Other Archives

 
Life Story Archives

The Irish Qualitative Data Archive primarily archives data produced by researchers. There are however many other sources of information on everyday lives.

Gaelic Athletic Association Oral History Project
The GAA Oral History Project, based in Boston College-Ireland, has been commissioned by the GAA as part of its 125th Anniversary celebrations. The project aims to record the fullest possible picture of what the GAA has meant to the Irish people, in their own words. The project is recording face-to-face interviews with thousands of people in Ireland and internationally, including GAA members and supporters and anyone who has ever had any contact or involvement with the GAA. Audio from selected inteviews, along with pictures and stories, can be accessed on their webpage.

Irish Confraternities and Parish Website and database
The website above is part of a project whose aim is to document and study the contribution of parish confraternities to the religious and social history of modern Ireland. The objectives included the gathering of information on all traceable confraternities and associations in parishes throughout Ireland between approximately 1775 and 1965 in diocesan, religious and other archives. A bibliography of sources has been compiled, and a catalogue of memorabilia and objects associated with confraternities drawn up. A collection of printed materials, including manuals and certificates, is being handed over to the Russell Library in Maynooth College for curation. Selected oral recollections of confraternity members are also being preserved.

Studs Turkel
Over almost fifty years, Studs Turkel collected oral histories of the ordinary American, many of which he broadcast in a weekly radio show or produced in book form. The Chicago Historical Society has made available on it’s website a selection of Stud Terkel’s recordings from his radio program and his book research.

Story Corp
StoryCorps is a nonprofit organisation that has helped more than 50000 Americans record their stories. They say that “since 2003, over 50,000 everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the Library of Congress. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to our weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and on our Listen pages.”

Hearing Voices
Hearing Voices is a collective of independent radio producers headquartered in Montana, and residing across the U.S.A. Since 2001 they have produced 250+ stories and specials. We are funded by CPB, NEA and others. They say that there stories are drawn from “broadcasts, podcasts, sound-portraits, slam poets, features, found-sound, audio archives, audio art and docs.”

Transom.org
Transom.org describes itself as “an experiment in channelling new work and voices to public radio through the Internet, and for discussing that work, and encouraging more. We've designed Transom.org as a performance space, an open editorial session, an audition stage, a library, and a hangout. Our purpose is to create a worthy Internet site and make public radio better.”
The Transom site has a very good section on tools (digital recorders etc.) that they recommend for recording audio.

This American Life
This American Life is a popular public radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio. The shows features interviews, essays, memoirs, field recordings and found footage, which are broadcast each week on a theme. Old shows are available for listening online or can be bought via itunes.
 

Oral History Resources
 
Oral History Network of Ireland
Our aim is to promote the collection, preservation and use of recorded memories of the past throughout Ireland. We hope to bring together oral historians, and all those people interested in our heritage, folklore, social and local history from all around the country, to explore and extend the role of oral history in our society. We wish to encourage and foster new and existing projects of all sizes in communities around Ireland, and to offer advice and support to those wishing to learn more about collecting oral history.
 
 
Qualitative Data Archives

Narratives of Migration and Return
This unique project explores the experiences of 92 emigrants, from all parts of Ireland and all kinds of backgrounds, in their own words. The project, funded by the Higher Education Authority North-South Programme, was conducted by researchers based in the Department of Geography (University College Cork) and the Centre for Migration Studies (Omagh) and School of History, Queen’s University Belfast. The interdisciplinary project team also involved the Department of Sociology (University of Limerick). An oral archive of 92 life narratives has been created and will be available to researchers into the future.

Archives of Irish America
The Archives of Irish America is a repository of primary research materials at New York University that aims to transform our understanding of the Irish migration experience and the distillation of American Irish ethnicity over the past century.

Northern Ireland Qualitative Archives (NIQA)
Based in Queens University Belfast, ARK is currently working on a new project to develop a Qualitative Archive based on Northern Ireland reflecting social and political changes and developments over the years. There are currently two archives in development: Qualitative Archive on Ageism and Qualitative Archive on Conflict.

ESDS Qualidata
ESDS Qualidata is a specialist service of the ESDS led by the UK Data Archive (the Archive) at the University of Essex. The service provides access and support for a range of social science qualitative datasets, promoting and facilitating increased and more effective use of data in research, learning and teaching. The work builds on Qualidata's expertise and international reputation in this area.

Timescapes
Timescapes was the first major qualitative longitudinal study to be funded in the UK, and explored how personal and family relationships develop and change over time. Our researchers focused on relationships with significant others: parents, grandparents, siblings, children, partners, friends and lovers. We investigated how these relationships affected people's well-being and life chances, and considered the implications for the long term resourcing of families.

Mass-Observation Archive
The Mass Observation Archive specialises in material about everyday life in Britain. It contains papers generated by the original Mass Observation social research organisation (1937 to early 1950s), and newer material collected continuously since 1981. The Archive is in the care of the University of Sussex and is housed in the Library in Special Collections.

Finnish Social Science Data Archive
The Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD) is a national resource centre for social science research and teaching. FSD archives, promotes and disseminates digital research data for research, teaching and learning purposes. The archive is funded by the Ministry of Education and is a separate unit of the University of Tampere.

Danish Data Archive (DDA)
The Danish Data Archive (DDA) is the national social science data archive. DDA is primaily used by researchers and students wanting access to data materials created by Danish researchers or about Denmark.
 
The Murray Research Centre
The Henry A. Murray Research Archive is Harvard's endowed, permanent repository for quantitative and qualitative research data at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, and provides physical storage for the entire IQSS Dataverse Network. Our collection comprises over 100 terabytes of data, audio, and video. We preserve in perpetuity all types of data of interest to the research community, including numerical, video, audio, interview notes, and other data. We accept data deposits through this web site, which is powered by our Dataverse Network software.
 
Archive for Life Course Research (ALLF)
The "Archive for Life Course Research" is part of the Special Collaborative Center 186 "Status Passages and Risks in the Life Course" at the University of Bremen. It was established to archive the voluminous qualitative data material that the Sfb-projects have collected during a period of more than 10 years. This data material is now available for secondary analysis and reanalysis.

Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS)
FORS is as a national centre for preserving and disseminating for reuse significant collections of qualitative data produced within Switzerland.
 
Other Digital Archives in Ireland

An Foras Feasa: the Institute for Research in Irish Historical and Cultural Traditions
An Foras Feasa is a consortium of four institutions, formally established in 2006, comprising staff from Humanities and Computer Science departments in NUIM, DCU, DKIT and SPCD; it currently has over 70 members. Foras Feasa supports individual and collaborative research projects in the areas of Humanities and Technology, and represents a unique contribution of traditional knowledge and dynamic innovation.
 
Ireland Digital Humanities Observatory, Royal Irish Academy
The Digital Humanities Observatory (DHO) is an all-island digital humanities collaboratory working with Humanities Serving Irish Society (HSIS), national, European, and international partners to further e-scholarship. The DHO is a knowledge resource providing outreach and education on a broad range of digital humanities topics. It provides data management, curation, and discovery services supporting the long-term access to, and greater exploitation of, digital resources in the creation of new models, methodologies and paradigms for 21st century scholarship.
 
Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive UCD
The IVRLA is a digital Humanities and Social Sciences repository, which draws on the extensive resources of archival and rare material held in University College Dublin, and allows researchers to access this material in a digitised format, from a single virtual location. The material is arranged in curated collections which can be browsed or searched. As well as the collections, the IVRLA offers a series of 17 exciting research projects which demonstrate the potential of the IVRLA as a significant resource for scholars.
 
Census National Archives
The household returns and ancillary records for the censuses of Ireland of 1901 and 1911, which are in the custody of the National Archives of Ireland, represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage. Read more about their digitisation. All thirty-two counties for 1901 and 1911, searchable by all information categories, are now available on this site. Corrections and improvements will be ongoing, and we are very grateful to all users who have submitted corrections to us. A small amount of material is missing from the site, and will be placed online as soon as possible.
 
Digital Archives Outside Ireland

Arts and Humanities Data Service
A UK national service aiding the discovery, creation and preservation of digital resources in and for research, teaching and learning in the arts and humanities.

Digital Collections and Research
Digital Collections at the University of Maryland Libraries supports the teaching and research mission of the university by facilitating access to digital collections, information, and knowledge. This is accomplished through enhancing access to selected library resources through the development, maintenance, and preservation of digital collections; by serving as a knowledge resource within the university for digital library issues and development; by participating in national and international initiatives which further the development of new forms of scholarly communication, tools, standards, and applications; and by providing training and support in digital library standards and formats.