NHB launches website to house all available heritage resources

SINGAPORE — The National Heritage Board (NHB) has launched a one-stop portal which will, for the first time, house all available heritage resources under one roof.

This was announced by Mr Baey Yam Keng, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) during the Committee of Supply debate on Thursday (April 14).

Such resources were previously only available separately in a smattering of places. For example, information on historical artefacts could only be found on the Singapore Collections website. Information on some trails was only available on print media while others were available on some websites. 

The new website, Roots.sg, integrates all heritage information — not just NHB’s resources — about Singapore’s historical monuments, artefacts and trails within a single content bank. It contains information on the selected monument or collection as well as “intelligent recommendations” about other similar sites or collections, and links to other historical information. 

The aim is to get users to explore the site, so they can discover the wealth of resources available, said Mr Shaun Wong, Senior Manager, Strategic Communications and Digital division at NHB.

The NHB hopes to reach out to educators as well as the general public to make use of the site as a teaching or exploratory tool, and will continue to upload new materials when they have them. 

“Besides providing access to our entire national collection online, Roots.sg presents heritage resources in a much more dynamic manner... Roots.sg will provide a new dimension for you to explore and to learn more about our history and heritage,” said Mr Baey.