The Holistic Approach of the Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Project. A Spotlight on the Women’s Files: from the Revolutionary Period to the Web
Panel
Spotlight on Large Projects
Abstract
The availability of primary sources is vital for any honest history research and it has been the lack of it, mixed with a consistent disregard for their activities that led revolutionary women to be cast aside and their involvement, regularly simplified or ignored. The popularity of the Bureau of Military History (1913-1921) Witness Statements has been evidence of a public interest for voices other than the big narratives but has shown huge limitations when it comes to really knowing women participants. The lecture will show how the Military Service Pensions Collection will help us address the identity and the work of the women differently: containing a large quantity of files from the leadership to the rank and file, the collection navigates between the personal story and its wider context. Despite not being finished yet the project has already delivered some remarkable findings on many levels and in particular, in relation to the revolutionary women who took part in the events between 1916 and 1923. Due to the nature and scope of the collection, it is interesting for researchers to get an awareness of archival processing as this work shapes the sources they use and consequently, their own perceptions about the material. Similarly, it is important for archivists to know how researchers use and want to access primary sources. The archivist’s mission of preserving and making available primary sources also implies being able to understand the material in order to explain it to others, to describe it in a knowledgeable way and to represent it appropriately for access. Decisions are taken long before the researcher uses the material and have already shaped the manner in which the file will be viewed/valued/used. These decisions impact significantly on the subsequent writing of history. This knowledge does apply to the women’s files in the collection and we’ll explore a few cases and explain the potential misconceptions that could be derived from an uninformed reading of the files. The Military Service Pensions Project is as much an archive project as a digital project. In 2018, it will celebrate the end of its 6th year of scanning. Indeed the project is also housing the largest scanning programme at this time in Ireland. The data is growing and names are being remembered at each release. The Project is still a young project and because it is still ongoing, the proper dissemination of information contained in the files and the systematic research are yet to be explored and conducted. The lecture will show how what is made available in digital format goes well beyond giving more ‘exposure’ to women’s stories in Ireland and abroad and we will try and envisage the future roads for research on the women’s files once the project is over.
The Holistic Approach of the Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Project. A Spotlight on the Women’s Files: from the Revolutionary Period to the Web
The availability of primary sources is vital for any honest history research and it has been the lack of it, mixed with a consistent disregard for their activities that led revolutionary women to be cast aside and their involvement, regularly simplified or ignored. The popularity of the Bureau of Military History (1913-1921) Witness Statements has been evidence of a public interest for voices other than the big narratives but has shown huge limitations when it comes to really knowing women participants. The lecture will show how the Military Service Pensions Collection will help us address the identity and the work of the women differently: containing a large quantity of files from the leadership to the rank and file, the collection navigates between the personal story and its wider context. Despite not being finished yet the project has already delivered some remarkable findings on many levels and in particular, in relation to the revolutionary women who took part in the events between 1916 and 1923. Due to the nature and scope of the collection, it is interesting for researchers to get an awareness of archival processing as this work shapes the sources they use and consequently, their own perceptions about the material. Similarly, it is important for archivists to know how researchers use and want to access primary sources. The archivist’s mission of preserving and making available primary sources also implies being able to understand the material in order to explain it to others, to describe it in a knowledgeable way and to represent it appropriately for access. Decisions are taken long before the researcher uses the material and have already shaped the manner in which the file will be viewed/valued/used. These decisions impact significantly on the subsequent writing of history. This knowledge does apply to the women’s files in the collection and we’ll explore a few cases and explain the potential misconceptions that could be derived from an uninformed reading of the files. The Military Service Pensions Project is as much an archive project as a digital project. In 2018, it will celebrate the end of its 6th year of scanning. Indeed the project is also housing the largest scanning programme at this time in Ireland. The data is growing and names are being remembered at each release. The Project is still a young project and because it is still ongoing, the proper dissemination of information contained in the files and the systematic research are yet to be explored and conducted. The lecture will show how what is made available in digital format goes well beyond giving more ‘exposure’ to women’s stories in Ireland and abroad and we will try and envisage the future roads for research on the women’s files once the project is over.