History of the Irish Theatre Group.
Following a meeting of an ad hoc steering group of the heads of a number of repositories, both libraries and archives, in November 2001, it was decided to establish a working group on Irish theatre archives. The aims and objectives of the Group are as follows:
To act as a forum for exchange of information on collections and activities of importance in the area of theatre archives.
To encourage the preservation of Irish theatre archives, and of the papers and manuscripts of Irish dramatists, and their retention in Ireland.
To establish the extent of material relating to Irish theatre history and the location of such material.
To consider possible areas of co-operation/collaboration.
To consider the establishment of a website to facilitate access to this material.
To consider the hosting of such a website.
The members of the group include representatives from the Linen Hall Library, Belfast; the Dublin City Archives; the National Theatre Archives, Dublin; the National Library of Ireland, Dublin; the James Hardiman Library, NUI, Galway; and the Trinity College Library, Dublin.
The areas identified from this meeting of Librarians/Directors/Heads of Archives as priorities for action included the following:
Establishing a basic website as a first priority.
Identifying what is out there.
Initiating a survey to establish this.
Co-ordinating a database of theatre resources.
