Thursday 14 April 2016

NAI issues RFT for cataloguing C19th Valuation Books

The National Archives of Ireland (NAI) has issued a Request for Tenders (RFT) for the provision of cataloguing services to its C19th Valuation Office archives. The RFT describes these archives as consisting of 'manuscript maps and books recording the valuation of property in Ireland, which took place between 1830 and 1865 approximately', and goes on to say that the books consist of 'house books, field books, tenure books, quarto books and mill books.'

When I first saw this I was a tad bothered. Haven't I already blogged several times about how this collection has been scanned and digitised and prepared for imminent launch on both the NAI's free Genealogy website and FindMyPast?

Fortunately, I was able to quickly contact the NAI's Senior Archivist and Head of Special Projects, Catriona Crowe, who reassured me that the 'imminent launch' is still 'imminent', and the books will be ready for our consumption as soon as the workload caused by the 1916 centenary subsides and she has a chance to write the contextual detail for the new online collection. The peak of this workload has now passed, she says.

So what about the Valuation books mentioned in the RFT? They belong to a separate tranche of volumes that came to the NAI about two years ago. It is, in effect, the final eighth or so of the total Valuation Office collection, and it will, following conservation and cataloguing, make its way along the scanning and digitising path to join the rest of the collection online.

The full Request For Tenders for the cataloguing project can be downloaded from the NAI's website. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 3 May.