Apologies for any inconvenience caused by cross-posting.
sjaf
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*A2A Update, April 2002 #2*
The A2A website at http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk was updated for the second time
this month on Monday 22 April. The database now contains around 3.7m
catalogue entries submitted during A2A Phase 1 (which finished at the end of
March) from 184 archives repositories across England - in approximately
47,300 electronic files, representing over 400,000 original catalogue pages.
The new catalogues comprise additions from the following projects: *@ the
Heart of the Community* in the South West; *Access to Somerset Archives*;
*British Waterways Virtual Archives Catalogue*; *East Midlands Manuscripts
and Archives*; *From Landlord to Labourer* in the South East; *Governing
London*; *Landscape and Archives* in Eastern England; *Muck and Brass* in
the West Midlands; *Our Mutual Friends in the North* in the North West;
*Picks and Pistons* in the North East; *Tracking Railway Archives Project
(TRAP)*; *Web of Science History*; and *Yorkshire Signpost*. Various
finding aids from local authority archives services including those of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, Norfolk, and Sandwell have also been added to A2A.
The A2A database will continue to be regularly updated during Phase 2, which
began this month. It contains information about archives in England ranging
from the 900s to the present. It is useful for a wide range of projects and
interests, ranging from personal enquiry into family and local history to
formal academic research and publication, which may be carried out by
schoolchildren, students, teachers and academics, lifelong learners, or
anyone interested in the past. The archives A2A covers are all held in
England, but many relate also to other parts of the United Kingdom, or to
other countries around the world.
Readers of *A2A Update* may be interested in the following statistics for
visits to A2A from the launch of the database May 2001 up to the end of
Phase 1. Over 368,000 searches have been performed, resulting in
approaching 830,000 viewings of A2A catalogues. The average number of
searches per day has jumped from 554 in the first 30 days since launch to
2,190 in the last 30 days of Phase 1 - an increase of 395%. The average
number of catalogue viewings has seen a parallel growth over the same
period, from 1,076 to 5,634 - an even higher percentage increase of 524%.
A2A's popularity is also shown by the fact that over 400 other internet
sites now include a link to it.
The A2A Central Team would like to take this opportunity to thank all those
who have contributed to the success of Phase 1, whether through project
planning and administration, mark-up of catalogues, liaison and publicity,
or material support. We look forward to continuing to work with many of you
during Phase 2 - on which, more in the next issue of *A2A Update*.
* * * * * *
Sarah J A Flynn
Regional Liaison Co-Ordinator, A2A
Public Record Office
Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU
Tel (direct line): 020 8392 5328
Fax: 020 8392 5281
Email: [log in to unmask]
www: http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk
* * * * * *
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