Ireland welcomes visitors to WW1 Roadshow
Following last week's appeal for people to search their attics and under the bed for World War One memorabilia, staff from the National Library of Ireland and Europeana are expecting to see a rich variety of family objects and stories today . The material brought to the Library will be digitised on the spot and people are then free to bring them home with them.
Based on previous roadshows in Germany, Luxembourg, and the UK, memorabilia could include photographs, letters, postcards, medals, coins, keepsakes, diaries, sketches, army discharge papers, recordings and other items belonging to those who experienced World War One. During the day, cataloguing and digitisation teams will be photographing items and recording the personal stories behind them.
People unable to attend the roadshows, or who have large amounts of material, are being invited to digitally photograph their items and upload them to the www.europeana1914-1918.eu website. The website features a step-by-step guide to the process.
Today's World War One Family History Roadshow is being organised in conjunction with Oxford University and Europeana (Europe's digital library, museum and archive). Europeana is building the first ever online European archive of private stories and documents from World War One in time for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in 1914.
The World War One Family History Roadshow is the first of a series of events taking place in cities and town around Ireland in the coming months. At today's roadshow, which continues until 7pm, the National Library will have historians and experts on hand to talk to visitors about the significance of their finds. Once scanned, the material will be uploaded to the Europeana 1914-1918 website.
Commenting on the project, Katherine McSharry, Head of Services, National Library of Ireland said that as the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War approaches, it is vital that we preserve precious documents and other memorabilia in digital format for future generations of historians, genealogists, schools and cultural organisations in remembrance of the war and its effect on people's lives.
"Digitisation will ensure that World War One-related materials are not destroyed or thrown away. It will also allow the information in those materials to be incorporated into apps for smartphones and tablets that will bring history alive for people in contemporary ways.
"The Europeana 1914-1918 project will give universities, colleges, museums, galleries, archives, libraries, the creative industries and schools the opportunity to work together with the public to create new and exciting ways of considering the historical, political and social legacy of the World War One through innovative digital technologies", Ms McSharry added.
Among those attending today's event are Tom Burke MBE, Chair of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, which has a large archive of World War One memorabilia in the Dublin City Archive, Pearse Street, focusing on the personal stories of those who fought and died; Paddy Reid, maternal grandson of Patrick O'Neill, who fought in the Battle of Passchendaele, and Jon Purday, Europeana Head of Communications.
Speaking in advance of the today's event, Jon Purday said that memorabilia and stories are kept by families for a while but, after a century, their significance starts to fade. "That is why Europeana, which is collecting material across Europe, is so important. The Europeana team hope that the National Library of Ireland series of roadshows will give people the opportunity to share their memories, photographs and diaries with future generations while learning about the sacrifices their ancestors made", Mr Purday added.
The Europeana project which is being rolled out in the UK, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland this year, aims to create a unique pan-European virtual archive of World War One that is available to everyone. The project has already proved hugely successful in Germany and in the UK, where it was led by Oxford University. The University continues to lead the project in terms of digital training and cataloguing expertise for Europeana roadshow events across Europe.
In 2011, more than 25,000 digital images were recorded from nine family history roadshows held in major cities across Germany. Among the images scanned and digitised were unpublished diaries, hand-drawn maps, portraits, sketches and photographs recording life under fire and on the home front.
For further information, or to request images of National Library of Ireland World War One memorabilia, please contact: Brenda O'Hanlon on 087 258 3292
Notes for editors:
Europeana is Europe's digital library, archive and museum and is based in The Hague in the national library of the Netherlands. It launched its 1914-1918 family history project in Germany in 2011 to collect memorabilia and family stories from combat and the home front. The project is being rolled out across 10 countries in Europe to create a unique pan-European virtual archive of World War One. www.europeana1914-1918.eu
In the UK Oxford University began the initiative in 2006 when it asked people across Britain to bring family letters, photographs and keepsakes from the war to be digitised. The success of the initiative – which became the Great War Archive – encouraged Europeana 1914-1918 to roll out the scheme in Germany in 2011, and across Luxembourg, the UK, Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark and Belgium in 2012. Oxford University continues to lead the project in terms of digital training and cataloguing expertise during roadshow events across Europe.