no longer wish to be treated like idiots.

UPDATE: I added a suggestion to the new feedback forum last night, to reinstate the proper census citations for the Scottish censuses - it's at http://feedback.findmypast.co.uk/forums/222583-ideas-and-improvements/suggestions/5898380-reinstate-original-census-source-information-on-sc if you are as bugged by the appalling citations currently on the site as I am, and want to vote for them to address it!

(With thanks to Peter Calver's latest LostCousins newsletter at http://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/may14news.htm)

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians. And for those wishing to take Scottish ancestral research a bit further, my next Pharos course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Records, commences May 14th 2014.

TNA user forum meeting

The next meeting of the National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) user forum at Kew will be on Thursday 16th 2014.

From TNA's website:

The User Forum is your chance to hear what's happening at The National Archives and to have your say. It is open to all users of our services.

The forum takes place at The National Archives and lasts for approximately one to one and a half hours.

For further details contact user.forum@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 020 8876 3444 extension 2238.

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/.

TNA User Advisory Group seeks new members

The National Archives at Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is looking for four new members to join its User Advisory Group. From the TNA postr:

This year we are particularly interested to hear from users who feel they could effectively represent one or more of the following user groups:

• online users
• independent researchers
• users with insights into accessibility, diversity and inclusion

For further details visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/881.htm. The closing date for expressions of interest is 8 November 2013.

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.

Kent History Centre Archives User Group

I've been asked to give the following a quick plug by genealogist Celia Heritage, concerning a new Kent History Centre Archives User Group that has been established - the group also has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kent-History-Centre-Archives-User-Group/656597701018361

Our aim is to enhance the interface between the public and archives at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone.

The Kent History Centre User Group has recently been established in order to improve the experience for archives users at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone.

Since the move from the previous archives at the Centre for Kentish Studies many issues have arisen which are inhibiting easy access to information in the archives. At the initial meeting of the group a wish list of changes was established and we hope to work with the management at the Kent History and Library Centre (where the archives is now situated) to improve things for all users of the archives. Among our priorities are the following: the re-introduction of the paper catalogues and indexes into the search room (The online catalogue is far from complete), updating of the archives user guides on the KHLC website, to improve the booking system, to improve training for the staff on the archives reception and search room desks many of whom currently are not familiar with the archival holdings, and to improve the layout of the archives to make it more conducive to study.

(With thanks to Celia)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.