Collectionsfrom the Arts and Humanities

Data Service (AHDS)

http://ahds.ac.uk/

http

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/ How is the AHDS Organised?

• AHDS Executive(King’s College London)

• AHDS Literature, Languages and Linguistics(Oxford Text Archive, Oxford Uni.)

• AHDS History (UK Data Archive, University Of Essex)

• Funded by JISC and AHRC

• AHDS Archaeology(Archaeology Data Service, University Of York)

• AHDS Performing Arts (University Of Glasgow)

• AHDS Visual Arts(University College for Creative Arts, Farnham Campus)

• Established in 1996

http

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/ What does the AHDS do? (1)

• Advises on the creation of digital data

• AHDS Digitisation Workshops

• Guides to good practice, information papers, workshops on particular issues, case studies, advice service over phone / email

• Helps with technical aspects of applications to AHRC

http

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/ What does the AHDS do? (2)

• Collects, preserves and distributes high-quality digital resources for research and teaching

• Collections deposited by academics and by cultural heritage sector

• These resources are free for educational and private use

• Generally available online / available for downloading

• Different mechanisms for different formats and subjects

http

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Searches through all AHDS collections

– Historical datasets

– Literary Texts

– Collections of images

– Archaeological Datasets

http

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Thematic strengths

– Linguistic corpora• Old English Poetry and Prose• Commercial Italian• Medieval and Modern Chinese

– Census Material• National and local data from 19th and 20th

centuries

http

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Thematic strengths

– Great Britain Historical Database• Mortality, Occupation, Trade Union, Housing

– GIS of the Ancient Parishes of England and Wales, 1500-1850

• Boundary information on early modern period

http

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Thematic strengths– Linguistic corpus– Census Material– Great Britain Historical Database

• Textual material can require registration with AHDS; historical material with UK Data Archive

• Registration for UK Data Archive to be simplified in Summer 2006

• Generally available for download

http

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ds.a

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Serendipitous strengths

– Collections are driven by what depositors are researching and creating

– Thus collections, especially in history and text, can be particular in nature

http

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/ General AHDS Collections

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections

• Serendipitous strengths– Ptolemy's Geographia : Books I & II– Genevan Sex Crimes Database, c.1440-c.1790 – Executions in the United States, 1608-1987– Scottish Emigration Database, 1923– Jeremy Bentham, 1748-1832: Transcripts of Original

Manuscripts

http

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/ Visual Arts Collections

• http://visualarts.ahds.ac.uk/

• Over 60,000 images collections from universities and cultural heritage sector

• Wide array of possible fields: Art History, Fashion, Design, Crafts (e.g. ceramics, textiles), Contemporary Art, Architecture, Posters, Magazines

• Browsing, searching, Lightbox, Content-based image retrieval. All online.

http

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/ Visual Arts Collections

• http://visualarts.ahds.ac.uk/

• The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland

• Design Council Archive: Designing Britain

• National Fine Art Collection (fineart.ac.uk)

• Public Monuments and Sculpture Association

• Imperial War Museum– Concise Art Collection – Posters of Conflict

http

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/ Visual Arts Collections

• The Learning Index

• http://visualarts.ahds.ac.uk/learning

• 13 learning and teaching modules using the images– Exhibiting Britain – Art for Social Spaces – Calligraphy: an education in letter form– Oral testimony and the interpretation of the crafts

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/ Archaeology Collections

• http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue

• Over 1m records related to sites and monuments in UK and abroad

• Contemporary and historic maps provided

• Uses: Not only archaeology but also Geography, History, Tourism, Urban Planning, Holidays

• All available online

http

://ah

ds.a

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/ Archaeology Collections

• http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue

• Datasets related to particular research also available

– Royal Opera House Excavations

– Channel Tunnel Rail Link

– Christ Church, Spitalfields: investigations of the burial crypt 1984-1986

– Defence of Britain database

http

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/ Performing Arts Collections

• http://performingarts.ahds.ac.uk /collections/

• Generally available online – but like history collections more research focussed

• Designing Shakespeare

– 40 years of performance at London and Stratford

– Images from plays, cast lists, director interviews, programme notes

– Online interface

http

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/ AHDS Collections

• Wide range of materials, delivered in different formats

• Free for educational and private use

• Registration required only for some historical and textual items

• Continual process of adding collections and refining interface

• http://ahds.ac.uk/collections/

• This PowerPoint available at http://ahds.ac.uk/collections/about.htm