PRESS RELEASE: Community heritage website wins two international website
awards

The My Brighton and Hove community heritage website has won two awards in an
international competition for world museum websites, alongside national
institutions such as the Tate and the Science Museum. The 'Best of the Web'
awards in Montreal recognise 'the best work in museum web design and
development'.

The local volunteer-run website at www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk has been
running for 8 years, after its launch as part of Brighton's Millennium
celebration in 2000. Run entirely by volunteers and designed by website
company www.communitysites.co.uk, the site won awards for the Best Community
site and the Best Small Museum site. CommunitySites is now setting up
similar heritage sites for archives and museums around the country (such as
www.livinghere.org.uk in Exeter and www.ourgreatyarmouth.org.uk) and is
gearing up to develop multi-site networks of 'community archive' and 'living
history' sites.

My Brighton and Hove collects photos, memories, knowledge and views of the
city, past and present. It has grown to nearly 9,000 pages, receives 1000
visitors a day, and receives dozens of new online contributions from the
public each week. The rate of contributions was increased 10-fold when the
CommunitySites content management system was introduced in September 2006.

Judges picked out as an example of the living history on the site the story
of the Great Omani, Brighton's escapologist, whose story was recorded on the
site before and after his death, together with tributes from family and
friends. Volunteer editor Jennifer Drury, who was runner-up in the Silver
Surfer of the Year competition in 2006, says: "I feel thrilled by what we
have achieved. It is very satisfying to have made such an important
contribution to the city I love."

My Brighton and Hove was founded by Jack Latimer, a multimedia designer, who
subsequently set up www.communitysites.co.uk together with web developer Ian
Grant. Jack says: 'It's a fantastic honour to win these awards alongside
the most famous museums in the world. It shows how the energy and
enthusiasm of a group of volunteers, combined with the local knowledge and
memories of a community, can create a world-class heritage resource. At
CommunitySites, we're really proud of creating the software that makes this
all possible.'

The site was originally inspired by a local history exhibit in Brighton
Museum called 'My Brighton'. The Head of Brighton Museums and Royal
Pavilion, Janita Bagshawe, who nominated My Brighton and Hove for the award,
is delighted with the result: 'Brighton Museum is proud to have spawned this
self-sustaining heritage project for the city.' The My Brighton and Hove
website is now one of the projects run by Brighton's not-for-profit
community history publisher, QueenSpark Books.

For more info about My Brighton and Hove and CommunitySites, contact Jack
Latimer on 0845 6801542 or at [log in to unmask]
For more information about the Museums and the Web awards, see:
http://conference.archimuse.com/forum/mw2008_announcing_best_web_2008

 


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