Staff from cultural portals across the globe have got together to compile a report on the extent of international provision of culture online.

Entitled Cultural Portals: Gateways to a Global Commons, the report was launched by the Culture.mondo network at the MICHAEL (Multilingual Inventory of Cultural Heritage in Europe) conference at The Watershed in Bristol on November 15 2005.

It includes the results of a survey, which show an ever-increasing number of cultural portals are bringing online collections, listings, editorial and interactive tools to a global audience of millions.

"Ten years ago, hardly anyone working in cultural development would have guessed the speed and magnitude with which online cultural portals would emerge," explain Vladimir Skok of Culture Ca and Jane Finnis of the 24 Hour Museum.

"The World Wide Web took off in the 1990s; the first ‘Culturenets’ appeared a few years later and in 2005 cultural portals have become an almost essential element in public policy toolkits across the globe."

The full Culture Mondo complement got together at the 2005 international expo in Japan.

With an international steering committee with members from France, Mexico, Sweden, Canada, the UK, Beligium and Taiwan, Culture.mondo was originally formed in 2004. Its objective was to create a network of online cultural providers sharing knowledge, collaborating and disseminating best practice.

The committee set about finding out who else was out there. An online survey elicited responses from a wide range of countries, confirming the existence of an incredibly diverse global field of cultural portals.

Altogether 370 portal organisations participated, of which 80 have been included in the statistical analysis. They represent a range of national, thematic and policy observing, mostly non-profit making cultural sites, which are generally funded by governments.

The report also looks to the challenges the future holds for the online publication of a national cultural offering.

The International Steering Committee meet in late 2004 at the 24 HM office in Brighton. © 24 Hour Museum.

Welcoming the report David Dawson, Head of Digital Futures at the UK Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, explained that the Culture.mondo network is tackling the challenges facing cultural portals by sharing experiences and expertise.

"The survey uncovered fascinating insights into the contributions portals are making to cultural life and it is enabling international collaboration," he said.

David is among the speakers at the MICHAEL conference on November 15, which is bringing together digitisation experts, culture ministry officials, project officers and cultural institution staff from across Europe.

The aim of the conference is to launch the MICHAEL project in the UK. It will also explore ways of providing multi-lingual access to cultural heritage online and consider ways of providing access to digital cultural heritage for tourism, research and by the creative industries.

For a hard copy of the Culture.mondo report contact 24 HM Director Jane Finnis: jane@24hourmuseum.org.uk.