New Census Search form on NAI (after a security warning) - original site was basic looking but worked mostly, ok, not sure about this yet…
added : interesting download search results option as csv, and search results filter
Presumably this is the re-platform to allow the 1926 results. Security cert is still issued to their hosting providers default name…
I was busy this afternoon so missed the security issues, which seem resolved now.
I've written a super quick review with the main changes.
https://cbgenealogy.ie/irish-national-archives-has-a-new-site/
First impressions - I'm going to miss the simplicity of the old site!
There's far too much information being displayed in the search results.
This will be much less conducive for comparing results for hard-to-find individuals.
I've updated my blog post this morning with some more stuff as I find it. The genealogy databases are reconnected now.
But someone else identified an issue with the census image links being time sensitive, which means they are not permanent.
I've searched for my great great aunt. She was a domestic servant living in. But it doesn't show who her employer was or who else was in the house. I then searched the address using the DED and Townland, and 54 names came up but they can't be all in the same house, they're mostly professionals i.e. solicitor, architect, military officer, banker etc., more likely in the same area. It's less information than before. Maybe I've made a mistake somewhere?
The old site is working again.
The new site isn't ready - they shouldn't have launched it yet.
Pinky, what are your thoughts on the way search results are going to be displayed on the new site?
I think the way the existing site displays results, as most other sites do, with each result on a single line is far better.
With the existing display I can see about 25 results on screen at a time whereas with the new display I think there's barely room for 3 results.
Hi all, i must say I am struggling with the new site. I am also getting a lot of transciption errors such as this one where the transcription of the surname and images are different. Maybe I am doing something wrong!
Census Record | The National Archives of Ireland
I think there probably is too much detail in the new version - it takes longer to skim the entries.
I suspect the NAI is getting a lot of feedback and that we're not looking at the final version yet.
That's it - the ability to skim is what's needed in an initial search.
Hopefully the final version will take account of this.
Do email in your own feedback. The more they get the better.
Perhaps, but I doubt they will take any notice.
Sadly the history of Government Dept. / quango involvement in anything to do with I.T. inevitably is abysmal. In a professional/commercial environment, the early stage work is completed in conjunction with heavy input from an expert working group composed of end users (people like us), the developer/techies and the client (NAI). The system is rigorously tested along the way to identify and fix any issues or bugs, including user-interface. It then has a limited release (usually internal) for wider testing/de-bugging before it is finally deployed and integrated into the existing environment. If that well-known, well-trodden path is not followed there always is considerable pain. That matters, unless you are one of the "Ah shur it'll be grand, isn't it free anyway!"
Guess what part(s) of the above process was/were not followed?😏
Mick Tator's comments are a touch cynical but sadly true. Revenue.ie is usually one of the better Government sites, but just spent 2 days attempting to get into the tax review system. Co Council websites (including their Heritage Service pages) are generally dreadful, each county seem to do their own thing.
Searching without a name seems to be working now.
Do you have an email address?
The only thing I can find is the contact form on the site which only allows 600 characters.
query AT national archives DOT ie
Mick is more than a tad cynical, yet right, but I am still filled with the righteousness of trying to help, so that things can be better. And I won't stop either.
I am having a go at new site…. oh dear not as simple as enter a name and choose which census. .
The ‘links’ and structure of the revised site are atrocious. Simply, it should be taken down until it is repaired. For e.g. click on 1901 and you are informed about that Census. Is there a ‘search 1901’ button link? No! Instead, there is a ‘Census records’ button which one would expect to bring to the 1901 Census. But no, it brings you to a page about the 1821-1891 censuses. Logic? User friendly?
@pinkypinky - I’m not cynical, just annoyed. I can excuse stupidity – stupid people cannot help it, but I detest carelessness, inefficiency, and a ‘shur it’ll be grand’ attitude. I abhor the unbridled and arrogant carelessness of those who mismanage State & Semi-State projects and/or refuse to recognize bad design / value / inbuilt failings. It is our tax income that ‘they’ are spending.
To be cynical would be to distrust the motives of those working on that NAI project. I don’t, nor do I believe there is anything nefarious; those in control don’t appear to care about the site’s design features.
It’s not necessary to be an expert in project management – any competant professional (or end user) would immediately identify a bad IT infrastructure plan, or an over-priced bike shed or costly walls. The failings and/or bad-design of these have nothing to do with the projects, they result from control and ego – a few civil servants squabbling about showing their power, that of their respective Departments and doing their utmost to ‘protect’ it and their patch.
Send feedback! Send letters to the Irish Times!
Would this have happened if they had the Advisory Committee intact?
Now I'm being cynical but given that the layout of the site appears to be done is there really any point?
Are they really going to change the present proposed layout because I don't like it?
I will write but given that they didn't look for submissions and the apparent completeness of the project I don't feel that my words will have much impact.
@pinkypinky I don't know about a committee but there is supposed to be an Advisory Board for the NAI according to the Act. However, there is no obvious reference to it anywhere on their site and while it is mentioned many times in the 2023 annual report, there is no mention of its members/input anywhere.
I sent in feedback about lack of wildcard search functionality on the new site on 10th February and received an email today saying that it was enabled. So sending feedback works.
See this link - apparently the previous advisory council expired in 2022 and the Minister has not yet appointed replacement
National Archives – Thursday, 17 Oct 2024 – Parliamentary Questions (33rd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas
Oh thanks for the Dáil link - yes @Mick Tator I meant the board. What a nothing answer! I know one of the previous members and asked about it a while back and they had no update.
Someone has written a nice conversion tool for the links. He posted it on Facebook. To get around the fact that the old transcription linked to household and the new one is linked to an individual, he's selected the head of house as a way to get you to the right place.
https://daenis.com/census-tools
Why don't they just admit the old site was better. Copy & paste please with additional information! Seems to be too much to ask.
That'll never happen: eventually we'll be able to FOI the costs for redeveloping the site!
When FOI happens, the word 'eye-watering' will probably be used.
@pinkypinky Thanks for that info on the Advisors, it explains the information void in the Annual Report.
My earlier remarks are a total coincidence with the breaking news on the Arts Council waste, I've had no connection since Lar Cassidy died years ago.
So it’s now almost 3 years since there was a need to replace the Advisory Board. AFAIK the roles have not yet been advertised. Not that it matters a huge amount, because inevitably the eventual appointees will be mates of the Minister or Party hacks not prepared to rock the boat, or those prepared to work for free.
They haven't been advertised: I've been checking periodically.
Well I wrote to the NAI and they got back to me this morning.
They say that the old site did not comply with modern accessibility requirements and that the new layout is done with that in mind.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear - it looks like the new layout is here to stay as is unfortunately.
