Orkney Links
This page will be monitored and updated on a regular basis. From the earliest steam driven days of the Web links pages have been sometimes useful, sometimes inspired, sometimes spawning entire yahooniverses.
Too often they are perfunctory, uninspired and not very informative. If you add the current mechanistic nature of the major search engines some useful quirky or just good websites can often be missed in the white of webnoise.
So, about Orkney websites. Firstly lets begin with the TLD’s or top level domains as they are known. These TLD’s are guaranteed first page listings in search engines for no particularly good reason so justify further examination.
Orkney.com. Or not. The Domain name was registered in 1996 and is currently acting as a parking space for a hoose sale on Stronsay. Orkney.com is a non thing. Same with Orkney.co.uk, and Orkney.net seems to be owned by a US based domain name broker.
One of the top level domains is active. Orkney.org is owned by David Griffiths under his umbella Orknet domain. David is a capable coder and web site builder who lives a few miles from me. Orknet languished for a few years but seems to have been revitalised of late. It is mainly a vehicle for his professional services but steps into the almost useful area with a reasonably up to date Orkney directory listing.
Not really sure what he is doing with what is traditionally a charitable or academic TLD but I suppose that is up to him. Currently it is a pretty basic portal to a few core Orkney sites.So with the big four domains not really functional more organic or natural growth has occurred.
Like the elephant in the room, Orkneyjar stands out so far you can easliy forget it. With over 19,000 external inbound links and a Google Page Rank of 5 Sigurd Towries hobbyist heritage site has over the last nine years come to be just about as good a personal web site as it is possible to get. Of course Sigurd is more than a hobbyist, he is a professional web builder and journalist for the Orcadian but what he has done with Orkneyjar is pretty exceptional.
Almost too good perhaps, because the effect on the more official Heritage sites seems to have been to stop development. The Orkney Archaeological Trust (OAT) and its sibling, the Friends of OAT, are moribund sites, certainly in potential. This may be due to a superficial lack of resources but a little vision would certainly help. The council has a heritage portal also, but with budget cuts and recent personnel changes this site is now drifting somewhat.
Leaving Orcadian waters you cannot go far without mentioning Paola Arosio & Diego Meozzi, authors of Stone Pages. These veteran megalithic web builders have created an amazing resource.
Staying outertown, two independent directories are worthy of mention. Joanne Mckenzie Winters has created the Internet guide to Scotland and some other folk have built Undiscovered Scotland. Both have deep content with pretty comprehensive Orkney sections.
Returning to Orcadian waters the next port of call are the official websites, led of course by the OIC. The site is currently under re-design and probably needs it. The main problem is navigational. A great deal of useful information is available but is difficult to find. Useful Sub-sites exist, like the new Welcome to Orkney promotion, a somewhat sanitised version of this site and also Orkney Heritage as previously mentioned. The best advice is to use the search box or simply call them directly to ask a question.
For healthcare and related services the Orkney InfoNet database has been created to provide a range of key information about organisations and agencies providing support and services to the community in Orkney, Scotland and beyond. This database is designed to supplement rather than replace existing services given by primary health care teams and other health promotion resources.
A very worthy community portal site was launched in 2006 which has been successful in offering web space to more than 80 community groups. It has a useful daily events calender and a very good picture library. It is also the parent of the Orkney Business Directory a comprehensive searchable listing of most of Orkney’s business community. These site are jointly funded initiatives between the OIC and Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE). The only curio is something called Orkney Communities Plus which seems to be an idea that has been forgotten.
Desktop research has been made easier as a few years ago the main Kirkwall Library and Archive was moved to a spacious new building off Junction Rd. They have matched the modern building with an excellent website well worth visiting if you are researching some particular Orcadian historical detail. Similarly, if you are thinking of tracing Orcadian ancestry then a good starting point is the Orkney Family History Society. They are a voluntary organisation closely allied with the Library and Archive.
Looking at the environment the cupboard is surprisingly somewhat bare. At the official end SNH do have a reasonable Northern Isles introductory section but it is limited and not up to date. It is the curse of the web that sites are not properly maintained and though resources are always limited it is an unforgivable failure to allow last years or even 2006 links to hang around un-edited.
The RSPB have a 2008 campaign “Aren’t birds brilliant !” and have a specific Orkney section with information about the CCTV monitoring of Hen Harriers nesting this year. They also have Googlemap links to the major Orkney RSPB reserves on the main site, though why they don’t identify them all is a bit odd. The JNCC is the statutory adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation. The official website is very worthy, very serious and very information rich. If you drill down through the protected sites section you can eventually work out that Orkney is pretty important.
The RSPB are a private members funded organisation and are now the largest individual land owners in Orkney which is a good thing. SNH are a satutory body tasked to look after the natural heritage, help people to enjoy and value it, and encourage people to use it sustainably. Less huggy/feely perhaps but more specifically their work is mainly determined by a range of statutory duties and Scottish Ministers’ priorities.
These statutory purposes are set out in the Natural Heritage (Scotland) Act 1991. They also have duties under other legislation, including the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.
They also play a key role in helping the Scottish Government meet its responsibilities under European environmental laws, particularly in relation to the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives.
They are also tasked to deliver a range of Ministerial priorities. These are usually set out, each year, in a “grant-in-aid” letter from the Scottish Government.
Effectively they act as an advisory body to Ministers, particularly in contributing to policy development, and more widely in providing strategic advice.
Recently it would seem that some of these roles have been in direct conflict with the Executives gleaming eye. The recent Donald Trump Aberdeen Golf fiasco and the general ineptitude of both the UK and Scottish executive with regard to energy and housing policies are good examples of the guard dog possibly biting the owner.
Indeed, it might be said that this statutory environmental role should be fully separated from the executive as otherwise the potential for undue pressure or simply political expediency may cause at the very least, controversy.
Beyond these organisations you can view a PDF of the OIC Natural Heritage Local plan chapter5 natural heritage. This is a well put together document that is ignored as much as possible.
The field club is the local natural history group and is quite excellent. Closely related to the local RSPB group it acts as an extraordinary repository or expertise and knowledge. Through the indefatigable Dick Matson a tremendous annual programme of field events is always put into place. If you live here you should join, if you are visiting you should find a copy of the OCEAN calender of events which the field club contribute to, amongst others.
The field club is dedicated to the recording and appreciation of the Orkney environment; it also plays a representative role on a number of local committees and advisory bodies. It does not take any adversarial or overtly political stance. Up to the very recent past this has been for very good reason, but in the modern age with the pressures for micro and macro sized developments appearing at every turn it may perhaps be time for a more strident environmental voice to be heard.
