The new training play entitled ‘Fighting Your Corner’ is available to download. The play draws on historical collections relating to previous conflicts in Afghanistan that have been digitised as part of the Serving Soldier project. The play is divided into eight scenes which can be viewed individually. An easy to view version will be available on YouTube shortly.
http://podcast.ulcc.ac.uk/accounts/kings/Afghan_performance.xml
Versions of each scene are also available:
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Launch event and other news
20 November 2009 - A small launch event last night marked the beginning of the next phase in the development of Serving Soldier. Invited guests were shown the new website and enjoyed a preview of the podcast of ‘Fighting Your Corner’, the new training play written and produced by Spectrum Drama. Patricia Methven and Ludmilla Jordanova from the Project Board summarised progress so far.
Other news: Lianne Smith is currently adding metadata to new records - follow her progress in the project’s Twitter page; while stage two of the website development is under way, which will add more functionality and extra records.
Other news: Lianne Smith is currently adding metadata to new records - follow her progress in the project’s Twitter page; while stage two of the website development is under way, which will add more functionality and extra records.
Drama performance brings archives to life
19 November 2009 - The Serving Soldier project and Spectrum Drama recently delivered a thirty minute training drama at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham. The College is one of the main training centres for the British Army and also attracts a large overseas contingent who undergo training in the UK. The play is entitled ‘Fighting Your Corner’ and is based on first hand accounts including diaries, reports and personal testimonies from soldiers who fought in a series of British colonial engagements in the North West Frontier of India a century ago, and which have been digitised as part of the project.
The play is designed to assist the training of officers preparing to serve in Afghanistan or in peacekeeping operations elsewhere by highlighting historical parallels with current troubles. The play is divided into a number of self-contained scenes which can be incorporated into military seminars or classes, though the play is also suitable for more varied audiences including schools and universities, informing debate on such issues as the interaction of military and civilian populations, understanding cultural difference and the dangers of armchair diplomacy.
The performance is the second successful example of collaboration between the Archives and Spectrum: the company last year performed a play ‘Lost in the Field of Blackbirds’ based on archive sources and accounts of the conflicts in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, which was produced as part of the successful Lottery-backed ’Their Past Your Future’ initiative. The play aimed to stimulate debate on themes of reconciliation, trauma and the experience of the refugee in modern Europe and was performed at a number of London venues to audiences of young and old. A podcast and educational pack are available for download: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/collections/Digital.aspx
Together, these initiatives aim to bring archives to life and engage new audiences with lively historical topics and issues. They also seek to stimulate fresh use of original archive material and bring together different academic disciplines by exploring innovative learning strategies using new technology.
Fighting Your Corner will be released shortly as a podcast and it is hoped will be incorporated into future military training initiatives at Shrivenham.
The play is designed to assist the training of officers preparing to serve in Afghanistan or in peacekeeping operations elsewhere by highlighting historical parallels with current troubles. The play is divided into a number of self-contained scenes which can be incorporated into military seminars or classes, though the play is also suitable for more varied audiences including schools and universities, informing debate on such issues as the interaction of military and civilian populations, understanding cultural difference and the dangers of armchair diplomacy.
The performance is the second successful example of collaboration between the Archives and Spectrum: the company last year performed a play ‘Lost in the Field of Blackbirds’ based on archive sources and accounts of the conflicts in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, which was produced as part of the successful Lottery-backed ’Their Past Your Future’ initiative. The play aimed to stimulate debate on themes of reconciliation, trauma and the experience of the refugee in modern Europe and was performed at a number of London venues to audiences of young and old. A podcast and educational pack are available for download: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/collections/Digital.aspx
Together, these initiatives aim to bring archives to life and engage new audiences with lively historical topics and issues. They also seek to stimulate fresh use of original archive material and bring together different academic disciplines by exploring innovative learning strategies using new technology.
Fighting Your Corner will be released shortly as a podcast and it is hoped will be incorporated into future military training initiatives at Shrivenham.
Website launched
19 November 2009 - The new Serving Soldier website is available to view at: www.kcl.ac.uk/iss/archives/servingsoldier. The website showcases a selection of images and text including Field Marshal Alanbrooke’s Raj scrapbooks, photographs from the German Eastern Front in World War One, recruitmant posters from the Home Front, 1914-1918 and the early history of the motor car. Earthquake relief operations in Pakistan and journeys of discovery and cultural exploration also feature on the website.
The selection highlights the diversity and eclecticism of the military collections held in the Liddell Hart Centre which reflect the broad talents and accomplishments of servicemen and their families a century ago - not least as writers, artists, photographers and explorers. More images will be added shortly including stereoscopic photographs of the Western Front, tales of exploration from the Great Sand Sea, early aerial archaeology and Lawrence of Arabia’s private photograph albums. New functionality will allow users to zoom into documents and download copies for educational or personal use. Themed essays will help the visitor to learn more about this rich and varied collection.
The selection highlights the diversity and eclecticism of the military collections held in the Liddell Hart Centre which reflect the broad talents and accomplishments of servicemen and their families a century ago - not least as writers, artists, photographers and explorers. More images will be added shortly including stereoscopic photographs of the Western Front, tales of exploration from the Great Sand Sea, early aerial archaeology and Lawrence of Arabia’s private photograph albums. New functionality will allow users to zoom into documents and download copies for educational or personal use. Themed essays will help the visitor to learn more about this rich and varied collection.
Farming out metadata creation
12 August 2009 - Some consideration should be given to remote metadata creation if the available DAM system allows this. The workflow of this process requires careful thought - who is doing what and when; are guidance notes up to date; is contextual information available -for example the full names of people featured in images or approximate dates? How is the output checked and corrected?
A two stage process is recommended. Stage one is undertaken in-house with original material at hand. This involves the capture of unique annotations, accessioning information and staff knowledge acquired from creators or their families. Stage two focuses on providing keywords, adding controlled vocabulary terms and providing a basic description of the images concerned. Particular guidance is given on how detailed text/printed document pages are described to avoid over-description of narrative a user will be able to read for themselves or even freetext search if OCR has been applied successfully. Staff with a good general or historical knowledge are preferred to identify and recognise the significance of certain events, places or people. A good quality online catalogue is also an advantage in providing a shortcut to describe images adequately.
A two stage process is recommended. Stage one is undertaken in-house with original material at hand. This involves the capture of unique annotations, accessioning information and staff knowledge acquired from creators or their families. Stage two focuses on providing keywords, adding controlled vocabulary terms and providing a basic description of the images concerned. Particular guidance is given on how detailed text/printed document pages are described to avoid over-description of narrative a user will be able to read for themselves or even freetext search if OCR has been applied successfully. Staff with a good general or historical knowledge are preferred to identify and recognise the significance of certain events, places or people. A good quality online catalogue is also an advantage in providing a shortcut to describe images adequately.
Publishers
7 July 2009 - We’ve started looking for publishers of history materials who might want to use our digital archive as a resource. It has the potential to appeal to many subjects and areas of interest so we’re very keen to see how this project develops. With several reputable publishing companies following us on Twitter we can already see the potential.
Our database now holds over 11,000 images, the majority of which have their own metadata (the ones which do not are being completed at present). These span around 30 collections by seperate authors. Hopefully we will be getting some feedback from publishers who will point us towards the next stage of the project.
Our database now holds over 11,000 images, the majority of which have their own metadata (the ones which do not are being completed at present). These span around 30 collections by seperate authors. Hopefully we will be getting some feedback from publishers who will point us towards the next stage of the project.
Latest Flickr images
29 June 2009 - A new set of images has been added to our Flickr account. These are photographs from an album dating back to China in 1900 owned by LHD Campbell. The album features images of soldiers of different ranks from countries around the world - Italy, Russia, Japan, the United States and many more. All are shown in their respective uniforms and military attire.
As usual, the uploaded images are low res JPEGs created from the original TIF files. Feel free to look and tell us what you think.
www.flickr.com/photos/servingsoldier
As usual, the uploaded images are low res JPEGs created from the original TIF files. Feel free to look and tell us what you think.
www.flickr.com/photos/servingsoldier
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