Ms Fiona Fitzsimmons:

One of the key features of online publishing is that it is sometimes possible to create a definitive version of a source that did not exist previously. The perfect example of this is Griffith's Valuation. In 2003, in partnership with the National Library and National Archives, we started work on digitising the collection that is known as Griffith's Valuation. This is not one source but a collection of more than 310 individual books. When we approached the project the first thing we had to do was get to grips with how much information there was and where it was found. The National Library, National Archives and Valuation Office did not have a single copy of all the different books that comprise Griffith's valuation. It was, therefore, a matter of going from archive to archive and library to library. Along with the national cultural institutions, we also approached King's Inns, some of the archives in the United Kingdom, a library in Salt Lake City and a private collector in North America whose ancestors came from a particular townland here. The individual in question had gone to the trouble of finding the particular book, a once-off publication, and purchasing it at auction. I understand there were only three land-holders in the entire townland of his ancestors. We assembled all the relevant information, obtained the approval of all the relevant parties, digitised the information and created a searchable index. Using this index, a person who finds the individual he or she is tracing can click through and see the visual image. For the first time since Griffith's Valuation was published, we have a definitive version. The only place the valuation is available nowadays is online because there is still not a single archive that has a complete collection. This is one of the advantages of digital publication that is sometimes not appreciated.