Re-Reading the British Memorial Project #de2012

Nicole BealeGareth Beale http://ourti.org

The Records

• Churches and memorials as an individual and a national archive

• Fragile record of our communities

• History, art, archaeology• Valuable objects are

frequently placed at risk

A Resource at Risk

• Increased weathering risk• Changing building use • Changing communities• Recording is occuring• Inconsistent documentation• Access to documentation

limited

Project Aims • To enable community groups to record, collect, and disseminate church memorial data.

• To investigate requirements for all stakeholders (public and the sector alike).

• To develop a clear and simple methodology to this end.

Project Team• Multi-disciplinary• Began October 2011• Based within the

Archaeological Computing Research Grouphttp://acrg.soton.ac.uk/

• Funded by Digital Humanities, University of Southamptonhttp://dh.soton.ac.uk/

Study Region

• Low population density• High risk levels due to

coastal location• Diverse architecture and monuments• Much interest from local history groups• High levels of international interest in the region

Opportunities

• Community interest• Global interest • New technology • The Web as catalyst

Open Approaches

• Open Source• Open Practice• Open Access• Open Data

Investigating using Open Source

• RTI Builder & Viewer

• Photogrammetry• GPS Surveying

Focus on RTI

• Highlight Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) as the focus for the project

• Dynamically manipulate the light source of a 2D image

• Allows for enhancement of surface shape and colour mathematically RTI of a headstone. Above:

Standard photograph. Below: RTI with specular enhancement

How it works

• Each project is community led

• Based on assistance• Diverse technical

response• Methodology is

flexible and responsive.

Investigating using Open Practice

• Co-operative working practices

• Decentralisation of support

• Open to all kinds of collaborations

Differing Requirements, Differing Contributions• Lifelong learning• Artefact conservation• Digital repatriation• Fundraising for sites• Personal historical research• Collective / community archaeological / historical

research • Advancement of knowledge• Dissemination of knowledge

Investigating using Open Access

• Project wiki• Theoretical & technical

publication: – Raw data

publication– Research results

publication

Investigating using Open Access

• A reusable methodology for recording graveyards using freely available and low cost technologies

• Technical guidance notes for the use of a variety of technology solutions

• Data management and dissemination guidelines.

Investigating using Open Data

• Releasing data as open• Providing guidance for

data creation and reuse• Considering licenses• Using other open datasets Open Plaques, uses OpenStreetMap

(MapQuest)

Open Data for Crowdsourcing

• General public analysis of data

• Additional data entry

• 6 churches• 9 organisations• 150 RTIs• 5 community open days• 12 workshops• Other public

engagement events

So Far…

• More churches• More groups; a wider variety of groups• Emphasis on extending training• Expanding to incorporate other needs• Formal partnership agreement• Develop online dissemination strategy• Data repositories (archiving)• Handbooks for use (OERs)• Interface for crowdsourcing analysis of data

Next Steps

With thanks to:

The Branscombe Project

Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery

All photographs author’s own. Released on Flickr.com under Creative Commons ShareAlike license.