Hello folks,
I thought the following extract from the 'e-government bulletin' would be of
interest to list subscribers. Details of how to subsribe to the bulletin are
at the end.
Edmund Lee
English Heritage
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+++E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN
- ISSUE 158, 02 April 2004.
http://www.headstar.com/egb .
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+04: TASK FORCE RECOMMENDS ARCHIVES GATEWAY.
A government-commissioned report has recommended the creation of
an online 'archives gateway' to help individuals and institutions access
the growing range of online cultural and other archives being compiled
by public, private and voluntary organisations.
The report, 'Listening to the past, speaking to the future', was
commissioned by the the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
(MLA - http://www.resource.gov.uk) from a high-level Archives Task
Force (http://www.resource.gov.uk/action/taskforce/taskforce.asp)
whose members include Keeper of Public Records Sarah Tyacke and
former head of MI5 Dame Stella Rimington.
"Given the increasing numbers of people using archives and the
limitations around funding and physical space for new collections, the
best way of touching the greatest number of people is through
technology - by creating digital images of archives and cataloguing
them online," says Justin Cavernelis-Frost, senior policy adviser at the
MLA.
The recommendation for a single access point comes at a time when
unprecedented numbers of people are using archives to explore their
family and community histories. In the past ten years, demand for
archives has grown by over 50 per cent, say experts, and online
resources have played a key role in driving and satisfying demand.
Archive organisations, such as the National Archives
(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) and the National Archive of
Scotland (http://www.nas.gov.uk), have already built up digital
collections. The gateway would look to draw these public collections
together and to provide access to private, commercial and community
archives.
The report proposes a three-year programme for the gateway: to build
the technical infrastructure; to deliver training; to enable digitisation;
and to encourage the creation of support services for certain types of
archive user. It is thought that the most likely source of funding for the
project will be the National Lottery (http://www.national-
lottery.co.uk).
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