A single searchable web portal was created, allowing free public access to 58,400 digitised pages of music, song lyrics, and manuscripts, held in six different archives around the country.

It was felt the folk materials were at risk of being submerged in archives where their relevance and importance was not central. The aim of the project was to rescue this folk history from oblivion by creating a dedicated platform from which to showcase and celebrate it.

Individual items were protected and conserved, digitally scanned, then indexed online to a depth where specific content could be searched.

The joint working between the six archives created “a whole greater than the sum of its parts” and made significant improvements in management of the collections and the ability to find new audiences for the material.