The National Archives recently launched an innovative upgraded version of Discovery<http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/>, our catalogue, which now enables archive users to search, browse and tag 32 million record descriptions for thousands of collections across the UK. This replaces the beta service that has been in development over the last year.
As well as the millions of records held by The National Archives, Discovery searches over 10 million additional records held by more than 2,500 archives across the country, making it a unique archival resource for researchers around the world. The value to researchers of combining catalogue and organisational data from across the UK archives sector in one place is enormous, and highlights our commitment to our role as sector lead.
Discovery now incorporates data from:
* National Register of Archives (NRA)
* Directory of archives (ARCHON)
* Access to Archives (A2A)
* Manorial Documents Register (MDR)
We are now working to close these individual presentation services. We will not do this until we are confident that Discovery meets our needs. We are currently developing tools which will improve the way users to interrogate the content from the Manorial Documents Register (MDR) and the Find an Archive tool (previously the ARCHON Directory). A 'custom search' page is under development which will replicate the advanced search currently available to users on the MDR online.
Discovery provides a stable, robust platform for this data and enables us to do so much more with the information provided by the individual services. Along with adding this data to Discovery, we have also upgraded the platform to make it even easier for researchers around the world to find the information they need. A new search engine, enhanced filters and improved advanced search features mean that everyone can explore archive collections more easily. We have redesigned the user interface to reflect these changes, and to offer a better experience across different devices.
This change will undoubtedly have an impact archives staff and users, and we want to make sure that you are fully prepared. Over the coming months, we will be communicating the benefits of the new version of Discovery to our own users, and will highlight this as part of the national Explore Your Archive campaign. We have produced a leaflet and poster which explain the changes to Discovery -please get in touch if you would like a copy to print and distribute or use in your reading room.
Upgrading Discovery has involved a considerable amount of user testing and research over the last couple of years, and would not have been possible without the feedback of hundreds of archive users, contributors and members of staff. We will continue to improve Discovery, and welcome feedback from all of our users to help us do this. Please email your feedback to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.
Jonathan Cates
Collections Knowledge Manager (Finding Archives) | Archives Sector Development
The National Archives
+44 (0) 20 8876 3444
Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National Archives Disclaimer
This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the
individual(s) to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient and
have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete the email.
Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message and attachments that do
not relate to the official business of The National Archives are neither given nor
endorsed by it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask]
For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=archives-nra
|