Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP)

In recent years IT and digital developments increasingly began to have an impact on the running of DIFP and the distribution of our volumes. The advent of the digital camera meant that we could now digitise original documents instead of photocopying them. More significantly, however, it became apparent that third level students, and the general public alike, were beginning to avail of primary source material online. The DIFP online project began in earnest in 2006. It was hoped that by putting DIFP online we would be providing an important tool for lecturers and students of twentieth century Irish history alike, while also establishing a direct line of contact with this significant audience for diplomatic documents. The recent development in the digitisation of primary source material and the brisk manner in which it has come about is quite momentous. Put simply, a new age of historical research methods have clearly evolved and we do not want to be left behind. In this paper I will talk about the DIFP outreach programme and recent workshops that we have been giving to third level students.