The team from the British Library celebrate winning their Nominet Open Internet award. © Culture24
Culture24 scooped an accolade as an organisation in the Nominet Best Practice Challenge Awards held during a ceremony last night (July 2 2009) at London’s Banqueting House in Westminster.
The organisation came runner-up in the Open Internet category, losing out on the top slot to The British Library who won with their web resources,Taking Liberties. These were developed as part of the 2009 exhibition of the same name.
Judges praised Culture24's vision in helping to build more unified cultural sector by using web technologies to embrace the creative and tourist economies whilst advocating the role of culture in learning.
The judges felt that the Culture24 organisation and approach to online cultural publishing, "was a simple but much-needed idea that showed clear strategic vision and great attention to detail."
Principally funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Culture24 publish a range of websites about culture, aimed at different audiences including: families, communities, enthusiasts, teachers, learners and kids. Their role is to collect, guide, interpret and promote culture in ways that meet these audiences' needs.
Culture24 Director Jane Finnis (right) with Culture24 Head of Programmes, Anra Kennedy. © Culture24
"I was really pleased with the judges' comments about the strategic value and need for Culture24's work. It’s great to get recognition for our vision in this way from a professional body like Nominet," said Culture24 Director Jane Finnis.
"It not only reflects the skills and creativity of the great team we have at Culture24 but also those of the sector as a whole and the potential to use online media to get the message about culture out to online audiences everywhere."
"Coming in as the runner up to the British Library while our site is still in BETA is fine with me! They have built a beautiful site that deserves praise. We'll be back next year and who knows?"
The British Library's Taking Liberties website aims to deliver an online experience that is as close as possible to a highly interactive exhibition that traced the development of individual freedom in the UK and featured resources like the Magna Carta and the 1689 Bill of Rights.
Visitors to the website can access high quality images and descriptions of historical documents and benefit from a level of interactivity that offers users a level of feedback and engagement that allows them to comment on serious UK wide issues.
View the Taking Liberties website at www.bl.uk/takingliberties and find out more about Nominet and their Awards at www.nominet.org.uk.
