Public Libraries working with partners

An excellent example of co-operation and partnership working between authorities is the Picture the Past Website www.picturethepast.org.uk

Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Libraries are working together to digitise three hundred thousand images from the public library and museum collections.

The collections include photographs, slides, negatives, glass plates, postcards and engravings recalling the history of local communities for over 100 years. A grant of £370,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund supported with funding from the four authorities isenabling the indexing, scanning and digitisation of the images to create one of the largest collections of historic images on the Internet.

Picture the Past currently has over 42,000 images on its website and attracts over 8,000 visitors viewing more than one million pages every month. The website has been awarded the Alan Ball Local History Award 2004 in recognition of its commitment to local history publishing.

For more information about Picture the Past contact:

D.H. Lawrence

Another example of partnership working is the website and leaflet promoting Nottinghamshire's resources about D.H. Lawrence which was launched in 2004. The website www.lawrenceinnotts.org.uk and leaflet is the first collaborative venture by the libraries, archives and museums services within the city and county and has been financially supported by MLA East Midlands.

Featured on the website and in the leaflet are the collections at the University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire County and City Libraries, Nottinghamshire Archives, D.H. Lawrence Heritage - Broxtowe Borough Council, the Greasley Beauvale D.H. Lawrence Infants School and the Museum of Nottingham Life.

A copy of the leaflet is available below as a PDF.

Peakland Heritage

Peakland Heritage www.peaklandheritage.org.uk highlights effectively the benefits of a library service working in partnership with other organisations. Peakland Heritage is a web-based learning resource focusing on the early history of the Peak District, before the creation of the National Park. It has been created by Derbyshire County Council's Libraries and Heritage Department in partnership with the Peak District National Park Authority and funded by the British Libray Co-operation and Partnership programme, with additional funding from Resource.

The main purpose is to open up access to original material held in the partners' collections. It includes illustrations, maps and text from the British Library's Department of maps, newspapers and early printed books, Derbyshire County Council's Libraries, Museums, and Record Office, and the Peak Park National Authority. Independant museums, local historical societies and private individuals have also contributed material to the site.

For more information about Peakland Heritage contact Ruth Gordon

D H Lawrence - Guide to Resources in Nottinghamshire 520Kb

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