People’s Collection Wales: online access to the heritage of Wales

from museums, archives and libraries

Lucy A. TeddLecturer, Department of Information Studies,

Aberystwyth University, WalesEditor: Program: Electronic library and information

systems February 2011

Wales – some key points

• Population – 3 million• Situated in the west of the British Isles• Capital city - Cardiff• Language –Welsh (spoken by 20%) and English• Cultural heritage – strong with many singing,

music, poetry competitions etc. (eisteddfodau)• Government - in 1999 many aspects were

devolved to Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) in Cardiff

CyMAL: Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales

CyMAL is a division of the Welsh Assembly Government and is involved in the development of local museums, archives and libraries to meet 21st century needs.

Established 2004. Staff of about 25, mainly specialists

Located in Aberystwyth – west Waleshttp://wales.gov.uk/topics/cultureandsport/

museumsarchiveslibraries/cymal/?lang=en

CyMAL – what does it do?

• Provides advice and support to local museums, archives and libraries in Wales

• Provides specialist advice on improving access, learning and information and communication technology (ICT)

• Supports and develops professional standards, expertise and skills

• Administers WAG grant schemes and provides advice on other sources of funding

• Develops research and baseline information across the sector

• Is the Sponsorship Division for the National Library of Wales and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales

• Provides advice to the Welsh Minister for Heritage.

One Wales programme of WAG

A programme for 2008-2011“Offers a progressive agenda for improving

the quality of life of people in all of Wales’s communities, from all walks of life, and especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged” (http://wales.gov.uk/about/programmeforgovernment/strategy/publications/onewales/?lang=en)

People’s Collection Wales/Casgliad y Bobl Cymru

Aims to : “raise awareness of the Welsh cultural identity and history through the provision of online content, learning resources, interactive social networking opportunities and a virtual space for heritage and cultural organisations to link with new audiences. Users will also be able to create their own digital collections, contribute relevant content and access digital resources from Welsh museums, archives and libraries. Local history societies will be able to develop their own websites and contribute content to the national resource.

Innovative technology pilots will be developed to provide online heritage trails supporting cultural tourism strategies and encouraging users to visit actual sites.”

http://beta.peoplescollection.co.uk

CyMAL and People’s Collection Wales

CyMAL started to work in 2008 with key cultural communities to develop People’s Collection Wales – £2million available.

• Culturenet Cymru• National Library of Wales• National Museum Wales• Royal Commission on the Ancient and

Historical Monuments of Wales• Llafur- Welsh People’s History Society

Culturenet Cymru

Set up in 2002, initial funding from WAG

Aim – “to promote and increase knowledge of the culture and history of Wales in an online setting”.

Gathering the Jewels project of 2004 digitised ‘jewels’ from 190 libraries, archives and museums in Wales.

Based within National Library of Wales, Aberystwythhttp://www.gtj.org.uk/en/

National Library of Wales

• Founded by Royal Charter in 1907• Located in Aberystwyth• Mission is to “collect, preserve, and give

access to recorded knowledge, in all documentary forms, with a special emphasis on the intellectual record of Wales”

• Active digitisation policies since 1995(http://www.llgc.org.uk)

NLW – examples of digitised collections

• Welsh ballads ( about 4,000)• Historic newspapers ( 2m. pages from old

Welsh newspapers)• Wales-Ohio – information related to Welsh

settlers in the US state of Ohio• Welsh Journals Online – 19th, 20th and

21st century journals in Welsh or about Wales

• Portread – portrait collection at NLW.

National Museum Wales

• Founded by Royal Charter in 1907• Seven separate sites

– Art Gallery and Museum, Cardiff– National Wool Museum, Drefach– National Slate Museum, Llanberis– National Waterfront Museum, Swansea– National Coal Museum, Blaenavon– St. Fagans ‘open air’ museum, Cardiff– National Roman legion Museum, Caerleon

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales

• Established by Royal Charter in 1908• Located in Aberystwyth• It has “a leading national role in developing and

promoting understanding of the archaeological, built and maritime heritage of Wales, as the originator, curator and supplier of authoritative information for individual, corporate and governmental decision makers, researchers, and the general public.” (http://www.rcahmw.gov.uk/HI/ENG/About+Us/)

More on Royal Commission

• Unique collection of photographs, maps, images, publications, reports aerial photographs etc.

• Access to these via an online system – Coflein via text search and map search facilities

• In 2005 developed an ‘e-trail’ for walking around a historic town (Ruthin) with a PDA

Coflein map

Development of People’s Collection Wales

June 2008 – Advisory Group set up with representatives from bodies already involved in development of relevant digital content as well as others such as BBC, Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University where the Programme Manager is based.

Role - to provide guidance and advice to CyMAL of development of PCW

Meets 6 times per year

PCW Working Groups

Formed during 2008 and 2009

• Programme management

• Technical developments

• Thematic content development

• Marketing

• Education

• Innovation pilots

Key stages

2009 Following a tender process based on European Union guidelines, development of technical platform awarded to Sequence company in Cardiff

April 2010 Closed beta launch for relevant stakeholders

August 2010 Open beta launch by Minister for Heritage at National Eisteddfod

(http://beta.peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/Home02011 Evaluation and review

Searching

• Various options

• e.g. Enter a place name in Discover ‘box’

• or Carry out a ‘map’ search using Places option

• E.g. Aberystwyth

• Photographs, etchings, trails, collections etc. retrieved

Assistance in creating content

• Workshops for local groups etc. held throughout Wales in 2010

• Run by staff from Culturenet Cymru• Digitisation toolkit available for all participants• Topics covered in toolkit: copyright; metadata;

scanner preparation and scanning; web preparation and display; digital archiving; preservation.

• “Show me How” tutorials on PCW website

Opportunities and challenges for those creating content for PCW

Opportunities• To achieve increased access to their materials• To support marketing strategies• To create high quality images for archiving.

Challenges• Lack of human resources• Lack of experience• Lack of technical know-how.

Top tips from Culturenet Cymru

Adopt appropriate standards for resource discovery, functionality, long-term access

Always scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpiAlways save master scan in TIFF format – suitable

for archiving.Use a colour checker chart to calibrate the scannerS. Rees-Jones (2010), “Supporting digitisation

within the heritage sector”, CyMAL Magazine, No.10, pp23-24

Some examples from groups creating content on PCW

• Rugby fans

• Tredegar Archive

• Welsh Americans

• Ramblers

• Hanes Abergwaun – local history group

• Castles of Wales

Copyright aspects

• Copyright is an important consideration for all involved in making material available on People’s Collection Wales.

• Advice on copyright available at http://peoplescollectionwales.co.uk/copyright

Some innovative aspects of PCW

• Linking of objects in the collections to ‘trails’ that can be accessed by mobile technologies

• In Labs ‘area’ a Digital Heritage Zone has been developed for Second Life by staff at University of Wales, Newport’s Institute of Digital Learning

• Family story ‘area’ to assist those developing their family tree

.. And finally

• People’s Collection Wales brings together on one platform access to unique collections of cultural heritage materials as well as enabling local groups, societies and individuals to create content.

• Users include: school children (primary and secondary); university students; researchers’ local historians; older community members etc. etc.

Thank you!