Information Technology

A Presentation Day at Thetford Library demonstrating the Information Technology behind creating Community Archives for Norfolk.

Mr Dave Barber from Breckland Council was kind enough to demonstrate the simplicity of creating community archives to interested parties. Adrian Grenville a full-time Reminiscence Worker based at Alexander Court, Thetford was present to answer questions.

What are community archives? Community archives are collections of still and video images, text and oral narratives that have been captured using specially developed COMMA software and basic IT equipment. These fully searchable databases serve as a record of communities' cultural heritage and are available on the authoring computer before being published as CD-ROMs and uploaded to the Internet. The three distinctive characteristics of community archives are:

· the community creates its own archive
· the community has editorial control over its archive
· the community owns the copyright in its archive

A wide range of groups are involved in community archives, they are based in community centres, schools, libraries and museums.

COMMA is a charity that promotes and supports community archives through advice and training.

Contact: 0845 45 88 132;
www.commanet.org;
info@commanet.org