WHAT IS COMMUNITY SPIRIT?
Community Spirit is a project to make North West archive catalogues freely
available and searchable online.
The six month project began in November 2004.
Part of the Access to Archives (A2A) project to create an online national
archives catalogue,
Community Spirit has converted 23,281 pages of catalogued Parish Registers and
Local Government
records for the A2A website: www.a2a.org.uk
Local authority archive services based in Barrow, Bolton, Bury, Carlisle,
Chester, Kendal, Manchester,
Oldham, Rochdale, Preston, Stockport, Whitehaven, Wigan and Wirral have all
contributed catalogues.
Parish Registers and Local Government records are the heart and minds of past
communities and of
particular value to family historians looking not only for names and dates in
such as Parish Registers,
but for the resources that will enable them to add life, colour and insight into
the everyday lives of
ancestors.
Helping and assisting family historians to make the most of their interest,
or alternatively, to take first
steps into family history research, this web site has been created to show the
usefulness of archive
records and to show how genealogy can be a fascinating and fun activity.
To help those wanting to take first steps into family history research, as
well as those who are already
addicted, this web site has been created to show how archives can be used for
research and to show
how family history can be both fascinating, and fun.
Community Spirit complements two previous North West projects:
Mills, Mansions & Cornershops which converted business, industry, family and estate archives catalogues.
Our Mutual Friends In The North which converted the catalogued records of co-operative and friendly societies, political parties, cultural societies and Nonconformist churches.
Community Spirit Project Manager: Alex Hodge
Outreach Officer and Web content writer: Jenny Roche
BACKGROUND TO A2A www.a2a.org.uk
Access To Archives is a project to create a national, virtual archive catalogue on the World Wide Web which is accessible and searchable from one gateway.
Paper catalogues of archives around the country are being converted to electronic format.
This runs alongside similar projects in Scotland (SCAN http://www.scan.org.uk/) and the higher education sector (AIM25 http://www.aim25.ac.uk/ and the Archives Hub (http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/)
Launched in 2001 there have been 5.1 million a2a searches and 11.9 million catalogue downloads (as at Dec 2004) The North West is consistently one of the most frequently searched region
COMMUNITY SPIRIT
CONSORTIUM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS
Community Spirit A2A in the North West Consortium:
North West Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
North West Regional Archive Council
http://www.northwestarchives.org.uk/
Local government, local and national museums, university and business archives
Consortium members
Lead partner - Greater Manchester County Record Office
Website: http://www.gmcro.co.uk
Archives contributing catalogues are:
Bolton Archives and Local Studies
Bury Archive Service
Website: http://www.bury.gov.uk/Bury/CouncilServices/Leisure/Archives/default.asp
Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies
Website: http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Recordoffice/recordofficehome.htm
Cumbria Archive Service
Website: http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives
Lancashire Record Office
Website: http://www.archives.lancashire.gov.uk/
Manchester Archives and Local Studies
Website: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/libraries/arls/
Oldham Local Studies and Archives
Website: http://www.oldham.gov.uk/community/local_studies.htm
Rochdale Local Studies Library
Website: http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/Living/Libraries.asp?URL=local
Stockport Archives and Local Studies
Website: http://www.gmcro.co.uk/guides/gmguide/reposit.htm
Wigan Archive Service
Website: http://www.wlct.org/Culture/Heritage/archives.htm
Wirral Archive Service
Website: http://www.wirral-libraries.net/archives/
Support members
The North West Museums, Libraries and Archives Council http://www.nwmlac.org.uk/
North West Regional Archive Council. Established in 2000 to create a regional archival viewpoint on national and regional developments – regional archival strategy
http://www.northwestarchives.org.uk/
Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. Formed in April 2000 to provide strategic leadership, authoritative advocacy and best practice advice to UK museums, archives and libraries. Their aim is to provide easier and wider access to archives.
