After 174 years of publication, most of the journals of one of the oldest archaeological Societies in the UK are going online, for anyone to access free of charge.
Supported by a grant from the Marc Fitch Fund, the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, a registered charity founded in 1846, has worked with a professional document scanning company to digitise the entire contents of 44 volumes of its journal (1847-2005), Norfolk Archaeology – and make over 1300 articles and images open access for scholars, researchers and the interested public.
Hosted by the Archeology Data Service at the University of York, and accessed though the Society’s website at www.nnas.info/NABackIssues.html, the articles, letters, reviews and notes cover the all periods of the history and archaeology of Norfolk, and include articles by world-leading experts, important archaeological discoveries, and intriguing historical research. Many are wonderfully illustrated, including magnificent Victorian hand-engraved plates, and detailed drawings and photographs of many monuments which have since been lost or destroyed.
Sophie Cabot, Publicity Officer of the Society, said:
“Norfolk Archaeology is the ‘county journal’ – the main place where archaeological research in Norfolk has been published for almost two centuries. Until now, although it is widely available in libraries, physical copies have only been sent out to members of the Society. We will still do that of course – and we are adding our new journals to the website after a couple of years – so there are still plenty of reasons to join us, but we want the whole wealth of the material from the fragile and rare older volumes to be available to everyone, whether they have access to a library or not. We believe this will support researchers, especially now, to do a lot more with the material, allowing them to use this important resource from home, wherever they are in the world”.
Dr Andrew Hutcheson, President of the Society, said:
“I am really excited that Norfolk Archaeology is now online. The first issue dates from 1847 and ever since the journal has covered the rich archaeological heritage of the county. What an incredible boon to research to have it all at our fingertips!”
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