Introducing the Northern Ireland Community Archive

WHAT IS AN ARCHIVE?

Community archives are collections of stories, photographs, documents, audio recordings and film that have been captured by a community as a record of their cultural heritage and identity. There are a large number and wide range of groups involved in community archive activities. Community archives may be based in community centres, historical societies, schools, libraries, museums and public archives.

HOW TO USE THE ARCHIVE

You can travel around this site in several ways.

On all pages:

The Search button is highlighted in Red Box.Search button on the top right hand corner of the screen allows you to search for posts and items across the whole site – in the Projects, Archives, Resources and What’s On pages. The menu bar across the top of the screen will take you into each of the different pages.

The Home page:

The central ‘slider’ rotates between different story trails. Each story trail will lead you across Northern Ireland following specific themes. If you do not wish to wait for the slider, there is a menu below the slider to take you directly to each story trail. The Home page also includes contact information and links to find out about each of the museums in the Causeway Coast and Glens. It also highlights the newest content on the site.

The What’s On page:

The What’s On page contains current and future fliers and notices relating to exhibitions and events, as well as the current Museum Service What’s On guide (covering April-August, or September-March each year).

The Projects, Archive and Resources pages:

All entries on these pages can be sorted alphabetically, or by date, using the drop-down Sort by drop-down filter is highlighted in Red Box.filter menu near the top left hand side of the page. There is also a drop-down filter to select how many posts you’d like to view at a time. On the right hand side of the page there is a Page search is highlighted in Red Box.Search button which will search for entries only within the current area (e.g. within Projects). There are further drop-down Drop-down filters are highlighted in Red Box.filters to allow you to sort entries by project name, collection name, or owner. On the Archive page, there is also the option to Media type filters are highlighted in Red Box.filter content by media type (documents, photos, videos, audio recordings). The Projects page documents current and past projects, providing background, progress and summary information. The Archive page is an accessible digital collection of images, videos and sound recordings from museum and community collections. The Resources page provides digital versions of books, booklets, heritage trails, exhibition panels and other learning resources that may be downloaded.

The Contact Us page:

Postal, phone and email details for the site administrators, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services, are available through the Contact Us page. You can also send us a message directly from the page using the contact form.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE ARCHIVE

The Northern Ireland Community Archive is administered by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Museum Services. The content is primarily generated by Museum Services and our communities across the borough. However, other organisations create and post content too. If you have material you’d like us to share through the archive, or to become a contributor, and we'd love to hear from you! For more information or to get involved contact as at cms@causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk or on (028) 2766 0230.