ABOUT THE PROJECT
Mackay Country Trust and Strathnaver Museum have been working throughout the area known as Mackay Country amassing extensive and varied collections. Having worked closely with each other over many years the collections complement one another as they explore what life was like for people throughout the area. The groups are now looking to widen access to their vast research material by integrating their collections while remaining autonomous. The vast amount of material is currently difficult to access coherently.
This ambitious project will see the groups working closely together to develop their collections, improve access, provide vital training opportunities and ultimately contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of their area. A bespoke approach is required to structure a database and input the information in a retrievable form. This will require a searchable element to achieve results of collections of relevant material to the topic.
Commercial alternatives have been researched and although there are different formats of database available they are not tailored to specific, most are adapted for particular uses, are held away from the locus on line, are expensive to join and high maintenance and help fees and cater for specific as opposed to diverse.
Practically all the material has been collected through photo voice events where over 40000 digital images, 2000 audio recordings and 2500 documents, 300 videos have been gathered. The small independent museum and community heritage trust with immense input from the general public as created a grass roots information source on a range of topics and this project will improve long-term sustainability and understanding of the collections.
