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About the eCATNI project

Freeholders' records search screen Example of an online index available on the PRONI website Researching the records

Background to the eCATNI project

Catologues for privately deposited archives in PRONI.
The Electronic Catalogue for Northern Ireland (eCATNI) project was a five year project to convert PRONI’s paper catalogues into an electronic searchable database.  The eCatalogue went live onsite in the PRONI Search Room in November 2008 and on the internet in January 2009.
Prior to eCATNI, PRONI’s catalogues were entirely paper based. They consisted of word processed documents, typed pages and even handwritten notes.  Searching for entries was a slow and intensive process, with access to information within the catalogues largely dependent on paper based guides and indexes.
eCATNI was conceived in response to a number of initiatives, including:
  • new access to information legislation such as Freedom of Information,
  • government initiatives aimed at widening access to archives
  • user expectations and demand.
Fundamentally, the eCatalogue enables PRONI to reach a much greater audience than ever before.  Visitors can now tap into PRONI’s eCatalogue from the comfort of their own homes.

How the project was implemented

'Marked-up' copies of paper catalogues in preparation for data conversion to electronic format
The main areas within the project were the conversion of the existing paper based catalogues, the development and procurement of software, and the management of the change process within PRONI.

Data conversion

The major components of the data conversion exercise included the following:
  • photocopying the contents of the paper catalogues (c.150,000 A4 pages)
  • procuring a private sector supplier for the data conversion of the paper catalogues to electronic format
  • ‘marking-up’ the data (to identify what information should be keyed in which field) for the data entry company
  • transmitting 2,000 A4 pages per week to the data entry company for 80 weeks
  • quality assuring and correcting the electronic data returned.

Software

The project incorporated three types of software:
  • PRONI’s catalogue data is managed using software developed in-house
  • the onsite public system is an off-the-shelf archival software package which was further developed to provide public registration, searching and document ordering facilities.
  • further software was developed to allow online searching and browsing.

Change Management

A major element of the project was managing the change from paper to electronic catalogues.  This included new documentation, new standards (for example the General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G)), new processes and training.

Further Information