1. The Northern Ireland Qualitative Archive

2. Rationale for the Northern Ireland Qualitative Archive … Conflict has generated a vast body of qualitative material (interviews, video and audio recordings, photographs etc.) that can be utilised to address issues of violence and reconciliation Effective use of the bulk of this material has been thwarted by its wide dispersion and the lack of any central index or cataloguing system

3. Aims of the Project … 1) Collation of information about qualitative material covering the 35 year span of 'the Troubles' (content, availability, recording format etc.) into a single catalogue 2) In instances where the material is 'at risk', steps taken to procure or copy the material and lodge it with the Qualidata archive at the University of Essex

4. Location of the Catalogue … ARK website: www.ark.ac.uk Joint project between Queens University Belfast and University of Ulster ARKs mission: to make social science data accessible to the widest possible audience

5. Aims of the Project … 1) Collation of information about qualitative material covering the 35 year span of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland (content, availability, recording format etc.) into a single catalogue; 2) In instances where the material is 'at risk', steps taken to procure or copy the material and lodge it with the Qualidata archive at the University of Essex

6. Focus of the Project … More concerned with creating a catalogue of qualitative material to ensure that valuable data, while it might stay in the hands of its current holders, would not be lost to public record Left open the possibility of researchers accessing the material at some later stage, when the political situation in NI might have advanced sufficiently for this to be considered safe

7. Obstructions to the Archive … Holders felt unable to relinquish data from sensitive sources (police officers, paramilitaries, victims, etc.) Even anonymised material remains dangerous in a small society which is emerging from political conflict

8. SCREEN LIFT FROM QUALIDATA

11. Contributors to the Catalogue … -Academics -Political and community activists -Victims groups -Paramilitary collections -Audio-Visual Archives -BBC (BBC NI, BBC Radio Ulster) -UTV -Linen Hall Library