TO: newsdesks

Please find attached and copied below a press release from the Scottish
Library and Information Council.




PRESS RELEASE                                     28 November 2003

Further information:
01698 458888

Scottish Cultural Portal
One-stop gateway to Scotland's culture launched
www.scotlandsculture.org

New Pilot Portal pulls together access to the riches of Scottish culture in
both printed and electronic formats.

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) has today launched a
major new internet portal to provide access to quality information about the
riches of Scotland¹s culture. The pilot portal has been developed on behalf
of the Scottish Executive and will bring together national, regional and
local cultural organisations to begin to create a virtual cultural campus
for Scotland.

Scotlandsculture.org provides a way for all sorts of people ­ from children
and Œsilver surfers¹ to researchers ­ to find out about the culture of
Scotland. The pilot has initially focused on Scottish music and literature
and will be expanded to embrace Scottish culture in its widest sense. The
portal draws on the information held in a wide range of places including
national institutions, libraries, museums archives and Internet sites with
significant Scottish cultural content.

In a wider context the Scotland's Culture project also supports the
development of the Scottish Executive¹s National Cultural Strategy and
promotes Scottish culture globally.

Speaking at the launch of the third annual report of the Cultural Strategy,
at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh, Culture Minister Frank McAveety
called the Portal: "One of the most ­ if not the most ­ innovative projects
of its kind in the world. With its ability to showcase, interpret and
present items of the best quality, it allows people to know even more about
what Scotland¹s culture has to offer. It is a very powerful resource."

Scotlandsculture.org builds on existing information networks developed in
Scotland. Over the coming weeks SLIC and the Scottish Executive are keen to
receive feedback on the kind of information people would like to see
available through the portal.

Features of Scotlandsculture.org include:

… Electronic resources relating to Scottish culture
… Easy searching by keyword or by directories of places, subjects and
special topics, familiar to users of ŒGoogle¹ and ŒYahoo¹. You can also find
out about events happening in a specific area.
… Searching resources by region using a dynamic map of Scotland.
… ŒSpotlight¹ sections which offer quick topical guides to specific
subjects. ŒSpotlight¹ will also highlight important current cultural events;
for example ŒTrailblazer: Scots in Canada¹ the major exhibition at the
National Museum of Scotland which tells the story of Scots who helped create
Canada.
… A printed sources search which allows you to search for books, pamphlets,
journals, maps, and many other printed items held by libraries throughout
Scotland.

Rhona Brankin MSP, Chair of SLIC said: "There is a vast amount of resources
out there on and about Scotland and its culture. The new Scottish Cultural
Portal will give added value to this as it allows easy access, for the
public, to all types of information - from football to opera; from tartan to
T in the park. The database will grow all the time, as new partners come on
board and electronic resources expand."

"We have catered for all levels of ability with appropriate access levels
for children up to researchers. And from an information professional¹s point
of view, the Portal is developed using information and library standards as
outlined in SLIC¹s Organising Information report in 2001"
 

Notes to Editors:

About the Scottish Library and Information Council
The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) was established in 1991
as the advisory body to the Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers, on
library and information matters.
SLIC members include all local authority, higher education, further
education organisations, NHS Trust library services, as well as other
specialist library and information organisations. Rhona Brankin, MSP, chairs
the SLIC Management Committee.
It is funded by subscriptions and partly by the Scottish Executive. One
specific area funded by the Executive is supporting local authorities in the
implementation of the People¹s Network ­ the project  which has implemented
free Internet access in all public libraries in Scotland.
As part of the pilot the Cultural Portal Advisory Group was established to
inform development of content and has representation from:
Scottish Executive 
Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Museums Council
Sportscotland
National Library of Scotland
National Museums of Scotland
National Archives of Scotland
COSLA via East Ayrshire Council
National Galleries of Scotland
VisitScotland
Historic Scotland
Glasgow City Council


Further information about SLIC may be found at: www.slainte.org.uk


Background
The Scottish Cultural Portal or ŒScotland's Culture¹ is a pilot project
funded by the Scottish Executive. The concept for a cultural portal for
Scotland first arose in the Scottish Executive's report "Creating our
future... minding our past". The report outlined the Executive's vision of
access for all to information and resources through electronic means. It
argues that culture in all its forms can stimulate and support lifelong
learning, encourage community involvement and help minimise exclusion be it
social, rural or digital.

The Scottish Library and Information Council was successful in its bid to
develop a portal for the Scottish Executive.

The portal has a searching mechanism for accessing both printed and
electronic information about Scottish Culture. This information is held in a
wide range of places such as libraries, museums and archives and culturally
significant resources identified by the portal team which are available on
the Internet. 

The printed sources search is powered by CAIRNS (Co-operative Information
Retrieval for Scotland). This allows users to search for books, pamphlets,
journals, maps, and many other printed items held by libraries throughout
Scotland, at the same time as searching for electronic items in the
Scotland¹s Culture catalogue.

SCONE provides access to collection level descriptions of print, physical
and electronic resources available in Scotland.



For further information about ŒScotland's Culture¹ please contact:
t: 01698 458888
f: 01698 283170/ 458899
e: [log in to unmask]

Photographs of the launch event are also available.