The Linen Hall Library’s Divided Society collection was officially launched yesterday for the public to access via a new dedicated resource website. Mallon Technology, who played an integral role in the digital capture of the project, attended the launch event which was hosted by former BBC Chief News Correspondent, Kate Adie.
Linen Hall Library’s Northern Ireland Political Collection (NIPC) is a unique resource of over a quarter of a million items, amassed over three decades. Hosting printed material relating to the ‘Troubles’. The collection documents the activities and views of all parties to the conflict, from paramilitaries to government as well as publications by organisations that were on the margins of the direct political process. The vast collection comprises of all manner of materials from stickers, leaflets, posters and Christmas cards to books, pamphlets, manifestos, photographs and audio–visual items.
The Divided Society: Northern Ireland 1990 – 1998 comprises a key section of the NIPC and is focused on the Northern Ireland conflict and Peace Process. The archive consists of over 500 titles, including over 900 political posters, ten exclusive essays, six educational toolkits and a video and audio gallery. To ensure the long–term preservation of the material contained in the collection and to improve access, the collection has been available online, via its own dedicated website.
The launch event was attended by a number of dignitaries from the political and archiving landscape in Northern Ireland. Ruth O’Kane, Services & Project Manager, who attended the event in the Northern Room at Linen Hall Library, said “we were delighted to have played a role in digitising this important collection and to see the collection launched to the public is the culmination of a lot of hard work and effort from staff at the Linen Hall Library. This resource is a fantastic addition to the library and will be preserved for the use of future generations, giving them insight and a perspective into life in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’.”
Mallon Technology played a key role in the project, having won the tender to digitally capture the periodic titles and posters of the Divided Society collection. The collection contained approximately 130,000 individual pages of various sizes and conditions. The collection was handled with great care and attention by our data capture technicians to ensure that the condition of the material was maintained at all times whilst capturing the highest quality images.
Of Mallon Technology’s contribution to the digitisation of the Divided Society collection, Gavin Carville, Project Manager at Linen Hall Library had this to say; “Mallon Technology have been great to work with throughout the Divided Society Project. They produced high–quality images and made sure that the material was returned in the order and condition they were dispatched in. They are an excellent supplier and I highly recommend them.”
To find out further information on the Divided Society collection or to view and access any of the collection, visit the Divided Societies dedicated resource website. To learn more about our role in the project or how our Archival Scanning service could assist your organisation, please get in touch with us.
