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Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2-4 Cockspur Street London SW1Y 5DH www.culture.gov.uk 238\2000 28 September 2000 THE BEST OF OUR ARTS AND HERITAGE TO BE FREE FOR ALL ON-LINE SAYS CULTURE SECRETARY CHRIS SMITH Culture Secretary Chris Smith today set out his vision of a new, interactive future for culture and the arts in the UK. Under plans announced today, children in schools and people at home will be able to explore - and interact with - the cream of the UK's national museum and gallery collections, films, music and stage performances. Culture Online (COL) will use the latest technology - via the Internet and other digital platforms - to present and explain the best of our culture and heritage as a key resource for schools and an ever-expanding reference work for everyone. In future, for example, a child studying Shakespeare's Macbeth will be able to download the text, watch a performance of the play online, take part in discussion groups with other students and a recent Director of the play, call up costume designs and programmes from past performances - and all without leaving their PC terminal or digital TV. And they will also, of course, be able to use COL to book tickets to see the real thing live on stage. Chris Smith said: "The Government wants to see the best of our cultural heritage available to the widest number. In the future, people of all ages and backgrounds will be able to have full and free access to their heritage and their culture in digital form with proper explanations and links to related material." "The implications for schools are enormous, its potential for life-long learning limitless. "And what makes Culture Online unique and important is that it is not a passive website propelling static images into a vacuum. It will be genuinely interactive; engaging its users in real cultural experiences - teaching dance routines to youngsters, creating discussion groups, or presenting masterclasses with real opportunities to participate. It could be for the new century what the Open University was to the sixties and Channel 4 was to the eighties." The project, which is a central part of the e-government strategy, is currently in its development stage with £5million of funding to determine how to proceed. After development, further significant amounts could be available from the Capital Modernisation Fund to deliver the project. Notes to Editors 1. The NOF £50 million digitisation programme has demonstrated the potential for arts and cultural institutions to collaborate on production of high quality digital material. CultureOnline will build on this experience. 2. Bodies such as the BBC are also planning initiatives in this area. DCMS will work closely with related initiatives to ensure that they are developed in complementary ways so that schools received the richest possible support for the curriculum. However, CultureOnline will not be exclusively educational: digitised material of more general interest will be a major feature thus improving access to the nation's cultural treasures by the general public, and all users will be able to take part through the interactive services provided. 3. The Government intends to develop the new initiative in consultation with experts drawn from the ICT and education worlds, and from cultural institutions including museums, libraries, archives, theatres and galleries, so as to ensure that the needs of users and the potential of the latest technical developments are fully understood before the digitising of cultural material is begun. 4. The scheme is a key part of the e-government strategy, under which all government services will be available on-line by 2005. David Dawson Senior ICT Adviser Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries Fifth Floor, 19-29 Woburn Place London WC1H 0LU email: [log in to unmask] tel: 020 7273 8757 (direct line) www.resource.gov.uk www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%