A
submission to the National Library of Ireland's Strategic Plan 2007-2009
by
Colm Cochrane, Chairman,
Council
of Irish Genealogical Organisations
CIGO
very much welcomes this opportunity to submit its views in relation to
the future direction of policy at the National Library of Ireland through
the creation of its forthcoming Strategic Plan 2007-2009 .
CIGO
is an umbrella group for the various organisations involved in Irish genealogical
research. It was formed in 1992 as the GRO-Users' Group as a response
to a government decision to relocate the General Register Office outside
Dublin. The co-operation that was possible in the GRO Users' Group was
seen as something that could have long-term benefits for Irish genealogy
and in 1994 it took the new name of CIGO.
Having
canvassed our member organisations, there are two main issues that arise,
which relate to parish registers and self-service access to microfilm
resources.
Parish
Registers: Feedback from
the membership of our constituent organisations tells us that readers
at the National Library feel somewhat frustrated that RC parish registers
are not filmed beyond 1880. Also, that for some urban areas there are
gaps in what has been filmed. This is particularly so in Dublin amongst
the various city parishes created in the later 19 th century. CIGO would
support a plan to film parish registers for the post-1880 period and
those for parishes not already filmed.
Complete
closure of access to the films for the diocese of Cashel & Emly
is also an issue raised often at our meetings. This has now been compounded
by the arbitrary rules of access applied to the films for the diocese
of Cloyne. Could this issue be looked at again?
Self
Service Access: It is hoped that the Strategic Plan will include
provision for the promised 'Self-Service Area' for NLI genealogy holdings.
Self-service access, in a controlled area, to the NLI's collection of
microfilms would mean that time spent there was more efficiently used.
We would envisage that such access would apply to microfilm copies of
parish registers, newspapers and the various collections of manuscripts.
At the same point of access would be PC terminals for databases and
Internet genealogy websites. Finally, the Library's Genealogy Advisory
Service should also be located within the same area.
30th June 2006
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