Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future

26 of original documents. Digitisation offers new and excitingways for people to learn, and attract new audiences to thecollections of archives, libraries and museums. The BritishLibrary’s work to put digital copies of historical documentssuch as Magna Carta and Beowulf online, The NationalArchives’ online censuses, and the New OpportunitiesFund’s EnrichUK digitisation programme are excellentexamples of how traditionally restricted resources havebeen made available to global audiences. Prioritisation andco-ordination of digitisation needs will be part of ourarchives development programme.At the heart of the Archives Gateway will be the digitisedsignposting and content drawn from archives all over thecountry either supplied directly or by linkages to existingspecialised sources already developed on the web.To encourage take-up use of this content ‘services’ will bedesigned to meet a variety of particular user needs, andallow archives to be mediated to meet the requirements ofspecific users or enquirers. The Archives Gateway is thusa tool to link material and creates context and meaning forenquirers, whether they are a schoolchild, student, localhistorian, business user or someone reconstructing theirfamily tree.Promoting Heritage and CultureCulturenet Cymru is a new body funded by the WelshAssembly Government and based at the National Libraryof Wales, Aberystwyth. It is working to promote Welshheritage and culture, on the domestic scene and globallyvia the internet, and to support formal and informallearning. Its work embraces the arts, heritage, sport,tourism and education. The Culturenet Cymru website(www.culturenetcymru.com) provides information inWelsh and English.Culturenet Cymru has taken over management ofGathering the Jewels, a People’s Network project fundedby NOF-Digitise that aims to make Wale’s culturalresources available online. It brings together for the firsttime the collections held in Welsh museums, libraries,galleries and record offices.Culturenet Cymru is using the internet to make accessible allcollections held in Welsh museums, libraries and archivesAs part of its programme, Culturenet Cymru recently ranthe biggest ever online poll in Wales, ‘100 Welsh Heroes’(won by the firebrand socialist and ‘father of the NHS’Aneurin Bevan). It organises family history days to helppeople trace their family trees, and the digitisation ofimportant Welsh books that are out of print and difficultto locate. During 2004 Culturenet Cymru is running aseminar series on the use of ICT in the culture and heritagesectors in Wales.The Task Force believes that there is a large pool of peoplewho want to be more than passive users of archives thathave been assembled and looked after by professionals.They want to participate in the creation and gatheringof collections themselves. This may be on a comparativelymodest scale, or community-based, but the Task Forceis convinced that such groups have much to offer and canenhance the richness of archives for all. We believe thatpart of the Archives Gateway should be theirs to developas they think appropriate, and if they wish, register theircollections. For example, connecting the postcard collectoron Orkney to the collections of the National Archivesof Scotland may add a new dimension to a great,historic collection.We firmly believe that creating the Archives Gatewaywill be a stimulus and focus for the development of acoordinated resource of a wide range of archives – movingimages, sound, amateur video, music and photographs.Potentially, there are many people keen to developarchives that are especially relevant to modern times. Wehave heard from those already involved how ‘belonging’