One of Edinburgh’s most famous literary sons is to be honoured with an online resource for school pupils and academics.

The life and works of Robert Louis Stevenson will be housed on a website to be developed by Napier University, with help from Stirling and Edinburgh universities. It will include a brief biography, timeline, publication history and pages devoted to the major figures in his life from Belle Strong (his mother) to WE Henley (poet, playwright and editor).

The team behind the website are conscious of Stevenson’s growing reputation and of the need for a site comparable to that of Joseph Conrad and other writers who feature regularly on the school and university curriculum.

Linda Dryden, Napier University reader in literature, said: “Education is the cornerstone of this project and consequently we are keen that this project should reach and benefit as wide an audience as possible.”

The site will include reading packs and recommended reading for school children. The Carnegie Trust provided Pounds 34,500 for the project, which should be fully up and running in 2010.