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

Conclusion

Using Web 2.0 enables:

Audience feedback

Audience participation

Building resources people use

Sustainable interest

And

Encourages proactive participation in heritage/culture.

www.parksandgardens.ac.uk