Clóliosta Digitisation

Digitisation is now a central plank in the NLI’s strategy. In the early years, available resources and the novelty of digitisation meant that projects were bespoke. A smaller number of high-interest items were digitised because of vulnerability, rarity, or demand. As time progressed and confidence grew, a more systematic approach developed. This can be seen in the Towards a Republic project that drew many collections together from the politically tumultuous period leading to Irish independence. The digitisation of these collections supported the commemoration of events in official publications, research, the media, and beyond.

Since the end of Towards a Republic, a diverse variety of small and large collections have been targeted for digitisation. One of the significant departures is a greater focus on printed materials. The NLI considers various criteria for digitisation including rarity, preservation, access demand etc. As part of this process, the Clóliosta collection was identified as a great project.

Digitising formats such as photographs, manuscripts, etc. has always presented the Studio with fresh and interesting challenges. However, it was clear from the report on the first tranche of Clóliosta books from the NLI’s Conservation team that we needed to consider bound materials more deeply. We had been able to create bespoke supports for bound archival materials, but this can be a time-consuming process. What we needed was a solution that allowed us to hold these books, some of them very fragile, in a way that didn’t damage them but still allowed the Studio’s new cameras to take high-quality images.

Consultation with the Conservation team, with Published Collections, and research into best practice elsewhere, led us to buying book cradles. These can support the book in a safe way and allow for the Fujifilm GFX100 cameras we use to be mounted directly to the cradle. Not only did this meet our requirements for safe handling and good imaging, but it also allowed us to easily set up new digitisation stations in previously unused space.

The combination of new cradles and cameras has produced excellent images from this collection. For the Digital Studio and the wider NLI, it has been a pleasure to see the Clóliosta material digitised in support of broader public access to the NLI’s Published Collections.

The Clóliosta is a listing of Irish language material printed before 1871. It was compiled by Professor Richard Sharpe of the University of Oxford. The NLI holds almost 600 of these early printings. The digitisation of these item has provided free global access to these important items