A consortium formed by Glasgow's leading museums, libraries and archives is set to bring a new asset to Glasgow.

TheGlasgowStory.com website is lavishly illustrated with thousands of captioned photographs, paintings, posters and drawings from the rich collections held in Glasgow's world-famous museums, libraries, archives and Universities to allow people of all ages and backgrounds to explore and research the story of their city.

Professor Arthur Allison, Project Director at the University of Glasgow said, ' TheGlasgowStory is not a static on-line catalogue nor a musty academic history of the city. It is a free dynamic website that allows users to pursue their own personal investigations and set their own research agendas.

The material is presented in a way that will appeal to a wide range of people and interests, from those engaged in factual research to others seeking an enjoyable trip down memory lane.'

A framework of historical essays by well-known journalists, local historians and academics is provided for reference, with advice on locating text books and other sources of specialist further reading.

Professor Allison continued, 'The sophisticated research facilities provided on the site make it simple to find a vast range of captioned images discussing and illustrating Glasgow people, places and all aspects of the city's social, cultural, sporting and political history.'

In addition, the MyGlasgowStory feature will enable budding local historians to research, write and publish on the website their own stories of their families, churches, pubs; clubs, schools, streets, and other subjects.

As well as Professor Arthur Allison, the project is managed by Professor Michael Moss and employs a full-time content editor and five curators charged with identifying and preparing images for digitisation.

The University of Glasgow's HATII (Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute) has provided expert advice on digitisation and the services of a talented website content management and systems developer.

A member of the University of Strathclyde's award winning ABACUS research group (Abacus) has designed the interface. Specialist units at the University of Glasgow and the Mitchell Library carried out digitisation.

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

---

You are invited to attend the event on Friday 31 October at 12pm in the Kelvin Gallery where Sir Muir Russell, Principal, will formally launch the website.

There will be ample opportunity for you to try out the website facilities at several terminals which will be set up for use.

For further information, please contact the University of Glasgow Press Office on 0141 330 3535 / 3683 or Kathleen Murray on 0141-330-4453 or 0775 1989 265 email: k.murray@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk

Among the consortium partners are:

• Glasgow City Council, Cultural and Leisure Services
• University of Glasgow
• University of Strathclyde
• Glasgow Caledonian University

The project is funded by the New Opportunities Fund which supports a collection of lottery funded websites through the gateway at EnrichUK

Their contents range across the very best in culture, history, art, science, and the social development of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and make a major contribution to lifelong learning.

The New Opportunities Fund is the biggest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, providing Lottery funding for health, education and environment projects across the UK, with a particular focus on improving quality of life, particularly in disadvantaged communities. To date the New Opportunities Fund has committed over ?2 billion in funding to schemes across the UK.

First published: 29 October 2003