Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

VRTI Director Peter Crooks gives ARA 2023 Conference keynote

On Friday 1 September 2023 VRTI Director Peter Crooks delivered a keynote address at the Archives and Records Association (ARA)’s 2023 annual conference “Communities” held in Belfast.

Sharing the striking image above of the Four Courts ablaze in 1922 from TCD Research Collections (IE TCD MS 7890/1/37), Peter noted that

“the Virtual Treasury is the outcome of deep collaboration with and between a community of archival partners. We are a child of the internet age and the web is the medium for providing public access globally. The Treasury is a coalition that operates at the intersection of public history, cultural heritage and computer science. Perhaps what is most distinctive about the Treasury is its fundamental ethos — to democratize access to Ireland’s deep history through deepening collaborations at home and abroad, and through innovating technologies.”

[Peter Crooks delivering his keynote address. Photos courtesy of Tim Murtagh]

Peter was introduced by Stephen Scarth, Head of Public Services at PRONI, who is Honorary Treasurer of the ARA (UK & Ireland).

Last November, ARA awarded the VRTI the prestigious Ellis Prize.

Virtual Treasury Team

[VRTI team and colleagues from the ADAPT Centre, The Library Trinity College, ARA, and the National Archives posing with the Ellis Prize in the RSAI Library. Photo courtesy of Chris Bellew / Fennell Photography.]

[Democratizing access through innovating technologies — Image courtesy of VRTI]

Date
Monday, 4 September 2023, 4:04 PM

Author
Jean-Philippe SanGiovanni