Manx National Heritage, the organisation responsible for the Isle of Man’s heritage and culture, has today announced the release of the one millionth record onto its collections online website, iMuseum (www.imuseum.im).
The one millionth record went live with the addition of the nearly 9,000 motorsport records launched in time for TT 2016, Second World War Internee Biographies and Parish Register entries from the 1920s.
The records join over 150 years of Manx Newspapers searchable on iMuseum, 17th to 20th century baptism, marriage and burial records, records of the Island’s war memorials, almost 800 artworks from the Island’s National Art Collection and thousands of images of Manx people and places from the National Photographic Archive.
Edmund Southworth, Director of Manx National Heritage said:
“Launched just over three years ago, the iMuseum website is the largest technological project ever undertaken by the Isle of Man public sector and now provides unparalleled access to over one million records. This remarkable achievement doesn’t just provide a treasure trove of stories from the Isle of Man’s past, but it also joins many different sources of information into one gateway. No other country has achieved this.”
Since the latest version of the iMuseum website went live in November 2015, Manx National Heritage has attracted almost 24,000 online visitors from all over the world in just six months with 673,856 pages of information being viewed. Each page offers the option for online visitors to comment and share what they discover on social media. iMuseum is also now mobile responsive, working on smartphones, tablets and mobile devices.
The iMuseum content and website has been jointly funded by Isle of Man Government, the charitable funds of the Manx Museum and National Trust and the Friends of Manx National Heritage.
Project partners currently working with MNH to deliver iMuseum include Isle of Man Government Government Technology Services, Knowledge Integration (software), Gooii (web design), Olive Software and a variety of specialist companies that assist with the digitisation of collections.
Partnership support is also received from the Isle of Man Family History Society, the Isle of Man Government Preservation of War Memorials Committee and the Genealogical Society of Utah, other online providers, as well as through many thousands of hours of volunteer time.
Edmund Southworth continued:
“iMuseum is a remarkable example of the public and private sector working together to deliver a service to help generations of people to research the Isle of Man and their Manx connections online”.
The million records and thousands of images on iMuseum are all FREE to the public to access and download online. Full access to the Newspapers & Publications on iMuseum is by subscription with four subscription options available: 1 day access, 7 days access, 30 days access and 365 days access, with prices starting from only 28p per day for an annual subscription.
