I'm just out of the latest PRONI (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) stakeholder forum meeting, chaired by Stephen Scarth, who reflected both on current developments and on the most extraordinary year for the archive experienced in many a year, with it celebrating its centenary as Northern Ireland's national archive.
The big topical news item was a presentation by Janet Hancock on PRONI's new onsite Axiel based catalogue system, which it is hoped will be rolled out in the search room in January/February, pending some last minute tweaks. This will replace the current Calm based system, as a more modern catalogue system, with additional functionality. Some key points:
- To log in you will need to use the details on your visitor pass (which you would currently use to order up specific items to consult on site). If you arrive for the first time at PRONI and get a user pass, you should be able to access the new catalogue system straight away. I did also ask about a scenario where someone might forget to bring a pass (it's happened to me once, travelling from Scotland!), and how might someone gain access then? I was advised that that is something they will still need to look at in terms of offering full search functionality (e.g. digital records) - for the moment, just make sure you bring your pass!
- When you perform a search in the catalogue, results will be displayed with an option to view the archival hierarchy within which an item sits (i.e. the piece, the folio, etc).
- There will be some ability to filter results - for example, to only orderable items, to digital only items, to entries that can only be viewed at a table ("Table") or those on microfilm ("Booth").
- As is the current limit, a maximum of five entries can be lifted out at a time, but once you return them a further five can be ordered, and so on.
- If an item is already out, this will be identified.
- There is a separate "Request a Will" screen, to allow you to order up copies of historic wills on site, but this remains based on the current calendar set up from 1858-1965. (The suggested update to this calendar may still be some time off due to other pressures on PRONI just now)
The online PRONI catalogue will remain the same, and any updates to the onsite Axiel system will be immediately available online, within the restrictions of the online system (e.g. you can't view some digitial items online, such as church records).
From what I have seen, the new Axiel system does look considerably more user friendly, with the current Calm system being very much an archivist's catalogue. A genie colleague, Gillian Hunt, asked if this would be rolled online at any stage, and the short answer is no. Down the line it is possible that the online catalogue may well be looked at as a separate exercise, but it is not on the cards for now.
Stephen then gave a round up of PRONI's activites this year. From the Good Friday Agreement going on tour around the Province (on loan from TNA in England), and the archive's attendance at the Balmoral Show for the first time in eight years, to centenary celebration events for both the public and staff, at which comedian Tim McGarry's description of the archive will forever go down in history (if not in this blog post, for those of a sensitive disposition!), it has been one hell of a year for PRONI. Amongst other big events there was the Archives and Records Assopciaiton (ARA) Conference at the end of August/start of September (first time in Belfast since 2007, with 300 attendees, all well filled with curry!), a first ever royal visit (from the Duke of Gloucester), and with more to come, including a carol service at PRONI next week, at which a song celebrating the archive's centenary will be performed, amongst others.
PRONI has learned a lot from this year that it intends to take forward for future themed years (and for which we had a brief preview of subjects), including the coherence of a branded programme, effective messaging to partners and paymasters, strengths and weaknesses of social media, the importance of partnerships and collaborations, and much more. There will also be a book next year looking at PRONI's one hundred years, and ongoing articles and press coverage of PRONI's activities (including a forthcoming article on the history of PRONI in the next Familia journal from the Ulster Historical Foundation, and an article by yours truly in the next edition of WDYTYA magazine). I commented that from here in Scotland, we can only look on in envy at how all of this can be done, a lesson that other facilities can easily be inspired by, and learn from in terms of best practice.
Congratulations to PRONI, and here's to the next century!
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
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