The Digital Repository of Ireland is pleased to welcome Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) as our newest member!
The Digital Repository of Ireland is pleased to welcome Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) as our newest member!
TII hold the records of archaeological excavations commissioned by the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) during Ireland’s infrastructure building programme between 2001 and 2016. The Digital Repository of Ireland is a national trusted digital repository for arts, humanities and social sciences and a central access point for countless digital heritage collections.
Last October, DRI, TII and the Discovery Programme launched TII’s Digital Heritage Collections, a rich collection of archaeological material from TII’s work over the last two decades.
The TII Digital Heritage Collections provide a fascinating opportunity to explore Ireland’s rich archaeological heritage from every time period and every region. Particular items of interest include:
– Mesolithic fish traps from Clowanstown, which are on display in the National Museum Ireland
– The Bronze Age village of Ballybrowney in County Cork
– A Tudor burial discovered outside Trinity College during excavations for Luas Cross City
Commenting on TII’s new membership, DRI Director Natalie Harrower said:
“We are absolutely thrilled to announce Transport Infrastructure Ireland as our first official full member under DRI’s new Membership scheme. By joining DRI, TII demonstrates its serious investment in providing long-term, wide public access to its vast array of archaeological data. Last year’s collaboration with the TII and the Discovery Programme to launch the TII Digital Heritage Collections in DRI was a wonderful joint effort in digital stewardship and data sharing, and we look forward to working with TII to steward a steady stream of new objects in the coming years.”
Rónán Swan, Head of Archaeology and Heritage at TII, also commented:
“TII is strongly committed to the open data strategy in operation across the public sector and is very excited at the prospect of enhancing and enlarging the number of archaeology and related datasets available through the TII Digital Heritage Collections. As a full member we can truly capitalise on the expertise available through the DRI and ensure that the wealth of new archaeological information that has been accumulated since 2001 benefits the general public and heritage professionals to the greatest extent possible.”
Since launching in 2015, DRI has made digital collections from a variety of cultural and academic institutions available to both researchers and the general public. The Digital Heritage Collections are part of DRI’s remit in facilitating sharing and visibility of Ireland’s digital cultural heritage.
By joining DRI, TII will benefit from and contribute to a robust e-infrastructure for data archiving and preservation, as well as a community network for the exchange of ideas, approaches, and best practices.
The DRI Membership scheme will be officially launched in February 2018. For more information, follow DRI’s News stream at http://dri.ie/news, and/or subscribe to the Friends of DRI mailing list: http://dri.ie/contact
