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Hi everyone.

My name is Elena.

I'm a 30 a bachelor of arts student, currently studying

a double major in ancient history here at Macquarie University.

As part of Macquarie University's Cultural Heritage and Public history

unit, I participated in the great irish famine commemoration committee,

also known as the G I F C C S

L. Grey orphan project.

This project was directed by associate professor Tanya Evans and

historian Patricia curve voice and it aimed to assist the

committee in expanding the data included on the committee's online

database by collecting and adding new material and also just

assisting the committee in their general research.

As you can see here, the database allows the public

to search the name, parents, ship named religion and even

a native place all the girls.

It was originally established by historian and genealogist Dr.

McIntyre and it provides a list of the Irish famine,

orphaned girls aged between 14 and 45 who arrived here

in Australia between the years of 1848 and 1850.

Price of commencing this project, I actually had no awareness

of the arrival of the girls in Australia.

I held very basic knowledge of the irish famine, had

no idea of the overcrowded work houses and I was

completely unaware of the Earl Grey scheme, which was set

up by the Secretary of State for the colonies and

sent 4114 orphan girls to the shores of Australia.

I was very surprised to learn that the girls predominantly

arrived in Sydney and here in Melbourne and they were

criticized by their employers and throughout the Australian newspapers for

being dirty and fell tempered and they were even subject

to abuse by their respective employers, according to Trevor Mclaughlin's

book, barefoot and pregnant, which I have a copy of

here Many libraries here in victoria.

We're actually still closed due to the recent covid lockdowns.

So, I actually began my research solely online and reviewed

the catalogs at the State library victoria, the public records

office and also the National Archives and the National Library

of Australia.

Even the National Archives of Ireland.

I primarily focused on gathering information on the girls post

arrival and focusing on the girls who especially arrived here

in Melbourne, which is where I'm based.

However, I struggle to find much evidence of their lives

post arrival.

Many of the records that were available in the state

and national libraries and especially even the Library of Ireland

were very incomplete and a lot of them are even

non existent.

This made researching the lives of the girls post arrival

very difficult.

The committee's database actually provided the most extensive list of

the girls immigration and as trump Mclaughlin's book, barefoot and

pregnant. Um also provided a primary source for anyone researching

the irish ancestors or who wish to learn more about

the girls.

However, this book was only available in a selectively libraries

here in Melbourne and it was only available as a

hard copy as you can see by this click here,

which shows my intent of finding the book online through

the state library of victoria.

During a zoom call with trade McLaughlin on March 17,

our group discussed the benefits of digitizing his two volumes,

a suggestion which gained the full support of travel.

Following this meeting, Patricia Power followed up with Trevor and

confirmed with me that although his books were published by

the Genealogical Society of Victoria, the copyright actually still resided

with Trevor.

And he agreed to the digital Judit ization of his

two books, especially with the global chronic global covid crisis

here in Melbourne and throughout Australia, there was an urgent

shift throughout the country to a primarily digital platform for

education work and even basic everyday needs.

Although the need for digitalization was purple.

And before this situation it increased rapidly due to the

strict lockdowns that we had here in Australia, which meant

that many people such as myself were unable to access

libraries and university campuses.

With this in mind, I decided to convince my project

and digitize travels to volumes of barefoot and pregnant in

the hopes of making some of these resources available to

a wider audience.

By digitizing Travis books, I'm hoping to provide numerous benefits

such as increased efficiency and access for researchers and the

public and also the descendants of the girls themselves or

anybody looking to research their ancestors, reduced costs are why

the distribution audience.

And also just to keep up with the shift to

digital platforms by educational institutions such as Macquarie University.

However, the importance of digitizing material is even more crucial

in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has prompted the closure of campuses, university campuses libraries

and many research research institutions across Australia.

And for myself who is a student who predominantly complete

my studies online, I'm very hyper aware of how digital

books can aid in learning and research.

My local libraries are generally lacking the books I require

for my research, I'm often limited to online free to

access publications or the ones which are granted to me

by my university.

A lot of us have become increasingly dependent upon this

digital material um especially now in this in this present

day and with the current pandemic by digitizing books, the

book search ability actually increases students and resources can locate

a greater amount of information and they can search for

information within the text, which maximizes efficiency.

And it also allows the access of the book by

multiple readers simultaneously.

Instead of relying on just borrowing system.

This information being available online means that it can spread

across multiple platforms and on a growth on a global

scale. The records can be integrated with digital systems made

readily discoverable within digital catalogues or search engines and can

be sent to friends or colleagues, such as through blogs

or links on websites or for anyone who wishes to

undertake further reading.

I'm hoping that my work on digitizing travel, Mclaughlin's barefoot

and pregnant will aid future researchers by ensuring that this

information and is easily accessible, especially during periods with physical

copies are not readily available or when libraries are shot

or restricted.

I'm hoping to capture the interests of people who might

wish to participate in future research and just like myself,

These people might be so interested in the books that

they're then prompted to do further research and assist the

committee and um, even look into their own ancestors.

I would like to say a huge thank you to

the great irish famine commemoration committee.

Patricia Kurth toys, Tanya Evans and everyone involved in the

project for their eagerness to involve us all and for

helping me develop a passionate interest in the girls.

I would also like to say a very special thank

you to travel Mclaughlin for allowing the digitization of his

two volumes of barefoot and pregnant and also capturing my

interest and sparking my love of the girls through his

book as well.

Thank you all.

And I hope to meet you all in person sometime

in the near future.

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