Here are some of the online sites we’ve been exploring this month.

Digitisation’s Most Wanted

What are the most commonly accessed digitised items from heritage organisations? Even asking the question leads to further understanding about the current digitisation landscape……….

……These results, from very different institutions, invite discussions on shallow versus deep engagement with digital collections. Some examples of commonly accessed material are what we would think of as part of the Canon of Digitised Content: Shakespeare, Newton, Medieval Manuscripts. Some examples of commonly accessed material here can be taken as little more than clickbait – LOL! History! – or free reference material – its a free Malaysian Dictionary! Bonus! – but is getting people through the virtual door to digitised collections in this way, and through these items, such a bad thing? Come for the Dog with the pipe in its mouth! stay for the genealogy, then the discussions on palaeographic method!

Check out the answers and resulting discussion!

Crowdsourcing Grows Up: 7 Indicators it’s here to stay

It’s been almost ten years since James Surowiecki published The Wisdom of Crowds, which launched the notion that there was wisdom, and indeed robust solutions to be harvested from “crowds” that far exceeded comparable individual efforts.

According to Surowiecki, these key criteria separate wise crowds from irrational ones:

Criteria	Description
Diversity of opinion	Each person should have private information even if it’s just an eccentric interpretation of the known facts.
Independence	People’s opinions aren’t determined by the opinions of those around them.
Decentralization	People are able to specialize and draw on local knowledge.
Aggregation	Some mechanism exists for turning private judgments into a collective decision.

In parallel, aggregation platforms – often called Idea Management software were coming into being and in the decade since have matured, grown up, and become standard operating procedure for businesses solving problems of all kinds via crowdsourcing.

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The Differences between Digital History and Digital Humanities

Scholars exploring digital media and technology have gained much from emphasizing what they have in common, particularly in a context when such explorations enjoyed at best tenuous recognition within disciplinary settings. However, in recent years the consistent presence of digital sessions at the annual conferences of the AHA and OAH, as well as of smaller organizations such as the Southern Historical Association, the Urban History Association and the International Congress on Medieval Studies, testify to a growing recognition that digital media and technology are part of scholarly practice. But that recognition does not mean that most historians have explored what can be done with digital tools, are equipped to do so, or are even convinced that those tools have anything to offer their own research and teaching.
Read more about the debate

Off with their Heads?: Matchbooks in Archives

I have a special spot in my heart for oddball items in the archives.  When a colleague approaches me with a question such as: “Nora, we have artists’ matchbooks! Should we remove them? Will they spontaneously ignite? Will someone try to light them and set fire to the archives accidentally, or worse, on purpose?!,” I delight in putting my creative problem-solving mind to work.  Also, I get to learn new words, such as phillumeny (the hobby of collecting matchbox labels, printed matchbox outers, matchboxes, matchbook covers, matchbooks, and other forms of match packaging).

Learn more at The Bigger Picture blog

Results #WW1archives June 10 2014

What a great day we had on June 10, 2014, celebrating International Archives Day with the Twitter event #WW1archives!
Lots of archives, liraries, museums, other heritage organisations and tweeps participated, tweeting about the First World War in their archives or private collections.

Find out how it went

Here at Archives Outside we’ve been coming up with some creative ideas about posts we’d like to bring you in 2014. However, it’s not really about us, it’s about you. We’d love to hear from you and know about the type of posts you’d like to see on the blog. Here is a quick survey. Please let us know what you want!

[polldaddy poll=7801517]

The Competition

apps4nsw is a program of events to encourage the use of NSW Government data to create innovative web and mobile applications.  It is currently running an online EOI (Expression of Interest Competition) in which entrants are asked to develop a concept for an app to meet one of two challenges. One of the challenges is posed by the Australian Museum and involves developing an EOI for an app to make the world of scientific illustration, in this case the Scott Sisters collection, accessible to a wide audience.

The Scott Sisters collection

The Scott sisters collection is a collection of illustrations, diaries, manuscripts, published books, social histories and botanical and insect specimens from the 1840s to 1890s linked to current data on Australian moths, butterflies and plants. The Australian Museum curated an exhibition of the Scott Sisters work in 2011.

Turn back the pages as you uncover the captivating story of these two extraordinary women whose love of nature and tremendous skill in rendering its beauty enabled them to distinguish themselves amid the male-dominated world of 19th century science.

The highlight of the exhibition is the 60 watercoloured paintings created between 1846 and 1851 for their father A.W Scott’s landmark publication Australian Lepidoptera and their Transformations.

Further information about the collection and the Scott family can be found on the Australian Museum website.

Submissions close: 2 December 2013

Ready, Set, Go!

William Oates from the University of New England Heritage Centre, a frequent contributor to Archives Outside, recently gave a talk on using digital images as a tool for historical research. It is a wide ranging talk using some great images as examples. Bill also gives Archives Outside a shoutout (thanks Bill!) and references some of the crowdsourcing posts from the blog.

 Access the talk

To Access the talk click on the link below. Scroll through the list of talks and select the talk titled, William Oates – Digital Imagery as Tools for Historical Research.

William Oates-Digital Imagery as Tools for Historical Research

 Archives Outside resources mentioned in the talk

• Dating old photos – tips, tools and social media
• Re-visiting the Ebor Hotel – Can we solve it?
• Can you help date this photo album part 1 (Tank Parade)

The team at CSU Regional Archives, Wagga Wagga have put together a blog On Record @ CSU Regional Archives featuring posts based on items in their collection. Here is a sample of their work.

Roller skating has proven to be a favourite pastime for the people of Wagga Wagga, with a number of skating rinks existing in the town over the years.

This keenness for skating is supported by the fact that during the winter months of 1888 there was enough interest to necessitate the existence of two competing skating rinks. The first to open on May 7, 1888 was the Wagga Roller Skating Rink located in the Freemason’s Hall, and was followed by the Victoria Skating Rink on June 1, 1888 which saw the Albion Flour Mill on the corner of Kincaid and Trail Street transformed into a first class skating floor.

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