Learning to Let Go: Changing Patterns of Participation and Learning through the Digital Collections of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)

Learning to Let [email protected]@rcahms.gov.uk

facebook.com/rcahmstwitter.com/rcahms

RCAHMS survey photographs

RCAHMS measured drawings

RCAHMS aerial survey

RCAHMS historical photographs

RCAHMS prints and drawings

canmore.rcahms.gov.uk

MyCanmore user generated content

ongoing association with RCAHMS

comparative study of institutional documents

semi-structured interviews

monitoring of online activities…

Virtual ethnography of Canmore

participant observation

visual analysis of the online environment

thematic analysis of user generated content

[Gathering of field notes from meetings, conversations etc. over a 2-year period]

[Visual and thematic analysis of RCAHMS corporate strategy documents (2006-2009 and 2010- 2014)]

[Thematic analysis of transcripts from 14 face-to-face, semi-structured staff interviews]

[Review of project literature]

Ethnography of RCAHMS

ongoing association with RCAHMS

comparative study of institutional documents

semi-structured interviews

monitoring of online activities…

Virtual ethnography of Commons on Flickr

participant observation

visual analysis of the online environment

thematic analysis of user generated content

Virtual ethnography of Canmore

participant observation

visual analysis of the online environment

thematic analysis of user generated content

[Gathering of field notes from meetings, conversations etc. over a 2-year period]

[Visual and thematic analysis of RCAHMS corporate strategy documents (2006-2009 and 2010- 2014)]

[Thematic analysis of transcripts from 14 face-to-face, semi-structured staff interviews]

[Review of project literature]

Ethnography of RCAHMS

MyCanmore user generated content

Environments the digital space as a data repository

…….. the digital space as an environment for collective dialogical engagement

Content digital heritage artefacts as data

…….. digital heritage artefacts as social objects

Users online users as visitors or trusted volunteers

…….. online users a participants, learners, commentators

Curators online curators as editors and administrators

…….. curators as participants, learners, expert commentators

Discourse online discourse as monologue …….. online discourse as dialogue

Institutions the institution as locus of authority

…….. the institution as enabling participant/learner

Purpose and value

information delivery and measurable outcomes

…….. the enabling of transformative processes of engagement

Clari, M. (2012). In the Hands of the User. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.

Museums and digital media Establishing a research agenda for the Scottish Heritage Sector

http://digitalfutures.rcahms.gov.uk/

The digital futures of cultural heritage education

Engaging in dialogue

Enhancing ‘hidden’ work

Lost Edinburgh on Facebook

Britain from Above project

Britain from Above UGC

Beyond Text proposals

1. RCAHMS APIs – to enable members of the public to search for data and save the results for use in developing new uses eg Apps

2. Thesaurus – to enable users to select and ‘vote’ for a Canmore image to represent each site type

3. Image tagging – to enable users to add their own keywords to Canmore images and to search for tags like an image bank

Learning to Let Go

• Opening up to theoretical scrutiny

• Collaboration

• Letting go...

Learning to Let [email protected]@rcahms.gov.uk

facebook.com/rcahmstwitter.com/rcahms