Digital access to Manx National Heritage’s online newspapers archive will cease from Monday, October 12.

The service, hosted at MNH’s website iMuseum.im, for more than a decade has provided access to more than 150 years of newspapers, offering a resource for researchers, family historians, students and members of the public.

Manx National Heritage (MNH) said the digital newspaper service relies on specialist software and server infrastructure which have reached the end of their operational life and are no longer supported.

A spokesperson from MNH commented: ‘As a result, we are unable to continue providing the service through iMuseum in its current form.

‘Manx National Heritage has been exploring options to address these technical challenges. Despite these efforts, a sustainable and affordable solution that would enable the existing service to continue has not yet been identified.’

The organisation stressed that the digital newspaper archive itself has not been lost.

MNH continues to hold and preserve the underlying digital data, while the original newspapers remain within the national collections.

‘Manx National Heritage is reviewing its wider digital infrastructure and exploring opportunities to develop sustainable, secure and cost-effective solutions that can support online access to its diverse collections in the future,’ the spokesperson added.

‘The change affects only the online newspaper archive. Access to more than one million other records currently available through iMuseum will continue as normal.

‘Manx National Heritage thanks users of the newspaper archive for their understanding while options are reviewed and plans are developed for the future digital access and preservation of these important historical resources.’

Researchers will still be able to consult the newspapers archive at the Manx Museum’s library and archives in Douglas, where the editions are available on microfilm.

The library is open from Wednesday to Saturday, between 10am and 4pm.

Peter Kelly, an island historian and researcher, has criticised Manx National Heritage’s decision to end online access to the island's historic newspaper archive.

Mr Kelly, who has spent much of his adult life researching the history of buildings and architecture across the Isle of Man, particularly in Onchan, said the ability to search the newspapers digitally had made it possible to uncover information which might otherwise have been difficult to find.

‘Prior to this, research could involve days or even weeks of reading the newspapers on badly scratched microfilm that involved moving the image up and down on the screen several times to just read one page,’ Mr Kelly explained.

‘And of course, if you didn’t know when something happened, where do you start your research?’

Mr Kelly also expressed concern about the short notice given to users of the online service.

He said some researchers were in the middle of projects, including books and student dissertations, and would be affected by the loss of the searchable online facility.

‘Researchers were informed that they could revert to the creaking microfilm system set up in the 1950’s at the museum,’ he added.

‘Needless to say there are already now hundreds of upset people.’