Raising the Portcullis: The Automation of the Parliamentary Archives

摘要

The Parliamentary Archives' online catalogue, Portcullis, contains descriptions of three million records conforming to international standards. It was created over five years in a major project which involved the retrospective conversion of 700 finding aids within a controlled project management structure. The process involved analyses of finding aids and user needs, a significant time spent planning, timing and costing, and constant monitoring of the project's critical path and its quality control of converted data. The outcome of the project has provided extensive and wide-ranging benefits to the archives and its users.