A pioneering web project that merges traditional culture and cutting-edge technology launches this week (Friday 18 August 2006) on the Isle of Lewis.

Hebridean Connections, a joint project between four Comainn Eachdraidh (historical societies) on the island, is making thousands of records on Hebridean history and traditions available to a worldwide audience.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Western Isles Enterprise, the initiative is partly aimed at attracting the descendents of emigrants, both to research their own family stories and to take a wider interest in the history and culture of the islands – and ideally to visit in person.

The Comainn Eachdraidh in all areas of the Western Isles have been collecting and conserving information on all aspects of local history, including genealogy, significant events, culture and archaeology. The groups in Pairc, Kinloch, Bernera and Uig came together several years ago to initiate the Hebridean Connections project in recognition of the need to manage and provide access to their local collections.

Developers Exegesis SDM Ltd worked with project staff to devise a content management system specifically designed to preserve, organise and cross-reference the wide range of materials.

Project Manager Sarah Egan said, ”The local collections are unparalleled in their breadth, detail and authenticity, but the question has always been how to manage them, in order to allow easy access for local residents, expatriots, genealogists and researchers of all kinds.”

“In some cases we’re talking about tiny but significant snippets of information – someone’s patronymic, which obviously provides the clue to his parentage, or knowledge about the precise participants in and location of an event – and our new system allows all this to be captured and linked to maps and personal histories, within a fully-searchable and constantly updated database. It will be a fantastically useful resource for researchers and also allows the local groups to work much more easily with their own material.”

“We’re very conscious of creating the permanent record – the definitive collection of oral local history as held in the community, preserved and accessible for decades to come.”

Field officers based in each of the participating societies have been working for two years to digitise and upload their local materials, and the database now contains over 40,000 individual records, on subjects ranging from family histories to major events, documents, artefacts, boat registrations, school records, crofting and fishing traditions and Gaelic song and stories. Thousands of photographs illustrate the site.

The site also includes all the archaeological sites and monuments in the area, with material drawn directly from the Sites and Monuments Records held by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, all mapped and referenced.

With the end of the pilot project and launch of the website, the Hebridean Connections team intends to expand the project to take in other parts of the Western Isles, and to extend the range of material in the database.

The website will be online at www.hebrideanconnections.com  from Friday 18 August 2006.