Presented as part of "Realising the Opportunities of Digital Humanities" (#RODH2012) Oct 23-25, 2012, Ireland. More info: www.dri.ie/programme

1. Digitisation at Scale:
the Abbey Theatre Archive, 1894-2037
John Cox, University Librarian, NUI Galway
James Hardiman Library

2. Outline
• Genesis
• Scope of the project
• Some challenges
• Next steps
• Significance for digital humanities
James Hardiman Library

3. Genesis
• Partnership opportunity
• NUI Galway:
– research and teaching strengths in theatre and drama
– digital humanities focus
– substantial theatre archive holdings
• Abbey Theatre:
– extensive archive
– limited cataloguing and access
– long-term preservation
James Hardiman Library

4. Project Scope
• Digitise, catalogue and publish the archive online
• Mix of paper, audio and video
• 1.9 million pages, 500 hours of video, 2500 hours of audio
• Production, publicity, administrative and financial records
• Complete the retrospective digitisation in three years
• Publish annual additions
James Hardiman Library

5. Some Challenges
• Range of material types, formats, equipment
• Some fragile material
• Speed of throughput
• Quality control
• Some categories subject to 30-year rule
• Copyright
• Editorial function
• File storage
• Access management
James Hardiman Library

6. Next Steps
• 700,000 pages to be digitised by September 2013
• Will include Master Programmes for 4,300 productions, video
recordings of 430 productions, Audio Cues, Minute
Books, Stage and Lighting Designs, Administrative Records
and Logbooks of Plays Received by the Abbey
• Search interface to be developed in interim
• Digital resource will be accessible at …
James Hardiman Library

7. … new Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Research Building, NUI Galway…
… along with other
theatre archives, eg
Druid Theatre,
Taibhdhearc na
Gaillimhe, Lyric
Players’ Theatre,
papers of Thomas
Kilroy, Shields
Family Collection
James Hardiman Library

8. Significance for Digital Humanities
• Preservation of major research archive
• Online access and metadata will enable new discoveries
within the archive
• New insights into the history of Irish drama and Irish writing
• New modes of research, multimedia linkage, linked data
• Faster workflows for researchers and archivists
• Enhanced partnership between libraries and scholars
James Hardiman Library

9. For More Information…
www.nuigalway.ie/abbey-digital-archive-partnership
James Hardiman Library