Welsh Voices of the Great War Online Gethin Matthews, Cardiff University JISC Business and Community Engagement, e-Content & Digitisation Programmes: Developing Community Content (Call originally issued Dec 2009) Strand II - Co-development of Content– Building new digital collections, or transforming existing collections through genuine co-creation with specific external communities Welsh Voices of the Great War Online Aims and Objectives: “The project aims to work closely with members of the Welsh public in order to create an online resource which shares thousands of items that shed light upon the Welsh experience in the Great War. This resource will enhance recognition among institutions in Wales and beyond of the value of digital collections, demonstrating how building such a resource in partnership with the public and community organisations works for the mutual benefit of all parties: the institutions themselves, academia, the contributors, and users of the resource in the general public.” Oxford University’s ‘Great War Archive’ project ran submission days in 2008 – to read about their experiences go to: http://projects.oucs.ox.ac.uk/runcoco/events/26May/Great_ War_Archive_20100526.pdf http://blogs.oucs.ox.ac.uk/runcoco/oxford-meeting-may-2010/ http://welshvoices.com/ - website launched on Friday 16 July Roadshows: 1) St Fagans 24 July (National History Museum) 2) Wrexham 31 July (Bersham Heritage Centre) (Ebbw Vale – 3 & 6 August – talks at National Eisteddfod) 3) Aberystwyth 17 August (NLW) 4) Newport 24 August (Newport Museum) 5) Swansea 25 August (National Waterfront Museum) 6) Blaenavon 18 Sept (Big Pit) 7) Llanberis 2 Oct (National Slate Museum) St Fagans National History Museum (24 July): • on the outskirts of Cardiff • most popular tourist attraction in Wales, attracting 600,000 visitors annually • under the aegis of the National Museum of Wales – one of the project partners • closest location to Cardiff University, therefore easiest to obtain volunteers • café on site Location: Good spot in a prominent site (however, indoors at a location where the principal attractions are outdoors) Space allowed for a logical workflow – i) greeting ii) filling in the forms iii) scanning Volunteers: Ensured that there were enough of them (Combination of students and volunteers from the local Western Front Association) E-mailed them the guidelines in advance so they know what to expect Looked after them (water; biscuits + coffee breaks) For our roadshow we also had a WW1 expert to answer the families’ questions + two staff from the Glamorgan Record Office to advise the public on how to preserve their materials (and also to receive any material that might be offered) Essential practical preparations before the day: Health & Safety risk assessment Parking vouchers Sufficient contribution forms, thank you slips, feedback forms, examples of submitted material (For future events - a powerpoint slideshow showing a sample of material previously submitted) Publicity: South Wales branch of the Western Front Association e-mails to Local History Societies; to individuals who might have material; to the history students at Cardiff; to family & friends Paragraph in South Wales Echo (17th July) Prominent information on project website Posters in libraries + St Fagans museum (also flyers) Radio interviews – Radio Cymru on 20th July; Radio Wales on 16th July & 20th July (Roy Noble programme) TV interview – Wedi 3 on S4C (Welsh-language Channel 4), 22nd July David Thomas (known as ‘Dai Slogger’) – from Abertridwr, with the Royal Field Artillery Things I would do differently: • More time between the launch of the website and the first roadshow (both to allow the number of hits on the website to grow and to ensure that the publicity is focussed on one message at a time) • Earlier e-mail contact with every local history society in the area • Ensure coverage in local newspapers Question marks over: • Timing (ie. not the first weekend of the summer holidays) • Location (ie. was it best to go for a location where most of the attractions are outside?) Roadshows: 1) St Fagans 24 July (National History Museum) 2) Wrexham 31 July (Bersham Heritage Centre) (Ebbw Vale – 3 & 6 August – talks at National Eisteddfod) 3) Aberystwyth 17 August (NLW) 4) Newport 24 August (Newport Museum) 5) Swansea 25 August (National Waterfront Museum) 6) Blaenavon 18 Sept (Big Pit) 7) Llanberis 2 Oct (National Slate Museum) Extract from Sarah Davies’ poem A Tommy Pantygravel Sydd heddyw dan ei graith ’Rol bod draw yn y trenches Yn gwneyd gorchestion waith Fe laddodd Tom o’r Germans Do ddegau meddent hwy Os nol yr aiff e eto fe ladda lawer mwy And Tommy Pantygravel / Is today scarred After being in the trenches / Performing great deeds Tom killed the Germans / Yes, tens of them, they say If he goes back again he will kill many more Roll of Honour in Caersalem Newydd Chapel, Treboeth (North Swansea) – listing 81 members who joined the armed forces http://www.peoplescollection.org.uk/.