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Archive CD Books

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This page was created in appreciation of the extent that the Wales pages of Genuki have benefited from using on our pages data transcribed from various CDs published by Archive CD Books (ACDB)

Rod Neep started up ACDB  around 2000, I quote

"The Archive CD Books Project exists to make reproductions of old books, documents and maps available on CD to genealogists and historians, and to co-operate with libraries,
museums and archives in providing assistance to renovate old books in their collection, and to donate books to their collections, where they will be preserved for future generations."

I can trace my first dip into one of his CDs in 2001 with Pigot's South Wales Directory 1830 & 1844 on the CGN pages, I hasten to add that this was with Rod's approval which he gave willingly.

By 2002 I was busy transcribing extensively from the CD  Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary 1833 having loaned Rod my own volumes of the book for the very purpose of getting them published, it was also a lot easier OCR-ing from the CD than scanning the pages manually!

A major project from an ACDB CD was the transcribing in 2007 onwards of the Welsh language book Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), this covered 9 of the 13 Welsh counties. There followed a translation programme which is still ongoing today (May 2017), indeed only 2 counties await completion.

Although Rod Neep retired in 2007, the Archive CD Books project survives worldwide and as far as I am aware all CDs previously published are available for purchase from one regional site or another.

Apart from the occasional one off I haven't made much use of these CDs in latter years but have just started transcribing selected data from  Kelly's South Wales Directory 1923 onto the GLA pages, I have owned this CD since Rod Neep's days (probably bought in his 'closing down' sale!).
I follow the principle that most potential purchasers of this CD would be more interested in finding whether their ancestor's name was listed in the trade directories etc - I don't extract personal names data and on this CD in particular there is quite a lot of it for researchers to look at.

Thanks Rod

Gareth Hicks
10 May 2017