Occasional Paper

This broader programme has come to be known as DIGROS (the Digital Imaging of the Genealogical Records of Scotland's people). By the end of 2003, this will have led to the creation of digital images of all the paper records held on the 6.5 kilometres of shelves in New Register House, which document more than 60 million individual names. This will allow customers in the 100 search places in GROS's New Register House search rooms to search the records more effectively and efficiently than they can using the present indexes and microform copies. Equally importantly, it will allow the complete information contained in the historical records to be accessed by customer's outwith the search rooms via the Internet, or by registrars and their customers in local registration offices. Customers from elsewhere in Scotland (or elsewhere in the world) will no longer have to travel to Edinburgh or order extract copies to see the contents on GROS's comprehensive records of Scotland's people. The GROS has received £3,000,000 worth of funding from the Scottish Executive specifically to cover the 3-year life of the DIGROS programme.