An introduction to the work of the Scottish Archive Network Internet access to the written history of Scotland

What is it?  A £4,000,000 project funded by  Heritage Lottery Fund  Genealogical Society of Utah  National Archives of Scotland The project was begun in August 1999 and will be completed in December 2003.

Why do we need it?  Many archive researchers don’t know what information is available and where  Researchers must visit record offices in person and during office hours to consult catalogues  Paper archive catalogues can be difficult to search because of their complexity and size

The SCAN Project has 3 parts: 1. To put the collection level catalogues of all 52 participating archives on-line 2. To create an index of over 520,000 Scottish wills and testaments linked to digital images of 3 million pages of wills 3. To create a web-site containing a range of additional on-line services for users

Part 1 – Online Catalogues  ‘Collection level’ catalogues available for all the holdings of participating archives: i.e. summary descriptions of archive collections  Collection level data compiled according to international standards of archival description (crucial for successful exchange of data across the globe)  This data is available on-line, allowing a simultaneous search across all holdings of participating archives  The Online Catalogues are launched on 23 October 

Part 2 – Wills & Testaments  Free access for users to electronic index up to 1901 via the Internet  Search results produced almost instantaneously  Researchers can purchase high quality colour digital images of testaments online  Instant provision of electronic or paper copies from digital image  Digitised copies can be manipulated on-screen to improve their legibility  Research tools  The original volumes will be conserved and placed in permanent storage 

Part 3 – Online Resources Main elements:-  Knowledge Base  Virtual Vault  Scots Currency Converter  Scottish Handwriting  Glossary  Bookshop  Exhibitions  Directory  Discussion Forum

Part 3 –Online Resources  SCAN provides a central point of reference for information about Scottish archives  SCAN allows Scottish archives to communicate with each other  SCAN allows partner archives to take advantage of the promotional opportunities afforded by the Web

What it means for researchers  Access the Scottish Archive Network facilities in your local archive or at home, or from anywhere in the world  Search contents of participating archives  Look up index of wills covering whole country  Buy a digital copy of a will via the Internet  Have your enquiries answered by the Knowledge Base  Help with reading and understanding documents  View exhibitions and documents online.

The Scottish Archive Network On-line access to the holdings of 52 Scottish archives