First World War Collections in the UK - JISC World War One ...

First World War Collections in the UKA preliminary horizon-scanFirst World War Resources OnlineIntroductionFrom today 1914.org features an online guide to First World War collections held rightacross the UK. Commissioned and funded by JISC, the UK’s experts on digitisationfor educational purposes, and supported by the Wellcome Trust, First World WarResources Online provides instant answers on which archive, museum or library hasmaterial relevant to the First World War. It is not comprehensive – additional materialwill appear next year, but the database provides the fullest analysis yet of collectionsacross the UK relevant to study of the First World War.• nWho has Prime Minister Lloyd George’s papers?• nWhich museums have First World War aeroplanes?• nWhich library has the papers of women’s suffrage societies?• nWhat books were children reading and what toys were they playing with?• nWhere are the silent films that were shown to cinema audiences at the time?• nWhich art galleries have major works by First World War artists?• nWhere do I find out about the medical effects of working with explosive material inmunitions factories?Collections are split by region, type of material or subject to uncover how war shapedthe lives of men and women across the nation. Further iterations of this informationwill employ more intuitive search functions, but this ‘raw data’ will be inadmissible.Suzanne Bardgett,Head of Research, IWM (Imperial War Museums)ForewordThe legacy of First World War in terms of social, economic and political global changecannot be overstated; it changed the individual’s view of society and their place withinit with far-reaching effects into their future and our past. In the words of H.G. Wells:‘This is the end and the beginning of an age’.To mark this event is therefore a key landmark for custodians of heritage andeducators alike. The commemoration provides the opportunity for museums,galleries, archives, libraries, the creative industries, universities, colleges and schoolsto work together to provide a user experience made possible through innovativedigital technologies that is as personal, rich and vivid as it is focused; an experiencethat offers the user the ability to contextualise their own understanding and customiseresources in line with their own learning and research priorities.Therefore, as the anniversary of the start of conflicts of First World War centenaryapproaches in 2014, the JISC is exploring what opportunities – creative, strategicand technological – there may be in the seamless provision of the rich content(from audiovisual, images and text- based works to film) held by range oforganisations across the UK to enhance educational and research opportunities inuniversities and colleges and more broadly 1 . To support the ‘JISC World War One(WW1) Commemoration projects’, JISC aims to create resources that are open,comprehensive and sustainable, underpinned by guiding strategic and technologicalprinciples outlined in the ‘JISC WW1 Statement of Intent 2 ’.Following on from a number of successful roundtable events 3 and workshopsconvened by JISC, involving a range of heritage and educational organisations, itbecame clear that fostering a dialogue between organisations was essential. Inparticular, participants articulated that it would be hugely beneficial if the range oforganisations that collectively held unique and authoritative materials on the FirstWorld War were able to plan for and map activities using a ‘joined-up’ approach.However, in order to make real progress with collaborations, some key questionswere outstanding:• nWhat collections/assets are held by cultural heritage and education on the FirstWorld War?• nWhere were these collections/assets held on a regional basis?• nWhat were the key assets of each collection? Did these pertain to an event, anindividual or geographic area?• nWere these collections available online and if so, were they free to access?It became clear that in order to scope the opportunities that this rich body of contentcould provide to the heritage and education organisations and the public alike, a fullaudit of collections and assets needed to be undertaken. The following documentationwas therefore commissioned and funded by JISC and the Wellcome Trust andundertaken by the Imperial War Museum This document represents the first iterationof a growing bodyof research on thistopic and should notbe considered in anyway as a completeappraisal, especiallyas many collectionsare conspicuous bytheir absence e.g.Army regimental andcorps museums (www.armymuseums.org.uk/). Any omissionshere were only duethe limited scopeand resources of thisinitiative. Furtherresearch on FirstWorld War content andcollections available toeducation in analogueand digital form willbe undertaken aspart of the JISC WW1© IWM Q 4100Discovery programme 4by King’s CollegeLondon and will beopenly released in March 2012. To contribute to this activity or to find out more, don’thesitate to get in contact.Through this research and the complimentary work being undertaken throughouteducation, cultural heritage and beyond, we shall scope effectively the opportunities,capability and possibilities provided by this valuable body of content in order toimprove understanding on the First World War in preparation and as part of the legacyof the centenary.We are grateful to all of those who have contributed to this research. Particularthanks and gratitude should go to Suzanne Bardgett and Lucy May Maxwell at theImperial War Museum and Anthony Woods at the Wellcome Trust.Sarah FahmyJISC Programme Manager for First World War commemoration,Strategic Content Alliance @JISCNovember 2011Images on the front page and this page from The First World War Poetry Digital Archive, University of Oxford(www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit); © The Imperial War Museum.1 For more information on the JISC WW1 commemoration activities, see http://jiscww1.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2 JISC WW1 Commemoration ‘Statement of Intent’: http://jiscww1.jiscinvolve.org/wp/jiscsww1statementofintent/3 Details available on request- contact Sarah Fahmy (s.fahmy@jisc.ac.uk)4 http://jiscww1.jiscinvolve.org/wp/jisc-ww1-discovery-programme/Page 2