NEW COMMUNITY ARCHIVE LAUNCHED ON BARGE
A TV Celeb., an MLA, a Lord Mayor and a Mayor joined 80 people on board the MV Confiance to launch a new Community Archive.
Speaking today at the launch of the new Community Archive on the Lagan Legacy Barge, MLA Mr. Gregory Campbell, Culture Minister, said: “This is an innovative new website which makes it easier to find photographs, documents or oral history information on local communities." The barge, MV Confiance, was also privileged to welcome BBC Northern Ireland's top news presenter, Donna Traynor on board. Donna introduced the speakers and expressed her enthusiastic interest in the archive project.
Lagan Legacy founder and skipper, Derek Booker, chats with BBC NI's Donna Traynor on board MV Confiance.
Culture Minister Gregory Campbell said “Community archives represent a bottom-up approach to documenting our heritage, they are the grass roots activities of recording and exploring history. In other words, they are created by communities and are held in communities, often outside the formal heritage sector." Mr Campbell added “The recent growth in community archives and a new realisation of their value and importance has made it necessary to find a way of bringing them together into a web portal so that stories can be shared."
Mr Campbell exlplained that the community archive project as it develops will help promote the use of the rich collections of material in museums, libraries and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Collections of material, written, visual and oral, are what constitutes a community archive which complement the formal historical record and bring to life individuals, communities and events that would otherwise lie dormant.
Guests on the MV Confiance enjoy a tasty buffet.
The Minister concluded: “Many of us have family documents stored in boxes in the attic. Community groups are now collecting and digitising such information so that the local history and personal stories are not lost.
“A community archive brings together people of all ages, experience and ability to understand and celebrate the communities to which they belong. In doing so, contributors not only learn new skills which can be used for the whole community but they are leaving a legacy for future generations to come.”
Guests listen to the speakers on MV Confiance.
Story to be continued.