Designing Impactful Learning Experiences: Creative Uses of Electronic Archival Content
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by Sara Wingate Gray, UCL
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Designing Impactful Learning Experiences: Creative Uses of Electronic Archival Content
- 1. ‘Creative engagement with e-resources’: CILIP Headquarters 27th June 2019 Sara Wingate Gray Senior Teaching Fellow Arts and Sciences (BASc) University College London
- 13. https://journals.sagepub.com/action/showMostReadArticles?journalCode=iflb [Accessed 26.06.2019] Rockin’ the charts at #20! ;-)
- 16. 16 https://www.flickr.com/photos/martyn404/5395977052/ “scrutinises the interplay between audiences, politics, aesthetics, material forms and the socio- economic, technological and socio-cultural elements in which information is situated.” “a critical, interdisciplinary examination of the role institutions and collections play in validating and verifying information and information sources”
- 18. 18
- 19. 19
- 20. 20
- 21. 21
- 24. Students work on an individual project which draws on an institutional collection to create an animated GIF (using digitised archival data content) creatively transformed by the student to deliver a specific informational concept or idea. https://www.flickr.com/photos/revisedesigns/8234379324/
- 25. https://www.flickr.com/photos/revisedesigns/8234379324/ Students will publish the GIF on a social media platform of their choice (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and complete a final blogpost (500-800) write-up of the experience, discussing both the theoretical and practical issues they dealt with in producing the final work.
- 26. Requires navigation and understanding of: • Digital content • Institutional archives • Licensing issues • Audience engagement https://www.flickr.com/photos/revisedesigns/8234379324/
- 28. A stroll in Tianjin Under Nine Flags Archival GIF Project by Y J
- 29. https://yasminsbascjournal.wordpress.com/2018/11/11/a-stroll-in-tianjin-under-nine- flags/ “I came across the Tianjin Virtual Cities images from searching for databases of Chinese photographs. I wanted to take this archival GIF-making project as an opportunity to explore my own heritage.” “When I stumbled across the photos, I noted that the locations were labelled by their foreign names from during the concession era, in French or Japanese, for example. It was bizarre to see the places I was familiar with called by these different names, and I formed the idea to animate a stroll around the city, to explore how the city used to be.”
- 34. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Tianjin_Concessions.jpg Marco Polo Square, formerly Piazza Regina Elena Somewhere on the river Haihe Shandong Rd, formerly rue Chabeneix
- 38. https://yasminsbascjournal.wordpress.com/2018/11/11/a-stroll-in-tianjin-under-nine- flags/ “With this GIF, I hope to draw attention to the invaluable resources in the Virtual Cities databases – they have collections of other cities also to be explored. After showing my parents the GIF, they, like me, expressed a sense of sentimentality, immersed in the world that existed for my grandparents and great- grandparents. My parents and I, along with most people today, have only known China as it is, the People’s Republic, but its long and diverse history is worth re-telling. Thus I also hope that the GIF spark the interest in others to learn about my hometown and China’s past.”
- 40. https://aleksbascblog.wordpress.com “My GIF is an illustration of this archive of the National Library of New Zealand found on Flickr. Having spent a month in New Zealand last summer, I found it extremely interesting to look at the history of towns and cities I visited and was inspired to use the archival material to make my project. The photographs I used to create the GIF were all taken in the early 20th century. What really caught my attention were the panorama photographs of villages and city streets I found – I decided to use them as the GIF background.”
- 47. https://aleksbascblog.wordpress.com “I think my final project showcases the archive quite well, considering it is filled with quirky photos of 20th century Kiwi life, many of them humorous, which I think is represented in the GIF. I hope my GIF inspires others to search for archives they find interesting and transform the content into creative projects!”
- 58. I. Exchange with the outer world
- 60. III. Role of librarians
- 62. Information Through the Ages GIF Project - J L
- 63. Background S. Dillon Ripley Secretary of Smithsonian Institutions 1964 - 1984 Image from Smithsonian Institution Archives On Me: I work at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History!
- 64. GIF
- 65. GIF Commentary on Collections ● Size ● Collector(s) Commentary on Smithsonian ● Immensity ● Importance
- 67. Information Through Technology: An Explorational GIF of Unintentional ‘Fake News’ and Personal Technological Bubbles BASC0033 C M
- 68. Technological Mediation of Information – Context In recent years, we’ve witnessed a shift in how information is consumed. Technological mediation is now widespread. As consumption changes, we are able to accomplish both productive and detrimental feats – for instance, we have easy access to knowledge while disseminating ‘fake news’. Disinformation and ‘Fake News’: Interim Report provides context on intentional disinformation; however, technology can also facilitate the spread of unintentional disinformation, particularly in the form of a lack of context.
- 73. Flickr
- 74. US gov public domain content (Internet Archive image search)
- 75. Internet Archive
- 78. Students appreciated: • Creativity “I really enjoyed the GIF project - it was something fresh, fun to make and allowed to develop new technical skills.” • Innovation of assignment “I enjoyed the range of assessments for this module because they incorporated both traditional and non-traditional academic assignment elements (GIF-making; blogpost writing; essay-writing; data curation)” • Skill challenge “Gif project: new skills, very fun” “I loved the GIF project!”
- 79. Students wanted more guidance around: • GIF-making skills • Copyright clarity • Easily accessing archival content
- 80. “Personally, I felt that the GIF making assignment was a big challenge for us … I hope there will be more training regarding these skills for subsequent batches to help level out the playing field” “I would have loved a brief tutorial - even a link to a good YouTuber, suggestions for open source software to use, etc.” “The task is subjective (but creative, which is inspiring) and I wish I had an example of a complited [sic] task (I suggest showing successful gifs to future students).”
- 96. On 9 Nov 2018 10:33 pm, Y wrote: “Dear Sara Thank you for your help. In response, I have changed my informational concept to the promotion of Oxfords Pitts Rivers Museum photographic collections, which hopefully now complies with the criteria? However I am unsure whether it is in the public domain because on this webpage it clearly states how "The images and metadata of this database are reusable under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license " (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/databaseterms.html), yet on another page the image reproduction terms and conditions highlights copyright restrictions (https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/PDFs/Terms_and_ Conditions.pdf) ... Therefore I am unsure whether to follow through with this informational concept as I do not want to be marked down for using copywrite content. Please could you have a look to see if its ok or not? Thanks again Y”
- 97. From: Wingate Gray, Sara Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2018 5:26:54 PM To: Y Subject: Re: GIF Project Hi Y, I've checked the t&cs from the website and this is the key bit: "The images and metadata of this database are reusable under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license meaning that you are free to share the material but must give appropriate credit to the ‘Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford’ as the source, not use the material commercially or alter the images in any way without additional permissions“ i.e. it *would* have been fine to use a creative commons image but as its license is also ND (No Derivatives) this means you can't make changes to the original image (which obviously you intend to do by turning it into a gif), so the answer essentially is no you can't use their images for the gif purposes. Best Sara
- 98. From: Y Sent: 10 November 2018 17:33 To: Wingate Gray, Sara Subject: Re: GIF Project Hi Sara Thank you again, I wasn’t sure so in the end I decided to use The Welcome Collection archives for my GIF instead as it clearly states it is under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, which I think means it’s ok to use? Best wishes Y
- 106. 106 80% of respondents agreed with the statement that “[t]his module provided me with some practical/technical skills which I think will be helpful in my future career/employment”
- 107. 107
- 108. 87% of respondents agreed that they “enjoyed the range of assessments for this module because they incorporated both traditional and non-traditional academic assignment elements (GIF-making; blogpost writing; essay-writing; data curation)”
- 112. Comments / Questions / Feedback? Sara Wingate Gray uczcswi@ucl.ac.uk @sarawingategray / @librarian https://www.ucl.ac.uk/basc/people/academic-staff/sara-wingate-gray https://www.ucl.ac.uk/basc/study/current-students/degree- core/interdisciplinary-elective/information-through-ages
Editor's Notes
- While GIF loops, give brief history Set in Tianjin – ancient port city, 4th largest population, where family comes from Less prominent nowadays, but between the mid 18th-mid19th century, it was where the international hub of China
- Following China’s defeat in the Opium wars, Tianjin Divided into 9 zones as a part of concessions – seen in map Reason Tianjin was chosen – key location, close to capital Beijing and has access to the sea Each power governed in its own zone – infrastructure, Legacy still remains in the buildings + bridges of the city today
- came across University of Bristol’s Virtual Cities project Database of archival photos of cities in Asia mainly from the early 20th century Surprisingly found one of Tianjin
- - Found interesting bc places that I know are labelled by foreign names - Formed idea to animate a stroll around the city to explore what it was like during this era
- Looked through photos to find interesting characters to animate Wanted to look at a few different concession areas – Identified 3 scenes – road in French concession, square in Italian concession, and the boy skating is on the river where people still skate today in winter/fish in summer
- Used photoshop, a program I’m familiar with Removed background to isolate character, then manipulated it to create movement Example was first try, movement too unnatural so excluded from final gif
- - In last scene, use column to mark the end of this era – an Italian sculptor was commissioned with the sculpture of Nike A challenge bc unlike characters, column is within background Spot healing brush example
- Compiled parts together to form gif Draw attention to the Virtual Cities Archives This era was not so long ago and making the GIF made me feel connected to my hometown Hope that you also learnt a bit of history and enjoyed the GIF
- You can find my blog post on And you can also view the gif on twitter, where National library of NZ noticed the GIF, which I thought was pretty cool
- Talk about the archive The archive where I found the photographs for my GIF... how you found it and what’s in it (humorous photos of life in 20th century nz, a lot of photos of people going about their daily activities, posters adveritising events or brands from that time)
- Panoramas: different to any other archive, I thought I could use them as my background and this would allow me to have many things happening at the same time in different sections
- This is the GIF: The GIF, my own interpretation of the archival photographs, is meant to be an illustration of everyday life in early 20th century New Zealand and showcase the National Library archive in itself. I wanted my GIF to tell a story and the sheep herd are the main characters: escaping from the countryside, they try to disturb the peace of citizens of Christchurch.
- the photographs I animated and inserted onto the backtound
- Talk about the process Used Adobe Photoshop General tutorial of how to create a GIF: first steps, timeline and layers in it Specific issue: covering empty background after removing a part of the panorama (I used the stamp tool)
- Screenshots from the process Timeline on the bottom, layers on the right Removing the policeman embedded in the panorama background and making him fall over (before and after), used the stamp tool to clone a different area I wanted to fill in the empty spot. The fginal effect isn’t perfect, the lady behind the policeman has three heads
- You can find my blog post on And you can also view the gif on twitter, where National library of NZ noticed the GIF, which I thought was pretty cool
- S. Dillon Ripley credited with greatest expansion of Smithsonian Institution - 9 building additions, multiple new programs (ed., research, etc.) and magazine. https://siarchives.si.edu/history/s-dillon-ripley
- In recent years, the world has undergone a complete shift in how information is consumed. Technology has enabled information to propagate more freely than ever before, giving us the ability to digitize old mediums, share and connect with others, and have immediate access to nearly all worldly knowledge, among much else. With these benefits also comes drawbacks. There are a plethora of ways that we may find faults in technological advance; however, the pertinent topic here is the spread of misinformation and fake news. Just as authentic information propagates freely, so can inauthentic and potentially harmful information. The Interim Report on Disinformation and ‘Fake News’ provided background on the intentional spread of disinformation; however, it is also important to note that technology can also facilitate the spread of unintentional disinformation, particularly in the form of a lack of context. A lot of the imagery and information that we find in technology, whether on social media, archival sites, or anywhere else has been produced or curated with some purpose, likely beyond to simply inform. Whether due to algorithms built optimize interaction, or content creators with a persuasive agendas, or simply our own personal biases creating an informational “bubble” – in much of technology mediated consumption of information, we are likely only exposed to a partial frame. A segment of the full context that can alter our experiences and understanding of what we see. This is the idea that I have focused my GIF on: although technology has greatly supported access to an abundance of information, it has also narrowed our view and facilitates the propagation of unintentional fake news.
- To begin the process, I knew that I had to find an image of someone using technology and looking at a screen. I was able to easily search the Europeana archive to find this photo. This is a simple representation of technology use.
- My next step was to find a frame for the woman using the computer that would set the tone and succinctly convey the message: a bubble. The bubble is a quite literal representation of the metaphorical bubble that we often create through technology: only certain viewpoints or experiences make it into our personally curated spheres.
- I then, I cropped the bubble and woman to fit within each other and removed the original computer screen. Due to the need to reduce the opacity of the bubble to make the woman clear, I unfortunately lost a significant amount of the bubble’s three dimensionality. However, the message still persists: the woman and her technology are situated into tight sphere, with only limited access to outside information.
- My next step was to provide a small amount of autonomy to the woman: to make her finger move to change the content that she views. This is meant to be representative of the autonomy that we feel in consuming information through technology, we may feel as if we are in control and select what we consume, while we believe that we are fully understanding what we wanted to see. Although even if we are making the selection, it does not mean that our selection will be representative of the entire reality or that we are solely responsible for what we choose to view.
- My next step was to find content to have behind the woman’s bubble and in her screen. There were two main pieces of content that I wanted to feature: turmoil and entertainment: contrasting ideas that are often representative of the viral information we consume online and particularly pertinent to the spread of unintentional fake news. The first example of turmoil is a political rally, sourced from a Flickr archive.
- The second example of turmoil is an explosion – a signal of war and a darker form of turmoil than the political rally. This video is public domain content created by the US government and found on the Internet archive.
- The representation of entertainment is a woman belly-dancing. It serves as a stark contrast the the sections of turmoil. That particular video is of a woman named Leslie, sourced from the Internet archive.