Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future

78 People’s NetworkThe People’s Network is a project which has connected allpublic libraries to the internet, as part of the government’scommitment to give everyone in the UK the opportunityto get online. Lottery-funded by the New OpportunitiesFund and managed by The Council for Museums, Librariesand Archives, more than 4,000 library centres have beencreated through the initiative. The Project included a£50 million Digitisation of Learning Materials Programme(also known as the NOF-digitise programme).www.peoplesnetwork.gov.ukExamples of NOF-digitise projects involving archives:Port CitiesA partnership of websites giving access to the collectionscontributed by heritage organisation in five key maritimecities around the UK – Bristol, Hartlepool, Liverpool,London and Southampton archives.www.portcities.org.ukMoving HereA database of digitised photographs, maps, objects,documents and audio items from 30 local and nationalarchives, museums and libraries which record migrationexperiences of the last 200 years. Its partners include TheNational Archives, the New Opportunities Fund and theNational Grid for Learning.www.movinghere.org.ukPROCATThe National Archives on-line catalogue of the archivesof central government, courts of law and other nationalbodies. Contains over 9 million searchable items.www.pro.gov.uk/cataloguesResearch Support Libraries ProgrammeA national initiative (1999–2002), funded by the fourhigher education funding bodies, to bring together bothtraditional and new forms of access to archive and libraryinformation.www.rslp.ac.ukExamples of projects involving significant archival materialinclude:A Mine of Information: cataloguing theSouth Wales coalfieldA cross-sectoral project managed by the Universityof Wales Swansea to improve access to research resourcesrelating to the South Wales Coalfield by creating onlinecatalogue records for archives and printed books.www.mineofinfo.ac.ukAim25An online networking project, between institutionsbordered by the M25.www.aim25.ac.ukCASBAHIdentifying and mapping research resources forCaribbean Studies and the history of Black and Asianpeople in Britain.www.casbah.ac.ukCharles Booth Online ArchiveFree desk-top access to guides, digitised images andmaps from the Booth archive collections at the LondonSchool of Economics and Political Science and theUniversity of London Library.www.lse.ac.uk/boothCharting The NationWidening access to maps of Scotland and associatedarchives (1590–1740) – a collaborative digital imagingand cataloguing project to provide on-line access to mapsof Scotland and their associated archives dating from1550–1740.www.images.lib.ed.ac.uk/chartingthenationGASHE: the gateway to archivesof Scottish higher educationAn integrated gateway to Higher Education Institutions’records, unlocking outstanding collections of archivesand related materials in differing media, covering a vastchronological breadth and across a diverse rangeof institutions.www.gashe.ac.uk