Content
The North East is a mix of urban and rural communities and Tomorrow’s History reflects the dramatic changes which have affected those communities over time.

The urban story records the region’s significant industrial and commercial contribution to the national economy through iron, steel and coal, shipbuilding and the railways. The rural story is one of agriculture, and its history told through its Roman legacy, medieval castles and ancient churches … set in a coastline and landscape of outstanding natural beauty. The region is diverse and Tomorrow’s History records the social and cultural inheritance of its own population as well as that of people who have come to the North East from many parts of Britain, Europe and other parts of the world. Priority has been given to information and records relating to the social history of the people who worked in the region’s commerce, industry and agriculture, reflecting other aspects of their lives - leisure and lifestyle, sport and entertainment.

Tomorrow’s History includes maps, photographs and text-based information, with links to library and archive catalogues and to indexes of archaeological sites, listed buildings, and so on. The Maps cover the whole region and are accessed by agreement with the Durham Miner project from their website. They incorporate current Ordnance Survey maps in two scales and historic OS mapping in three early editions - from circa 1860 onwards. Over 30,000 images and pages of text were digitised.

An additional resource, which covers every community and settlement in the region, has been developed by digitising the contents of a number of key local directories.

Museums Libraries and Archives North East
Tomorrow’s History is currently managed and maintained by MLA North East, the regional development agency for museums, libraries and archives.

Background
Tomorrow's History was a two-year project which ran from April 2000 to March 2002. It was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Millennium Festival Fund and the partner museums, libraries and archives. The project produced a major, web-based North East regional local studies resource. This was the outcome of a collaborative challenge for the region’s museums, libraries, records offices and local and community groups to digitise and improve access to their unique collections.

The project also involved higher education and commercial organisations. Additional material has been added to the site by partners since 2002. The content of Tomorrow’s History is easily accessible through modern online searching. Arrangements for the future management an sustainability of Tomorrow’s History are currently being negotiated with the Public Library services in the North East.