It’s easy to see why Tony Blair chose this site to demonstrate the educational power of the Internet when he launched the National Grid for Learning a couple of weeks ago.

The Learning Curve is the “for schools” section of the Public Record Office’s web site, which, when finished, will provide an electronic catalogue to the National Archive. As the archive spans 1,000 years, and occupies 167 km of shelving, this is a long-term project, due for completion by the end of 2001.

But there’s nothing daunting about the Learning Curve. This gives access to PRO documents, packaged to illustrate the history curriculum.

Twenty-two of these “Snapshots” cover events from the Middle Ages to the 1940s, and each is effectively a complete teaching pack. One relates to the 1882 mining disaster in the Durham village of Trimdon, in Mr Blair’s constituency and where he made his grid announcements. There’s also an interactive exhibition on power, politics and protest, and a focus on the Domesday Book.

https:www.tes.co.uk TES FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20 1998 26 Reviews TV, Set books, Web sites Clockwise from top: Ted Hughes, Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy universal pictorial press