The plans will see the centralisation of all Trinity Mirror’s archives into the existing library in Watford which will bring the huge amount of photographic content together in one location while opening up the historic archives for use right across the group.
The Trinity Mirror library in Watford already houses a collection of between 60 and 80 million archive photographs. These plans will make it one of the biggest and best newspaper archives in the world, boasting a photographic collection of huge national and international significance, says Trinity Mirror.
Above all, the project will preserve these archives for the future, ensuring they are accessible for generations to come.
Consolidating the archives in one central library creates a single shared resource that all of Trinity Mirror’s journalists can access in print or online, while also bringing significant new commercial opportunities to the group.
In addition to making fuller use of the content across core brands the move will also enable increased publication of stand-alone products, such as magazines and books.
The archives from each regional centre will be catalogued and held as a distinct entity, allowing Trinity Mirror journalists to easily access their local archive. Meanwhile the consolidated archive will also be searchable in its entirety as a complete unified collection.
The decision over whether to transfer text cuttings to Watford or retain them locally has been left with the regional businesses.
Fergus McKenna, Mirror Group Head of Syndication and Licensing, said: “We recognise that this collection is of national and international significance which is why we’re taking these steps to organise it, conserve it and, most importantly of all, use it.
“There are few photographic collections of this size in existence and by creating one central library - but keeping each relevant title archive distinct - we're going to be able to open these archives up like never before.
“Having all the collections in one place will give us the freedom to actually explore and understand them, which wasn’t always the case when they were managed across multiple centres.
“For the first time we'll actually be able to discover the role our journalists played in documenting some of the events that shaped modern Britain.”
Ken Rogers, Managing Director, Trinity Mirror Sport Media, said: “This project is enabling us to refocus on what we have got while starting the crucial process of digitising and commercialising this content.
“We have had hundreds of thousands of hard copy pictures sitting on shelves in dusty picture bags. A resource like this has no relevance unless we begin to categorise what we have got and use it to capture the imagination of our readers.”
