Historic England Talk - Links

July 09, 2025

🍵 4 mins to read (suggested)

This collates all the projects, links and talks that were covered in my talk on the 9th July for Historic England's staff conference.

Nearly all the resources on this page are open source, reproducible and very low budget. If you want to learn more, please just ask!

Most of my work can be found in my publications list.

Citizen Science

Citizen science involves the active participation of members of the public in scientific research. This collaborative approach harnesses the collective power of individuals, regardless of their professional scientific background, to collect, analyze, and interpret data, contribute to research questions, and even shape scientific outcomes. From monitoring biodiversity and tracking environmental changes to assisting with medical research and astronomy, citizen science projects empower individuals to make tangible contributions to scientific discovery and address real-world challenges.

MicroPasts is an innovative citizen science platform that empowers the public to actively participate in archaeological, historical, and heritage research. Developed through a collaboration between UCL Institute of Archaeology and the British Museum, it leverages crowdsourcing and crowdfunding to unlock vast amounts of data. Users can contribute by transcribing historical documents, enriching old photographic archives, creating 3D models of archaeological artifacts, and even helping to design and fund new research projects, making significant contributions to our understanding of the human past.

Bronze Age Index

The Bronze Age Index (BAI) is a vital historical resource originally developed in 1913 as one of the first large-scale catalogues of British and European prehistory. Housed at the British Museum, it comprises an extensive collection of over 30,000 double-sided index cards, each detailing Bronze Age metal objects found across the UK. These cards include meticulous line drawings, find-spot information, object types, and contextual details. Recently, through the MicroPasts citizen science project, the entire index has been digitized, allowing researchers and the public to access and contribute to this invaluable dataset, offering unprecedented insights into Bronze Age Britain.

Portable Antiquities

The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a groundbreaking initiative in England and Wales that encourages members of the public, particularly metal-detector users, to voluntarily report their archaeological finds. Managed by the British Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, the PAS operates through a network of local Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs) who identify, record, and interpret these discoveries. By systematically documenting thousands of objects each year, from prehistoric tools to medieval coins, the PAS significantly enhances our understanding of the past, making this invaluable information publicly accessible through its online database and fostering collaboration between archaeologists and the wider community.

British Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum

Heritage at Risk demo

Peripleo

3D

3D technologies are revolutionizing how museums and heritage organizations document, preserve, and present cultural artifacts and sites. From detailed 3D scanning that creates high-resolution digital replicas of fragile objects to immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences that transport visitors to ancient worlds or inaccessible archaeological sites, 3D tools offer unprecedented opportunities. They enable precise digital conservation, facilitate advanced research and analysis by allowing scholars to manipulate and study objects virtually, and empower public engagement through interactive exhibitions, augmented reality (AR) overlays on physical displays, and online access to global collections. In essence, 3D for museums and heritage is transforming static displays into dynamic, interactive learning environments, ensuring the longevity and accessibility of our shared past.

IIIF

The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF, pronounced "triple-I-F") is a set of open standards that enables museums, libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organizations to publish and share high-quality digital images and their associated metadata on the web. It provides a standardized way for image repositories to expose their content, allowing for rich, interactive viewing experiences and enabling researchers and the public to compare, annotate, and reuse images across different institutions, regardless of where the images are hosted. In essence, IIIF makes digital images on the web as interoperable and reusable as text.

Linked Data

Linked Open Data (LOD) is a powerful paradigm that extends the World Wide Web from a web of documents to a web of data. It combines the principles of "Linked Data" – a set of best practices for publishing and connecting structured data on the web using URIs, HTTP, and standards like RDF – with "Open Data," meaning the data is freely available for anyone to use, reuse, and redistribute. The core idea is to make data machine-readable and interconnected, allowing computers to understand relationships between disparate datasets and enabling richer queries, knowledge discovery, and advanced applications that can leverage a truly global data commons.

Digital TransformationMuseumsArchaeologyDigital HumanitiesDigital HeritageDigital Archaeology
UP