We are delighted to announce that Fingal County Council has become the newest member of the Digital Repository of Ireland. Fingal County Libraries have significant digital collections of local and national interest, with close to a thousand images and hundreds of accompanying catalogue records. Especially notable among these is the Fingal 1916 collection, which includes images relating to Fingal in 1916, gathered at various collection days throughout 2016.
DRI Director Natalie Harrower welcomed our latest new member:
Fingal County Council has been a leader in digital services at the local level, and contributed expertise and advice to the Digital Repository of Ireland during its creation, as an early member of DRI’s original stakeholder advisory group. They have been at the forefront of efforts across Ireland to make government data open and accessible, and demonstrate attentiveness to best practice. Alongside this, of course, Fingal County Libraries have significant collections of local and national interest, and we very much look forward to working with them to preserve and provide access to these collections over the long term. In particular, their Fingal 1916 collection will sit wonderfully alongside DRI’s own 1916 collections, built under the Inspiring Ireland 1916 and Frongoch 1916 projects. We are very pleased to welcome Fingal County Libraries to the DRI membership.
Fingal County Librarian, Betty Boardman said of this exciting new partnership:
Fingal Libraries looks forward to working with the DRI and its network of professionals and experts in the area of digital preservation and access. Our membership of the DRI will open up our collections to a wider audience and ensure that they are available to future generations.
County Archivist, Karen de Lacey added:
Fingal Archives are delighted to join the DRI. Membership will allow us to share and preserve our digital collections and we look forward to working with other DRI members and learning from their experience.
DRI looks forward to sharing content from the Fingal collections over the coming months, so keep an eye on our Twitter feed!
