Blogs

A collection of images of notes left at the mural of Savita Halappanavar during the 2018 referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment will now be available long-term as a digital archive.

The Near Archive is a digital audio database of interviews originally broadcast on Near FM’s flagship community affairs programme Northside Today between the years 2011 and 2016. The Archive was officially launched on Wednesday 16 November at 6.30pm in Coolock Library by Dr Pauric Travers, chairperson of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.The content reflects upon the themes of Irish Culture, Life and Experience with a particular emphasis on local arts and culture, local news, history, heritage and community events. The total number of archived pieces in this collection is presently c.1,200.Near Archive has been assembled with the input of expert partners including the Digital Repository of Ireland and Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive. In addition a cross sectoral approach to archiving has been established through CRAOL, the national body for community radio.Near Archive can be accessed by visiting www.archive.ie where content can be streamed or downloaded and runs on a Creative Commons license.Partners and FundersNear FM.CRAOL (Community Radio Ireland).Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.       Digital Repository of Ireland.Dublin City Library & Archive.CDETB.The Near Archive is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Archive scheme.

We have for some time provided online access in our branch libraries to the complete issues of Irish newspapers via our subscription to 'The Irish Times Newspaper Archive' and to the 'Irish Newspaper Archive'. Both subscriptions provide access to full digital copy and a search facility; the Irish Newspaper Archive giving access to most (all?) of the regional papers plus the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.Important to bear in mind though that the most recent issues (in both subscriptions) may not be available, i.e. most recent daily will be some 7 to 10 days old, while weekly papers may not include the most recent issue.A handy point of access to these subscriptions is provided on our Netvibes-based portal (note: both subscriptions available on library computers only).ProQuest Newspaper SearchNow too we are providing access via ProQuest to the full-text articles in c.850 newspapers worldwide, including Irish national and regional papers.  The Irish national papers include The Irish Examiner (Jan 2011 - present), The Irish Independent (June 2006 - present), and The Irish Times (Jan 1995 - present).  Good to note that a look at some daily papers, Irish and others, indicates that coverage appears to include most recent issues, today's in some instances. Today's Irish Times, for example, includes some 150 items. The same cannot be said though for the regional papers, a check on a number indicates that the most recent issues included had a November or December date.You should note that ProQuest does not give you access to the digital copy of a newspaper, but rather the full text of articles plus citations and abstracts. Good to note too that the articles of some newspapers that otherwise require a subscription to view (e.g. The Times in the UK) are fully available via the ProQuest database.How do I access this wonderful new resource you might ask? Follow this link to ProQuest and insert your library membership card barcode number. That's it! And you can access it from anywhere!Each issue of every newspaper is indexed thoroughly, so researchers have access to not only top news stories but also detailed information on sports, business, and the arts around the world.ProQuest Title list (incl. period of coverage for each title) (this link will download an Excel spreadsheet).This service is provided for the public library service by ProQuest,  with delivery arranged by Libraries Development, Local Government Management Agency. Visit the Libraries Ireland website.View the full range of online resources available courtesy of your library.

Last Wednesday (26th August) saw the formal launch of a new website hosting a range of databases totalling over 5 million records. The databases are useful for genealogy, local history and social history. Many of the databases were previously available and searchable separately on dublinheritage.ie, but the new site - databases.dublincity.ie - allows for integrated and enhanced searching while also giving access to an even greater number of databases.Speakers at the launch included the noted genealogist John Grenham, who carried out much of the work in the delivery of the site, Dublin City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark, Senior Archivist  Ellen Murphy, Deputy City Librarian Brendan Teeling, the Director of the National Archives John McDonough, and City Councillor Vincent Jackson.View the following photo slideshow of the launch. About databases.dublincity.iedatabases.dublincity.ie brings together a number of databases produced by the Libraries and Archive Service. Most of the original records from which the databases are created are held by Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2.The databases featured and included in the combined search are:Community Memory - a database of plaques and public memorials throughout the City.Dublin Directory 1647-1708 - a database of Dubliners compiled from a variety of sources.Ancient freemen of Dublin (1461 to 1491, and 1564 to 1774) - a database of all those on the who were entered into the Freedom of the City by the City Assembly.Dublin City Electoral Lists 1908 to 1915 - a database of all those registered to vote in municipal elections.Dublin City Electoral Lists 1938 to 1964 - a database of all those registered to vote in local elections. The Dublin City Electoral Lists 1937-64 have been taken down from this site.  For more information, please e-mail [email protected] Graveyards Directory - a database with details of all graveyards in the Dublin area.Cemetery Burial Registers (Clontarf, Drimnagh, and Finglas) - a database of those buried in three now closed cemeteries which are under the control of Dublin City Council.Two other databases included on the site - The Monica Roberts Collection and the most recent addition, the Index to Dublin City Council Minutes 1881-1987, are not included in the combined search and need to be searched separately.The Database of Baptisms for Dublin Parishes, the Database of Marriages for Dublin Parishes, and the Database of Burials for Dublin Parishes, compiled by Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive and previously available on dublinheritage.ie, have been incorporated into the Irish Genealogy website and form a significant portion of the total records available on that website.More databases will be added as they are completed.

The Decade of Centenaries Award was established by Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) in order to engage with custodians and assist in the long term digital preservation of valuable digital material relating to the 1912-1922 period in Irish History.On Thursday 25 June 2015, it was announced that the Dublin City Electoral Lists for the period 1915, recently digitised by Dublin City Library and Archive, was one of three award winning collections.Right: Ellen Murphy (Dublin City Library and Archive) and  Dr. Eucharia Meehan (Irish Research Council)The original Dublin City Electoral Lists (1898-1915) are in printed format and are held at Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. The Electoral Lists were maintained by Dublin City Council (then Dublin Corporation) on an annual basis in the Town Clerk's Department at City Hall. The two officials who carried out this work during this period were Stephen J. Hand, a general office assistant who was responsible for all matters relating to the franchise list, and James J. Henry, assistant to the Town Clerk, to whom Hand reported. Each Electoral List was printed and bound by Cahill & Co., Great Charles Street, Dublin; the Electoral List was then issued on 31st December and was valid for the following calendar year.View slideshow below:There are approximately 47,000 registered voters each year, which co-relates to almost one-fifth of the population of Dublin at the time and the electoral lists have huge potential to be used for local, social and genealogical research. However as the original classification scheme of the bound volumes was devised to suit the administration of elections, it is impossible to find a particular voter unless their address is known.To address this issue, Dublin City Council has undertaken a project to digitize the electoral lists 1898-1915 as part of the City Council's activities during the Decade of Commemorations. To date, the Dublin City Electoral Lists for 1908-1915 have been digitised and a fully searchable database with over 400,000 records has been made freely available online. The project is directed by Dublin City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark. Scanning of Dublin City Electoral Lists is by Informa Ireland; OCR and production of database by John Grenham.As recipients of the Decade of Centenaries award, Dublin City Library and Archive was provided with best practice guidance and digital preservation services by digital archivists from the DRI.  The 1915 Electoral Rolls & associated database was prepared for ingestion into the DRI and is now displayed at repository.dri.ie alongside the other award winning collections from National Irish Visual Arts Library and the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives.The Decade of Centenaries award was funded by the Irish Research Council through their New Foundations Programme and the presentation to award winners was made by theDirector of the Irish Research Council, Dr Eucharia Meehan, during the Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities  Conference in Croke Park, 25 June 2015.

Databases.dublincity.ie gives access to a variety of databases and allows for the cross-searching of a number of databases produced by Dublin City Libraries and Archive