BOMB ARCHIVE MATERIAL COLLATED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
Bomb archive material collated for future generations
BY ZOE TUNNEY
THE Western Education and Library Board is putting together a database of material relating to the Omagh bomb which will be available for people to access at the town's Library Headquarters.
It is hoped that schoolchildren, academics, researchers and visitors to the town will be able to come to the archive and access any information relating to the incident. There have already been some visitors who have asked to see a book of condolence that they signed in their hometown.
Evelyn Johns is in charge of the project which includes books of condolence, sympathy cards, local, national and international newspaper cuttings and even cards sent from people on floral tributes.
Evelyn got involved in the archive through the Masters Degree she is taking in Information and Library Studies. She says it will be some time before everything is catalogued and archived for preservation.
"It is a very, very slow process," she explains, "The preservation side is the most important aspect.
"For example every staple has to be taken out of paper because they rust, everything has to be kept in plastic files and some paperwork covered in film."
In the course of her research Evelyn has visited the world-renowned Linenhall Library Political Collection and spoken to professional archivists there.
"In their experience at Linenhall, it is not this generation of the victims' families that would come to view such an archive but the children and grandchildren of the next. It is too fresh in the families' minds now."
The costly project has been part funded by the Department of Education, and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure but it is now seeking more finance to update software and hardware and to purchase the right database.
It is hoped the database will be available for access by the end of September.
BY ZOE TUNNEY
THE Western Education and Library Board is putting together a database of material relating to the Omagh bomb which will be available for people to access at the town's Library Headquarters.
It is hoped that schoolchildren, academics, researchers and visitors to the town will be able to come to the archive and access any information relating to the incident. There have already been some visitors who have asked to see a book of condolence that they signed in their hometown.
Evelyn Johns is in charge of the project which includes books of condolence, sympathy cards, local, national and international newspaper cuttings and even cards sent from people on floral tributes.
Evelyn got involved in the archive through the Masters Degree she is taking in Information and Library Studies. She says it will be some time before everything is catalogued and archived for preservation.
"It is a very, very slow process," she explains, "The preservation side is the most important aspect.
"For example every staple has to be taken out of paper because they rust, everything has to be kept in plastic files and some paperwork covered in film."
In the course of her research Evelyn has visited the world-renowned Linenhall Library Political Collection and spoken to professional archivists there.
"In their experience at Linenhall, it is not this generation of the victims' families that would come to view such an archive but the children and grandchildren of the next. It is too fresh in the families' minds now."
The costly project has been part funded by the Department of Education, and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure but it is now seeking more finance to update software and hardware and to purchase the right database.
It is hoped the database will be available for access by the end of September.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1556
Published Date: 31-Jul-03
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