Web and mobile
We review the latest websites and apps
Website
Europeana Collections
A vast and eclectic site, but is it trying to do too much?
The Europeana Collections website launched in 2008, aggregating thousands of items from digital libraries, archives and museum collections across Europe. It recently created an attractive new site, with almost 50,000 artworks, artefacts, books, videos and audio clips from 37 European countries. More than 3,500 institutions provide content, ranging from the Rijksmuseum and the British Library to regional archives and amateur historians.
It’s a fascinating and hugely varied resource: from artworks by Monet and Rembrandt, to a postcard written by Hitler and to musical recordings.
The material could be of use to serious researchers, while clear copyright information and straightforward downloading give it the potential to be used equally well commercially as for personal projects. And there is almost limitless potential for satisfying idle curiosity. The key challenge is navigation. The search function, which allows visitors to filter by category, including country, media, language, distribution rights and colour, is useful if you know what you’re looking for. Perhaps of more interest to casual browsers is the editorial content. There are plenty of online exhibitions, although some feel formulaic. Blogs and Soundcloud playlists seem to work better in this context: they accept the site is fundamentally anarchic, and any attempts to impose structure remain fairly provisional.
The website is still in its beta phase and perhaps in time will offer apps and extensions that help people make the most of its material. But it seems unlikely that the minor frustrations, such as dead links and images that aren’t displayed, will ever be completely ironed out.
Website
500 years of Royal Mail
Five hundred years ago, Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke, the first Master of the Posts who established the nationwide postal network that developed into Royal Mail. To celebrate that anniversary, Royal Mail has launched a website, working with the British Postal Museum and Archive, looking at its history.
The site is based around a gallery of 500 archival images that explain the importance of key characters and detail landmark developments such as telegrams and the organisation’s role in events such as D-Day. There are nuggets of social history too, such as the first commercial British Christmas card and a spiteful Victorian “vinegar valentine” whereby the receiver would not only be insulted but also forced to pay for the privilege. Creative material is also included, such as the 1936 documentary film Night Mail, famously incorporating verse by WH Auden.
There is a lot of interesting material here, which would take hours to browse fully. At times it can seem like an information dump, but a timeline helps tell the wider story, and the ability to filter by categories provides structure. A stronger narrative element would have brought the Royal Mail’s history to life more fully.
Website
iMuseum – Home of Manx Memories
An interesting glimpse of island life
IMuseum provides free access to parts of Manx National Heritage’s collections and archives.
The site includes digitised records of artefacts on display at the organisation’s 11 sites on the Isle of Man as well as thousands of items in storage. It launched in 2011, but there is now a new website featuring a refreshed homepage design. It has 58,000 entries, including more than 25,000 photographs.
The website will be of particular interest to local and family historians, with searchable name indexes of 370,000 individuals from censuses between 1841 and 1911, as well as baptism, marriage and burial records. The new features also increase its appeal to non-specialists. Zoomable images provide the chance to get close to the island’s visual heritage including photographs, monuments, artworks and vintage travel posters. However, some entries have no images.
Another new aspect is a blog highlighting notable episodes from the past, such as the tale of two Bavarian musicians who came to the Isle of Man in the 1800s. This adds a welcome personal touch and is an accessible way into the island’s heritage.
Europeana Collections
A vast and eclectic site, but is it trying to do too much?
The Europeana Collections website launched in 2008, aggregating thousands of items from digital libraries, archives and museum collections across Europe. It recently created an attractive new site, with almost 50,000 artworks, artefacts, books, videos and audio clips from 37 European countries. More than 3,500 institutions provide content, ranging from the Rijksmuseum and the British Library to regional archives and amateur historians.
It’s a fascinating and hugely varied resource: from artworks by Monet and Rembrandt, to a postcard written by Hitler and to musical recordings.
The material could be of use to serious researchers, while clear copyright information and straightforward downloading give it the potential to be used equally well commercially as for personal projects. And there is almost limitless potential for satisfying idle curiosity. The key challenge is navigation. The search function, which allows visitors to filter by category, including country, media, language, distribution rights and colour, is useful if you know what you’re looking for. Perhaps of more interest to casual browsers is the editorial content. There are plenty of online exhibitions, although some feel formulaic. Blogs and Soundcloud playlists seem to work better in this context: they accept the site is fundamentally anarchic, and any attempts to impose structure remain fairly provisional.
The website is still in its beta phase and perhaps in time will offer apps and extensions that help people make the most of its material. But it seems unlikely that the minor frustrations, such as dead links and images that aren’t displayed, will ever be completely ironed out.
Website
500 years of Royal Mail
Five hundred years ago, Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke, the first Master of the Posts who established the nationwide postal network that developed into Royal Mail. To celebrate that anniversary, Royal Mail has launched a website, working with the British Postal Museum and Archive, looking at its history.
The site is based around a gallery of 500 archival images that explain the importance of key characters and detail landmark developments such as telegrams and the organisation’s role in events such as D-Day. There are nuggets of social history too, such as the first commercial British Christmas card and a spiteful Victorian “vinegar valentine” whereby the receiver would not only be insulted but also forced to pay for the privilege. Creative material is also included, such as the 1936 documentary film Night Mail, famously incorporating verse by WH Auden.
There is a lot of interesting material here, which would take hours to browse fully. At times it can seem like an information dump, but a timeline helps tell the wider story, and the ability to filter by categories provides structure. A stronger narrative element would have brought the Royal Mail’s history to life more fully.
Website
iMuseum – Home of Manx Memories
An interesting glimpse of island life
IMuseum provides free access to parts of Manx National Heritage’s collections and archives.
The site includes digitised records of artefacts on display at the organisation’s 11 sites on the Isle of Man as well as thousands of items in storage. It launched in 2011, but there is now a new website featuring a refreshed homepage design. It has 58,000 entries, including more than 25,000 photographs.
The website will be of particular interest to local and family historians, with searchable name indexes of 370,000 individuals from censuses between 1841 and 1911, as well as baptism, marriage and burial records. The new features also increase its appeal to non-specialists. Zoomable images provide the chance to get close to the island’s visual heritage including photographs, monuments, artworks and vintage travel posters. However, some entries have no images.
Another new aspect is a blog highlighting notable episodes from the past, such as the tale of two Bavarian musicians who came to the Isle of Man in the 1800s. This adds a welcome personal touch and is an accessible way into the island’s heritage.