Who owns the catalogue?
The online catalogue is hosted and administered by Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society. It is a searchable database of descriptions of archives held by Offaly History Archives (repository of OHAS) and the digital holdings of Offaly County Council's Heritage Office. There may be further Offaly based repositories added in the near future. The catalogue and ongoing archives work in OHAS, in conjunction with Offaly County Council's Heritage Office, is supported by the Heritage Council.
Do I need to log on?
There is no need to log on. You can search the catalogue and download images without having to log on.
How do I search the catalogue?
The catalogue can be searched in a number of ways. A simple search can be carried out by typing a search term into the box on the top bar. The box has an auto-suggest feature which you may use or ignore.
The search is performed across multiple repositories and returns your results on a descending results page. On the left side of the screen you will also see a number of categories by which you can filter these results (e.g., place, subject, person, repository etc).
A more advanced search can also be performed by clicking on ‘Advanced’ in the basic search box.
In an advanced search you can identify specific fields to search for your keywords and phrases. It would be useful for example to search for a particular phrase or keyword in the ‘scope and content’ or ‘title’ fields. Use Boolean operators –AND, OR, NOT to further refine and filter the search queries.
Finally, you can browse the entire catalogue by clicking on the categories listed in the top left hand corner of the home page. The categories are Collections, Authority Records, Repositories, Subjects, Places and Digital Objects. These can be further refined by using the category filters on the left hand side.
How do I view digital objects?
Digital objects appear as thumbnails in a search results page or in an image carousel. Clicking on the thumbnail will bring you to the catalogue entry with a larger version of the image. Clicking directly on this image will bring up a large zoomable image. Please note by downloading images you are agreeing that you are using the image for personal research and private study only. You are not allowed to republish online, in print or in broadcast without express permission of copyright holder.