Society of Archivists’
Archive Awareness Campaign 2007

The Archive Awareness Campaign is an annual event, organised by the Society of Archivists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The purpose of the Archive Awareness Campaign is to raise the profile of archives and increase the awareness of their value amongst the general public, politicians, decision makers and funding bodies. It also helps to encourage new users to avail of archives services throughout both countries. The campaign is aimed at a wide spectrum of society, focusing particularly on existing users of archives and under represented users such as people under the age of 24, ethnic communities and higher education students.

The campaign focuses on a particular theme each year and archive services across the island hold events that demonstrate the wealth of material held in their repositories relating to the theme. Events are held in local archive services. These include open days, exhibitions, workshops, storytelling, screenings, lectures, debates and online image galleries. These events are carried out throughout the year so that archive services can suit individual schedules and tie in with local and national events. To find out what event is happening in your area please check your local archive service or the events page on the website.

The launch of the Archive Awareness Campaign 2007 was on 23 August 2007, in the National Archives, by Dr John McCafferty, Director of the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute, University College Dublin. This year the campaign will be taking place throughout the year so that repositories can suit individual schedules and tie in with local and national events. The theme of this year's campaign is education and outreach

Information regarding events in your area can be found on  www.nationalarchives.ie/contactus/news/aac_2007.html and www.archiveawareness.com or by contacting your local archive service. If you wish to include any event on these pages please contact Fiona Kearney, Publicity Officer, Society of Archivists, Ireland at archivistfiona@gmail.com or soai@eircom.net.

Fiona Kearney
PRO, Society of Archivists