With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Russell Trust, RCAHMS has joined forces with the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) to extend the coverage of the popular series of Illustrated Architectural Guides which have provided an accessible source of information on architecture across the Scottish regions for many years. Through the exciting collaborative project 'Recording Your Heritage Online', we aim to combine the enthusiasm and local knowledge of community groups and schools with the heritage information held by the two partners - the results are freely available to search online for the first time.

The project was divided into two stages. In the first part, RCAHMS has been working with the RIAS to update two of the existing area Guides (to West Lothian and Aberdeenshire) and to create two completely new Guides to the Western Seaboard (covering the Western Isles, Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh) and Greater Glasgow. The combined images and text for the forthcomings Guides will be digitised and made open to public search, free of charge, through the RCAHMS on-line database Canmore. The material for Aberdeenshire is already available to search online at www.rcahms.gov.uk/search.html

In the second part of the project, RCAHMS invited community groups and local historical societies to create resources on their own area. There was also an opportunity for teachers to become involved in the process via placements organised by Careers Scotland. A selection from these will then be added to the area material on the RCAHMS website, with material from the Western Seaboard contributors being added to the Am Baile website in both English and Gaelic.

The map shows the four areas covered by the project. By clicking on a shaded area you will be able to open the resources for each of the local groups and primary schools that have participated in the project. You will also be able to see a gallery with examples of some of the images relevant to the site from the RCAHMS collections.

Project Sponsors: