Making heritage more engaging
Using Web 2.0 to connect heritage and people
Janet E. Davis
Brief background: my workIncludes:
• Web Manager, Parks & Gardens Data Services, 2006 – 2009
• Freelance work with NEMLAC including– Promoting NE museums, libraries and archives online resources
– Sharing digital skills
• Newcastle Collection pilot project – Local Studies, Newcastle Libraries, 2004
• Leader of Tyneside Life & Times project for Newcastle Libraries, one of the SoPNE (Sense of Place North East project consortium, including Tyne & Wear Museums, Gateshead Libraries and Northumberland Archives) 2002 – 2004
• English Heritage
More info at: http://web.me.com/jedavis/Janet_E_Davis/
Project aims
• Encouraging volunteers to research & record
• Collating information from other sources
Creating
• database
• web site
• educational resources
Specific project aims
• 6,000 records of sites in England & Wales
• 1,000 records of sites in Scotland & Northern Ireland
• References records
• Archives sources
• Associated Person records
• Associated Organisation records
• Digital images & digital image records
• 20 themed educational resources
Who involved?
• Parks & Gardens Data Services– not-for-profit company set up by:
• IT contractor • hosting service
• Supported by
and
• Volunteers
Using free web resources developing content 1
Using free web resources developing content 2
Who involved? Stakeholders
Advisory Panel
Experts include representatives from:
English Heritage
RCAMHW
Hampshire County Council
Consultative Group
Volunteers organisations - NADFAS, County Gardens Trusts, NCCPG
Universities
Culture 24
Who is it for?Experts Non-experts
Site owners/managers Archaeologists Historians
Heritage professionals Planning professionals Design professionals
HE & FE students Life-long LearnersUK schoolchildren
General public Volunteers Tourists
Accessibility issues - physical and technological
Front end of web site
Needed to allow for:
• people with disabilities, especially with visual impairments, including colour blindness;
• slow dial-up internet access
• older hardware and software
Database interface
Intellectual accessibility - navigation
Providing methods to access the database records that do not require:
• prior knowledge of historic parks & gardens;
• knowledge of UK geography or local authority areas;
• good spelling or high level of literacy.
Building a semantic bridge using navigation
Find records
Map-based Search
Intellectual accessibility - images
Building a semantic bridge using description
• People ‘read’ pictures according to what they know.
• Need to describe what is where.
• What is obvious to one expert will not be obvious to another from a different discipline.
• Accessibility for visually-impaired.
Intellectual accessibility - writing styleBuilding a semantic bridge using writing style
• Using plain English or providing explanations of specialist terms
• Abbreviations and acronyms written in full.
• ‘Friendly’ but objective style.
• Concise, short sentences.
Controlled vocabulary
Example of early controlled vocabulary list for terms to describe the context or principal building for historic parks and gardens.
The Thesaurus within the database
Data entry form - Context
Illustrated Glossary
Illustrated Glossary - Front End
Front end content editor
• Next stage - letting volunteers add their own articles from the front end.
Twitter – janetedavis List Museums
Twitter – janetedavis List For_tourists_in_UK
historypin
The #artsfunding Daily
Conclusion
Using Web 2.0 enables:
Audience feedback
Audience participation
Building resources people use
Sustainable interest
and
Encourages proactive participation in heritage/culture.
References and resources
Others
Pinterest - virtual themed pinboards, adding images from websites so that you can share them with others: http://pinterest.com historypin - Upload digitised historical photographs and connect them to a location on a map, tell your story – or explore other people’s http://www.historypin.com/
Online collaboration and project tools example: Huddle
Others
Pinterest - virtual themed pinboards, adding images from websites so that you can share them with others: http://pinterest.com historypin - Upload digitised historical photographs and connect them to a location on a map, tell your story – or explore other people’s http://www.historypin.com/
Online collaboration and project tools example: Huddle
Making heritage more engaging Janet E Davis 2011
Parks & Gardens UK http://parksandgardens.ac.uk/ - example of how Web 2.0 technologies can enable wider participation.Parks & Gardens UK http://parksandgardens.ac.uk/ - example of how Web 2.0 technologies can enable wider participation.
Some of my Twitter lists (remember that these can be pulled into blogs or websites):Museums and galleries: http://twitter.com/#/list/janetedavis/museums-and-galleriesHistory people and organisations: http://twitter.com/janetedavis/history-people-and-orgsCultural heritage: http://twitter.com/janetedavis/cultural-heritage-uk
Some of my Twitter lists (remember that these can be pulled into blogs or websites):Museums and galleries: http://twitter.com/#/list/janetedavis/museums-and-galleriesHistory people and organisations: http://twitter.com/janetedavis/history-people-and-orgsCultural heritage: http://twitter.com/janetedavis/cultural-heritage-uk
Examples of curating or news gathering online resources that you can customise:Paper.li - uses Twitter or Facebook feeds – explore what is already set up - I set up several early on relevant to culture http://paper.li/
#artsfunding Daily is an example of Paper.li http://paper.li/tag/artsfunding
Twitter Times http://tweetedtimes.com/
Examples of curating or news gathering online resources that you can customise:Paper.li - uses Twitter or Facebook feeds – explore what is already set up - I set up several early on relevant to culture http://paper.li/
#artsfunding Daily is an example of Paper.li http://paper.li/tag/artsfunding
Twitter Times http://tweetedtimes.com/