The Highland Council - Am Baile

www.ambaile.org.uk

Interactive Bureau was commissioned by the Highland Council, after winning the OJEC competitive tender, to act as their Strategic Partners to assist their Project consortium to execute the realisation of Am Baile - the virtual Gaelic Village.

The Project vision was the creation of a major new bi-lingual Web site focusing on the language, culture and heritage of the Gaidhealtachd (Highlands) which will help people learn about the area's past and present and promote the use of the Gaelic language among native speakers and learners. It was envisaged that the Web site will offer innovative, stimulating and enjoyable learning opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, regardless of pre-existing ICT skills/educational background.

The project was supported by a National Lottery grant of £1,008,000 from the New Opportunities Fund.

In order to establish the project, Interactive Bureau initially designed the project branding and then created an informational / promotional Web site. This allowed the team to promote early news and events surrounding the project, capture user interest through online registration facilities and publicise the project branding.

We continued advising the project team and developing the main archive Web site, organising and presenting the rich diversity of assets whilst ensuring full integration with their Media Asset Management System (MAMS). This included the development of guidelines and standards for content creators encompassing videofilm, audio, Macromedia Flash and Virtual Reality modelling.

The resources, which constitute the content of the Am Baile Web site, have been created through a digitisation programme that has captured archive Manuscripts, records, photos (print, plate, slide, etc), maps and drawings. Digitising these items protects the existence of their information and, through the Web increases the accessibility to all of the items. IAB continues to advise the consortium on a number of issues including technical, hosting, maximising the use of their MAMS and Content Management as well as developments to accommodate new material and the commercial exploitation of the assets.