The aim of this prototype is to allow users to explore the data available from the War Memorials Register, whilst also providing the opportunity to discover more about the places and people by uncovering links with IWM collections items and from other resources such as Flickr and Europeana
The approach to get this far was as follows:
- Understand the data
- explore sample API calls
- determine best facets
- create explorer in Google Sheets - Collections, Memorials, Names
- examine data - anomolies, opportunities
- Develop ideas
- audiences
- audience needs, opportunities
- best fits from data = person and place
- think of cross-links - ways to explore and connect
- think of other data sources to complement - to aid discovery, to add value
- = a tool to explore and uncover things about your ancestors or people from your community who died in WW1
- Test concept & feasibility
- run idea past representatives of target audience
- use their examples to test data - will it yield results? Yes!
- Define MVP
- restrict to WW1 for manageability
- allow map-based exploration of all memorials
- display memorials on map (type:monument)
- display info for each memorial in pop-up, incl list of names
- display possible additional matches from IWM collections and other relevent sources based on location name
- allow exploration of each name with available details (type:agent)
- display key details about person
- look-up potential related materials from IWM collections and other relevent sources based on persons name
- facilitate filtering based on key facets (e.g. surname, county, unit, date range)
- enhance map with relevant resources to aid discovery and interpretation e.g. county boundaries
- Out of scope (but ideas for development)
- Build prototype
- 48-hour ‘hackathon’!
- developed locally with GitHub repository
- based on open tempates and tools = Bootleaf & PostcodePast
- create geojson feeds for datasets and embed on map
- geocode collections objects based on textual locations extracted in facets (using Google API); store locations and placeString in mySQL db; create geojson feed from this
- create helper scripts (php) to populate pop-ups
- tweak visual design
- publish on test site
- Revisit concept & retest
To do list
- more context on locations and names e.g.
- pulling in 1911 census data to show population of a locality
- use genealogy data like the FamilySearch API to provide personal info
- more integration with Europeana 1914-18
- investigate other big projects like CENDARI and collaborativecollections.org/WorldWarOne/Main_Page
- sharing tools - monuments, people, items, map views
- export tools - StoryMap, Historypin ...
- favourites & alerts (e.g. for a location or a name)
- crowdsourced data validation and enrichment
- better enrichment and discovery through thesauri etc
- print outputs - possible premium service where you could create a designed report with filtered data e.g. for a county, a surname; include a map, timeline, images etc
- further data sources e.g. WW1 barracks, factories, WW1 events
- UX testing and design/branding
- accessibility testing
- timeline/map of events (e.g. deaths) - autoplay day by day
- pre-process data to spot and highlight probable matches on map, and via a page of latest matches
- make sure all filters and views have a permalink (incl pop-ups)
Releases
v0.1 initial prototype February 2016
- load monuments onto map
- supplement monument info with 3rd-party content
- enable deeper exploration of names, with related content
- load geotagged content from Flickr Commons & Europeana
- geotag collections locations and display on map with facility to explore items
Template The site uses the Bootleaf template at it's core, developed by bryanmcbride.com. It's a responsive template for building web mapping applications with Bootstrap 3, Leaflet, and typeahead.js. Open source, MIT licensed, and available on GitHub.
Icons designed by Michael Harrison (my talented step-son!).
Thanks also to Jeremy Ottevanger and the team at Imperial War Museums for providing access to the data and a few tips to get me started
- Imperial War Museum data
- Collections Solr endpoint
- War Memorials Register Solr endpoint
- 3rd party collection item providers
- Geo tools and services
- Google API
- http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data/ - county boundaries, 1911 census data
- http://ogre.adc4gis.com/ - convert shape files to geojson
- http://www.mapshaper.org/ to simplify county boundaries geojson
All content is provided 'as is'
Code is available under an open license and will be shared publicly on GitHub shortly.
Note that some additional rights may exist for the tools used in the creation of this site. Please check them for details