Ulster Uni To Establish £1.2m Digital Archive

The University of Ulster is to establish a £1.2m digital archive project at its Magee campus.

The 'Accounts of the Conflict' project will be housed at the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), and will preserve stories related to Northern Ireland and the Troubles.

Organisations, groups and individuals will be able to deposit digital copies of stories with the new archive.

The project received £948,000 from the European Union’s PEACE lll programme.

Planned over the next two years, it will create three new positions, and involve nine INCORE staff members with expertise in story-telling, resource building, archiving and project administration.

The project will link to the existing CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) Web site.

Welcoming the investment, Professor Richard Barnett, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster, said: "Part of the remit of the University of Ulster is to focus and deepen our contribution to the social and cultural development of Northern Ireland. Over many years, staff members of the university have been at the forefront of research on the conflict in the region. Accounts of the Conflict will complement that research and also be an important part of the legacy of the Troubles."

Professor Brandon Hamber, Director of INCORE, said: "This is an important development in the area of story-telling related to life in Northern Ireland and the border region during the conflict. While there has already been much good work done in story-telling, often it has been difficult to locate information about the stories that have been collected or to access the stories themselves.

"A central archive, based within the University of Ulster, will help to improve knowledge about the stories, and also assist in the dissemination of the material, where permissions have been granted."

(IT/CD)