Module 4: Contexts and connections

Sections

Work your way through the following sections:

• Collections in context
• Discovering collections

Portfolio checklist

Here’s a summary of all the tasks and activities you should have added to your portfolio as you worked through this module:

• Understanding contexts: Read Mike Jones’s post and look back over the previous modules to see where ‘context’ was mentioned. In a minimum of 100 words describe what you think context means and explain its significance for documenting and using cultural heritage collections.

• Entities and relationships: In your portfolio record answers to the questions in italics above: Which agency has the number ‘CA 1’? Can you find an agency that’s been in existence under its current name for more than 100 years – what is it? What is the oldest agency associated with postal services – where was it? What’s the oldest series created by CA 1033?

• Making connections: In your portfolio create a table and list your ten related things, providing both the name, and a url that links to a page about that thing. Of course, remember to include the object you started with!

• Interfaces: Read Mitchell Whitelaw’s article and explore the various collection interfaces linked above. In a minimum of 100 words, describe which of these collection interfaces you think best invite open-ended exploration and discovery. Explain your choice.

• The future?: Read Europeana’s Strategic Plan and explore the various articles and examples linked on this page and think about how we will find and explore cultural heritage collections in the future. Europeana’s slogan is ‘we transform the world with culture’, in a minimum of 200 words explain how making cultural heritage collections available online can ‘transform the world’. What changes and why?