A NEW website designed to showcase Manchester’s rich history is live.
The centre’s local and family history resources will include books, maps and original materials, self-service digitised items and online resources.
Packed with pictures, films and stories, www.archivesplus.org offers a sneak peak at some of the materials that will be held at Manchester’s new Archives+ centre and a flavour of the kind of exhibitions that will take place there.
Everything from radical thinking and protest to the living conditions of our ancestors is explored on the website, using images and film footage (the video on the homepage is fascinating and unintentionally hilarious).
The website highlights the collections of Greater Manchester’s family history and archives partnership, which will be stored at the Archives+ centre - a custom-built repository at Central Library - from March 2014.
Archive area under construction
By bringing together this partnership of regional and national collections of documents, photographs and films, the Archives+ centre is intended to serve the growing demand for accessible personal and community history in Manchester.
Material from the collections will be exhibited at Archives+, with digital interactive displays and the original archive items used together to tell the stories of Manchester’s people and communities.
The centre’s local and family history resources will include books, maps and original materials, self-service digitised items and online resources.
Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Rosa Battle, said: “The Archives+ Centre will attract a wide range of visitors to the Central Library, raising awareness of Manchester’s histories and making them accessible for everyone.
“www.archivesplus.org will give people just a taste of the treasure trove of important family history materials that we are fortunate enough to hold in Manchester and which will be exhibited at Archives+.”
The main partners in Archives+ are:
• Greater Manchester County Record Office (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities)
• Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives (Manchester City Council)
• North West Film Archive (Manchester Metropolitan University)
• Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre and Education Trust (The University of Manchester)
• Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society
• British Film Institute Mediatheque
• Manchester Registration Service (Historic Registers)
Coat of arms in Central Library
