Culture24

Culture24 is a registered charity and non-profit online publisher that promotes culture, heritage, the arts and tourism in the UK.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Back in 1999 the then Secretary of State Chris Smith launched The 24 Hour Museum. The idea was to popularise institutions often seen as being stuffy and elitist. In 2009 this "National virtual museum" was relaunched as Culture24. The new site has extended its range well beyond the initial focus on museums. It's also been made more user-friendly, technologically up-to-date, easier to search and better able to reflect the cultural sector than its predecessor.

WHAT YOU GET

Culture24 offers news on the arts, museums, history and heritage, reviews of exhibitions and features. It has a large database of collections and provides an excellent listings service, covering thousands of museums, galleries, archives and libraries. The site is easy to find your way around and impressively comprehensive. It's organised by theme - Art, History & Heritage and Science & Nature - and is structured with the explorer in mind.

In Spliced you'll find all the same content, but linked together by collection. The Teachers section offers ideas, activities and information on e-learning and is a superb resource for those looking to exploit cultural material in class. Sector Info keeps you up to date with news, projects and campaigns, while Places to Go offers ideas for cultural trips around the UK. Culture24 also runs show.me.uk, a website for children that has lots of games and interactive cultural content.

WHO'S BEHIND IT ALL

Culture 24 is supported by the Museums, Libraries and Archive Council, The Arts Council of England and the Department of Children, School and Families. It's run by a team in Brighton under the stewardship of director Jane Finnis. Ms Finnis says the site exists to "inspire online audiences to explore the UK's culture heritage." We have no doubt it is doing just that.