Yn dilyn lansiad llwyddiannus yn y Pierhead, Bae Caerydd ar y 13.3.13 mae gwefan Papurau Newydd Cymru Ar-lein bellach yn fyw.
http://papuraunewyddcymru.llgc.org.uk/cy/home
Following a successful launch on the 13.3.13 at the Pierhead, Cardiff Bay, the Welsh Newspapers Online website is now live.
http://welshnewspapers.llgc.org.uk/en/home
I am grateful to The Welsh experience of World War One 1914-1918 project for this news item. Well worth a look at the blog for other interesting stories and photos: http://cymruww1.llgc.org.uk/
As soon as the documents from the Richard Burton Archives had been digitised and returned to Swansea, they were being used as part of a course for the Department of History and Classics. The Practice of History is a compulsory second year module which discusses the variety of historical sources explored by historians, how they can be used and the intellectual and practical problems that can arise from using them.
In a fresh approach this year the module is being taught using primary sources linked to particular areas of research. One group is studying World War I, in particular the home front, the battle front, and women and the war. Last week they visited the Richard Burton Archives for an introduction to using archives and to start using the documents selected.
National Library of Wales – 6th June
The British Library Preservation Advisory Centre and the Digital Preservation Coalition invite you to join them at one of three events which will equip collection managers, archivists, librarians and conservators with the skills necessary for ‘getting started in digital preservation’.
Our generation has invested as never before in digital resources and we’ve done so because of the opportunity they bring. Digital preservation – the series of managed activities necessary to ensure that digital materials remain accessible beyond the limits of obsolescence – is an issue which all organisations, particularly in the knowledge sector, will need to address sooner or later.
This day long introduction assumes no prior knowledge except a willingness to engage with digital preservation. Through a series of presentations, case studies and exercises, participants will learn how to apply techniques of assessment, risk management and planning to help secure their digital collections.
These workshops will interest:
Collections managers, librarians, curators and archivists in all institutions
IT managers in memory institutions
Records managers in institutions with a need for long-lived data
CIO’s in organisations with commercial intellectual property
Students and researchers in information science and related fields
Researchers with interests in research data management.
Places are strictly limited and should be booked in advance. Registration will close one week before the event and early booking is recommended as we expect these events will be popular. Registration is free for DPC members. Registration for non-members costs £20 per person.
Register online for the Aberystwyth event: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/56-getting-started-in-digital-preservation?xref=61
Posted in archives & special collections, events, digitisation
Tagged preservation
20th- 21st February, The Shire Hall, Monmouth
Digital Past is a two day conference which showcases innovative digital technologies for data capture, interpretation and dissemination of heritage sites and artefacts. Running for the fifth year, Digital Past 2013 will be set in the historic town of Monmouth, and offers a combination of papers, seminars and hands-on workshops and demonstrations to investigate the latest technical survey and interpretation techniques and their practical application in heritage interpretation, education and conservation.
The conference will be of value to anyone working in or studying the archaeological, heritage, education and museums sector, and is designed to allow informal networking and exchange of ideas within a friendly and diverse audience made up of individuals from commercial, public and third sector organisations. Open House sessions will also give the opportunity for display and demonstration of projects or products, and the chance to talk to heritage organisations, product developers and retailers.
Registration cost for the 2 days is £55, including lunch and refreshments on both days.
Limited places are available and early registration is advised.
We look forward to welcoming you to Digital Past in 2013.
The Digital Past Team
http://digitalpast2013.blogspot.co.uk/%20
Digital Past 2013 – registration form (PDF file, 0.1MB)
Digital Past 2013 – registration form (Word Doc) (DOC file, <0.1MB)
A project led by the National Library of Wales in partnership with the libraries, special collections, and archives of Wales has received £500,000 in funding from the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) for mass digitisation of primary sources relating to World War One.
The project will make available a unique digital collection revealing the hidden history of World War One as it affected all aspects of Welsh life, language and culture. The project will digitise printed and manuscript sources as well as moving image, audio and photographic material. These source materials are presently fragmented and frequently inaccessible, yet collectively they form a unique resource of vital interest to researchers, students, and the public in Wales and beyond.
The digital collection will be available through a website, and enhanced through the use of translation tools to enable broadest access.
‘The online resource will provide an invaluable resource for teaching, research, and commemoration in time for the 100th anniversary of the start of the War,’ said Andrew Green, Librarian of the National Library of Wales. ‘This is a fantastic example of collaboration across the libraries, archives and special collections of Wales to make our unique materials available to the widest international audience via digitization.’
The project has been developed by WHELF (the Wales Higher Education Libraries Forum). Collections to be digitised are from the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth University Special Collections, Archives and Special Collections, Bangor University, Trinity St David’s Special Collections, Swansea University, Cardiff University Library, the Archives of BBC Cymru Wales and archives and local records offices that are members of ARCW (Archives and Records Council, Wales). The People’s Collection Wales will gather content generated by communities and local and family historians. It will also digitise and in personal collections via outreach and targeted digitisation of significant material to enhance and complement the collections of the higher education partners. The unified, mass digital collection that will be created will represent the experience of the entire Welsh nation during World War One.
The content to be digitised has been selected in collaboration with academics in Wales and beyond, and the digital outputs of the project will lead to new research findings about Wales in World War One.
Paola Marchionni, JISC programme manager, said: “Through digitisation and collaborative working this project will bring together an impressive array of scattered content into one place and promises to become a key reference point for researchers and students looking at the Welsh experience of World War One. JISC is very proud to support this project which will also complement a number of other JISC funded World War One commemoration activities as well as national and international initiatives.”
The total cost of the digitisation project is £987,916. £500,000 in funding has been provided by the JISC Content programme 2011-13. Matched funding has been provided from institutional contributions from the project partners.
The project begins in February 2012, and the online resource will be launched in June 2013.
Jisc ww1 commemoration activities
For information, please contact Lorna Hughes, University of Wales Chair in Digital Collections, National Library of Wales: lorna.hughes@llgc.org.uk
22 September 2011
Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, has announced a task and finish group to review the use of digital classroom teaching. The scope of the review will be to consider:
a) How high quality, accessible digital classroom content could be developed;
b) How the NGfL is used, and whether there is a more effective way to deliver the aims of NGfL;
c) Whether and how a cloud-based content delivery system (e.g. iTunes university model) would work alongside a VLE for Wales;
d) How high-quality English and Welsh language content could be generated;
e) How to develop Welsh Intellectual Property which can be used to deliver digital teaching content;
f) How teachers might develop the digital teaching skills to use ICT to transform schools.
The full written statement can be found here
Andrew Green, Chair of WHELF and Librarian of the National Library of Wales, is a member of the task and finish group.
Posted in digitisation, information literacy, learning & teaching
RLUK seeks to commission for the period of 12 months a Unique and Distinctive Collections (UDC) Project Manager (part-time, £35,000 at 1/5) to coordinate the implementation of the Unique and Distinctive Collections strand of the RLUK Strategic Plan 2011-2014. The officer will ideally be seconded from a research library, will have experience of working with unique and distinctive collections, and be confident working in an academic environment.
This is an exciting, rare opportunity to conduct research, analysis and outreach in the context of some of the finest collections in the UK and Ireland, with impact both at home and internationally.
Job Description and Person Specification:
The deadline for applications is 1 September 2011.
Any queries should initially be addressed to:
Mike Mertens
Deputy Director
RLUK
Email: mike.mertens@rluk.ac.uk
21 March 2011 at Glamorgan Archives, Cardiff
Following on from the very successful ‘Decoding the Digital’ conference, the British Library Preservation Advisory Centre and the Digital Preservation Coalition are running a series of events across the UK designed to raise awareness of digital preservation issues, increase involvement with digital preservation activities and sign-post the support and resources available to help you on your way.
Who should come?
The sessions are aimed at librarians, archivists and collection managers in all sectors and in all sizes of institution who want to find out more about digital preservation and the implications for their organisation of having to retain, manage and provide ongoing access to digital material.
Each day provides an introduction to digital preservation, builds an understanding of the risks to digital materials, includes practical sessions to help you apply digital preservation planning and tools, and features speakers sharing their own experience of putting digital preservation into practice.
Throughout the day participants will gain confidence in addressing digital preservation issues and knowledge of achievable steps to put theory into practice and safeguard vulnerable digital content.
How do I get a place?
Places are strictly limited and we expect them to be booked quickly. Early booking is recommended. Each event costs £25 + VAT but is free to DPC members.
For full programme details and to book, please visit:
http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/23-getting-started-in-digital-preservation-cardiff?xref=23
New technology designed to allow users to virtually ‘turn’ the pages of digitised books has been unveiled in Cardiff by the University’s Vice-Chancellor.
Dr David Grant and Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, visited Information Services’ Special Collections and Archives (SCOLAR) section where the new 40” digital 3D touch-screen and Turning the Pages software is based.
The new software will give users the opportunity to view some of Wales’ oldest books and manuscripts, which form part of the collection of 14,000 rare items transferred to the University earlier in the year.
Users will be able to turn pages in real-life 3D mode, zoom in, magnify images, and admire some of the magnificently illustrated books and manuscripts in the University’s collections.
SCOLAR’s purchase of the touch-screen and software, as part of a grant from the Wolfson Trust, makes Cardiff the first institution in Wales to use such technology to display digital rare books.
Head of SCOLAR, Peter Keelan, said: “Cardiff University is the first institution in Wales to use Turning the Pages, and with the support of the Assembly Government and Cymal, we will now be making available portable versions of Turning the Pages to tour Wales – another first for SCOLAR.”
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/turning-the-pages.html
JISC has recently released a new report, Inspiring Research, Inspiring Scholarship, looking at the value and impact of digitised resources.
Written by Simon Tanner of King’s College London, it considers four broad areas in which the creation of digitised resources have has a significant impact.
http://bit.ly/9NjGw6 (pdf file)
The four themes are
*Inspiring Research* Digitised resources not only improves access but enable new types of research to be asked, such as the Data Mining with Criminal Intent project that is based on the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 – http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
*Bestowing Economic Benefits* The digitisation of journals, such as the Wellcome Trust Medical Journal Backfiles project, provides free and immediate access for scientists. One digitised journal, the Biochemical Journal, receives over 300,000 uses a month – http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitisation/medicaljournals.aspx
*Connecting People and Communities* Resources such as Great War Archive, gathering digitised memorabilia from World War One, not only provide new material for scholars, but enable new communities and expertise to be developed outside the campus walls – http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/gwa/
*Digital Britain* Digitising some of Britain’s special collections not only provides new data for educators and learners around the world, but also for a greater appreciation of the nation’s ‘prize jewels’; examples include the Freeze Frame collection of polar photographs, or the Old Weather resource for measuring and transcribing weather reports in Naval logbooks – http://www.freezeframe.ac.uk, http://www.oldweather.org/
Posted in digitisation, research
Tagged archives & special collections, digitisation, research
