Queen Victoria’s Journals and other Material goes online

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

24 May 2012

The complete collection of Queen Victoria’s Journals is now available online. Launched on the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birthday by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace, the new website is part of a digitisation programme to make historic documents from the Royal Archives widely available for the first time.

The digitisation of 141 volumes of Queen Victoria’s private diaries has been carried out as a partnership between the Royal Archives, Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University and the online publisher, ProQuest. They can be accessed at www.queenvictoriasjournals.org

In addition to the digitisation of Queen Victoria’s Journals, the Royal Archives has undertaken the following projects in Diamond Jubilee year:

• An online partnership project has been undertaken with www.findmypast.co.uk so that the public may trace their ancestors who have worked for the Royal Household. Free access to the records, which range from the seventeenth century to 1920, will also be available in the National Archives’ Reading Rooms in Kew.

• A selection of Queen Victoria’s school copy books will be available for viewing at the National Archives at Kew for the first time.

• “Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook”, a website focused on Queen Victoria’s life and reign, including her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, was launched by Buckingham Palace in April 2012. It contains documents from the Royal Archives, paintings and photographs from the Royal Collection, as well as audio and film clips. See www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org.

• Over the Diamond Jubilee period, the Twitter account @QueenVictoriaRI will tweet selected excerpts from Queen Victoria’s Journals, illustrated by links to photographs, paintings and original documents. This account will run from 24th May until 7th June.

The release of this material is part of a long term programme to digitise and open up important historical material contained in this private archive. It is expected that these documents and materials will be of general public interest, and of particular value to universities, schools, academics and authors both in the UK and the Commonwealth, and to those wanting to trace their family history.

Source: http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2012/QueenVictoriasJournalslaunchedonline24May2012.aspx

Obituary: Jean-Pierre Wallot, former National Archivist

The Ottawa Citizen has published an obituary of Jean-Pierre Wallot, Canada’s former National Archivist, who died in late August at the age of 75.

• “He fought to preserve Canada’s memory; Wallot led effort to house archives properly” by Bruce Ward

Announcement from the Archives of Ontario

As of July 30th, Miriam McTiernan has resigned as Archivist of Ontario and is leaving the Ontario Public Service.

Ms. McTiernan was appointed Archivist of Ontario in March 2000. Since that time she has overseen several major initiatives, the most significant being the culmination of the organization’s move to a purpose-built facility on York University’s Keele campus.

Helping to create and implement the Archives and Recordkeeping Act, 2006 was another of Ms. McTiernan’s key achievements. The act is revitalizing recordkeeping across the Ontario government as well as providing a strong legislative base for the Archives of Ontario.

Providing proper archival storage for all of the Archives of Ontario’s holdings was a core priority for Ms. McTiernan. This is now being achieved, through the development of an award-winning partnership with offsite storage provider ArchivesONE, and the Archives’ new state of the art, archivally suitable building.

In her role, Ms. McTiernan was strongly focused on meeting the challenges of preserving and managing archival digital records. In recent years, the organization has made great strides in the critical field of long-term digital preservation.

Ms. McTiernan was also committed to expanding the organization’s outreach activities and educational programming, and these areas have grown incredibly. The new building’s dedicated classroom and exhibit areas are allowing for further engagement with a diverse range of partners and audiences.

Ms. McTiernan wishes to thank Archives staff members for their continued hard work and dedication, and those in the archival community for their support and interest in the Archives of Ontario.

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À compter du 30 juillet, Miriam McTiernan démissionne de son poste d’archiviste de l’Ontario et quitte la fonction publique de l’Ontario.

Mme McTiernan a été nommée archiviste de l’Ontario en mars 2000. Depuis cette date, elle a supervisé plusieurs grandes initiatives, en particulier le transfert de l’organisation vers un établissement construit à cette fin sur le campus Keele de l’Université York.

Une autre réalisation clé de Mme McTiernan a été de contribuer à l’élaboration et à la mise en œuvre de la Loi de 2006 sur les Archives publiques et la conservation des documents. Cette loi favorise la gestion des documents publics dans l’ensemble du gouvernement et donne un fondement législatif solide aux Archives de l’Ontario.

Permettre la conservation adéquate de tous les documents des Archives de l’Ontario a été l’une des grandes priorités de Mme McTiernan. Cet objectif est en passe d’être atteint grâce à l’établissement d’un partenariat primé avec le fournisseur de services d’entreposage hors site ArchivesONE et au nouveau bâtiment ultramoderne des Archives, idéalement adapté à la conservation des documents.

Dans son rôle d’archiviste, Mme McTiernan s’est essentiellement employée à répondre aux défis de la conservation et de la gestion des archives numériques. Au cours des dernières années, l’organisation a fait des progrès considérables dans le domaine crucial de la conservation à long terme des documents numériques.

Mme McTiernan s’est aussi attachée à élargir la gamme des activités de sensibilisation et d’éducation de l’organisation, et ces deux domaines ont connu une remarquable expansion. Dans le nouveau bâtiment, des espaces consacrés aux classes et aux expositions permettent de renforcer la participation de partenaires et de publics variés.

Mme McTiernan souhaite remercier les membres du personnel des Archives pour leur travail et leur dévouement sans faille, ainsi que la communauté des archives, pour son appui et son intérêt à l’égard des Archives de l’Ontario.