£600K award to digitalise the story of Glasgow

Published: 2 July 2001

A partnership led by the University of Glasgow is to receive ?600,000 to create a digitised account of 'The Glasgow Story'.

A partnership led by the University of Glasgow is to receive £600,000 to create a digitised account of 'The Glasgow Story'.

The award is part of £6.1M of National Lottery funding announced today (Monday 2nd July) by the New Opportunities Fund, a lottery 'good cause' distributor, to create a 'communities bank' of internet learning resources is being. The Scottish awards are among £50M of digitisation grants announced to projects across the UK today.

Over the next three years, the University of Glasgow aims to digitise the story of Glasgow recounting the history of the City, its people, and its communities.

A wide-range of inter-related multi-media essays will seek to chronicle, illustrate and explain the evolution of the city and the fortunes of its citizens from the time of the earliest settlements on the banks of the River Clyde until the present day.

The award was welcomed by Professor Arthur Allison, Vice-Principal of the University, who said: "The Glasgow-based Consortium is delighted with the news of this award which will allow the creation of edited and richly illustrated stories about Glasgow and its history. Uniquely it will pool the heritage resources of the Glasgow Art Galleries, Museums and Libraries and the Universities and make them available in a form which will appeal to all Glasgow citizens."

Awards to ten individual Scottish projects will help bring the jewels of Scotland's heritage and culture on-line. The Fund's Digitisation awards for the creation of web content will allow individuals, groups, schools and library users to 'virtually' celebrate the best of Scotland's historical, social, archaeological, political and cultural treasures.

The New Opportunities Fund is already supporting on-line learning through its Community Access to Life-long Learning Programme and its People's Network programme that aims to link every public library to the Internet by 2002.

The New Opportunities Fund Scotland Board member David Campbell said: "The New Opportunities Fund has played a major part in increasing on-line facilities in Scotland. Through the Fund's Community Access to Lifelong Access and People's Network programmes, people from all over Scotland has access to improving their Information, Computer and Technology (ICT) skills. These new digitisation awards will enable a virtual learning and information resource on our national treasure chest of historical, cultural, social, archaeological and political collections

Further information for journalists is available at http://www.newsdesk.gla.ac.uk/pressreleases

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)


For further information contact:

Jackie Killeen

Communications Officer Scotland

New Opportunities Fund

0141 242 7800 / 07760 171435

or University Press Office: 0141 330 3535

First published: 2 July 2001

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