MMXII workshop: Mapping Manchester with the Manchester Histories Festival 2012

MMXII Mapping Manchester 2012 – digital engagement workshop 10 – 1pm, Monday 12 December 2011

MMXII is funded as part of ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-cultural Change (CRESC) Urban Experiments

Samuel Alexander at the University of Manchester

This workshop was designed to bring together in discussion academic researchers, ‘heritage’ institutions and other people who are currently working with or interested in using digital media to engage various audiences in Manchester’s histories. It was convened by Abigail Gilmore, Institute for Cultural Practices, with the Manchester Histories Festival and held at the People’s Histories Museum, Manchester.

Delegates were invited from University of Manchester researcher networks, including CRESC, and the range of cultural partners working with Manchester Histories Festival 2012.

We heard from a number of people already working with digital media in museums, libraries and archives, the arts and the academy to engage people in the research resources and activities in and about Manchester. This was work which had a focus on linking place, people and research through geo-location, tagging and mapping tools and media. The full programme is here, and presentations, notes and links from the ‘Show and Tell’ session are below.

The aim of the workshop was to share and build links between common interests, to provide the basis for collaborative public engagement activities with Manchester histories and to consider future programming for the Festival beyond 2012.  The discussion session revealed clear interest in develop platforms and methodologies for opening up the knowledge resources in the city in stimulating and exciting ways, using various online social media (such as Flickr, Google Maps, History Pin, Twitter and Foursquare) to augment ‘offline’ programming including walking tours, performances, lectures, workshops and research seminars.

We hope that this is the beginning of a network for research, public engagement and digital media mapping Manchester’s histories – any comments, questions and suggestions welcome via abigail.gilmore@manchester.ac.uk or below. And look out for future seminars and events, and many other chances to join in through the Manchester Histories Festival 2012 programme.

Manchester Archives+ Dave Govier

Dave talked us through the recent work by Archives+ using Google Maps & Flickr to promote resources such as the Manchester Local Image Collection. The work has overcome the problems with social media mapping tools, and is focusing on new ways to encourage people to join in, contribute and curate their own histories maps. For more information see the project report and blog here

Historical Mapping Martin Dodge

Along with Chris Perkins, Martin has been working to promote access to maps on Manchester and show the city revealed by the layering of data made possible through mapping. Following development work bringing together these various cartographies, the publication of the Map Reader (with Chris Perkins) and a funding bid to JISC, Martin is interested in finding ways to take this forward – presentation here

Data mapping Niall Cunningham

Niall is a new Research Fellow at CRESC and has been working on various projects which map data spatially, including the Great British Class Survey data and more recently new work with Laurence Brown and Andy Miles on spatial inequalities, the built environment and socio-cultural change in Manchester. His interests include thinking about the role of geographical location on economic future and on understanding historical resonance and inertia through data mapping. Presentation here

Univercity Culture Abigail Gilmore, Kostas Arvanitis, Julian Hartley & Jim Ralley

UnivercityCulture was an University of Manchester-funded pilot to develop methodologies for student engagement using geo-location and annotation of research. It has formed the basis for thinking about how to map research and draw people to and around the resources in the city, by annotating spaces and places with digital content (using Google, Foursquare, Youtube, Twitter and QR codes). Prezi here

Gaming and Novars Jim Ralley

Jim introduced us to the ways in which gaming, ‘gamefulness’ and ‘gamification’ can provide enticing ways into hidden, obscured and previously ‘dry’ subjects by describing the two games he designed with UnivercityCulture – Campus Obscura & Histonauts. Jim also showed us a film he made on NOVARS work to ‘aurify’ Manchester histories, spaces and places with sound.

The Manchester Histories Festival 2012 Claire Turner

Claire is the Director of MHF and is develop an exciting 10-day programme along with the city’s heritage partners and higher education institutions. She told us how the objectives for 2012 include changing the ways histories programming and engagement is perceived and received, to demonstrate how different partners and audiences can work together to make history more exciting and engaging as well as to promote various interests which will benefit the city, including cultural tourism and teaching and learning curriculums. She also spoke of the aims to grow and embed these activities outside the 10-day period and revealed that the next edition’s theme will be Manchester Entertainments in 2014. Watch out for Festival news on their website – www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk

Postscript

Interestingly,  on the same day as the workshop, the European Commission announced a proposal to amend the European Directive on the re-use of Public Sector Information. The aim of the proposal is to boost research, development and industry by removing barriers to the re-use of information held by public sector bodies. The outcomes of the proposal will involve public sector archives, libraries (including university libraries) and museums – although services forming part of broadcasting or performing arts organisations will not generally be included. The majority of archives, libraries and museums already permit a wide range of commercial and non-commercial re-use of information, for example by licensing reproduction of images from collections. This, and particular circumstances of cultural institutions, will be taken into account in relation to permissions for charge-setting, and wide consultation with public sector stakeholders, led by the National Archives, is due to take place.

For further information see link here – thanks to Dave Govier and to the National Archives for this information.

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