The British Library, as the UK's national library, stores over 170 million items and facilitates access to digital collections for research and creativity. Its sound archive includes over 250,000 catalogued wildlife and environmental recordings, making it the only publicly accessible collection of its kind in the UK. The 'Off the Map' competition engages students to creatively reuse the library's digital resources, showcasing their talents and expanding audience reach.

1. Stella Wisdom, Digital Curator
Cheryl Tipp, Wildlife & Environmental Sounds Curator
Taking a Virtual Walk
on the Wild Side

2. www.bl.uk 2
The British Library is the
national library of the UK
We receive a copy of every
publication produced in the UK and
Ireland
From 6 April 2013, legal deposit
covers e-books, e-journals and other
types of electronic publication
Plus other material that is made
available to the public in the UK on
handheld media such as CD-ROMs
and microfilm, on the web (including
websites) and by download from a
website.
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/legaldeposit

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Over 170 Million items
are stored in London and in
Yorkshire
If you saw 5 items a day
it would take you 80,000
years to see the whole
collection
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/quickinfo/facts/

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The Digital Scholarship Department
Mission
Enable the use of the British Library’s digital
collections for research, inspiration, creativity, and
enjoyment.
Goal
Ensure the Library is able to meet the emerging
needs of everyone who wants to deeply
integrate digital content, data, and methods into
their work.
www.bl.uk/digital

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https://www.thenvm.org/

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Digital Rosslyn Chapel
De Montfort University student project created
http://rosslynchapeldmu.blogspot.co.uk/
https://youtu.be/wdUxeeVKm9g

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The Off the Map Competition
• Explores how British Library digital collections
can be re-used in creative ways
• Engagement with new audiences
• Opportunity for students in the UK to
showcase their talents to industry

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C.J. Visscher, London , 1616 (detail) Maps C.5.a.6

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John Leake, An exact surveigh of the streets lanes and churches contained within the
ruines of the City of London, 1667. Maps Crace port 2.58

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2013 winning team:
Pudding Lane Productions from De Montfort University, Leicester
Created an interpretation of 17th Century London
http://youtu.be/SPY-hr-8-M0 (Flythrough starts at 0:50)

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6.5 million sounds
Music
Spoken word
Radio
Wildlife
Soundscapes
The British Library Sound Archive

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Wildlife & Environmental Sounds
• Collection formed in 1969
• Over 250,000 catalogued wildlife & environmental recordings, most of
which are unpublished and unique to the Library
• Birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, natural habitats,
environmental sounds, mechanical sounds
• Only publicly accessible collection of its kind in the UK

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Off the Map Gothic (2014)

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‘Whitby’
Second Place
Team Flying Buttress (De Montfort University, Leicester)
https://youtu.be/P6DLOZA5AGw

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Alice’s Adventures Off the Map (2015)

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‘The Wondering Lands of Alice’
First Place
Team Off Our Rockers (De Montfort University, Leicester)
https://youtu.be/7bwx4uUnbV4

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Shakespeare Off the Map (2016)

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‘Midsummer’
Second Place
Tom Battey (London College of Communication)
https://youtu.be/sz-IKvp62NI

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Open Platform Links
Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/the-british-library/sets/off-the-map-gothic
https://soundcloud.com/the-british-library/sets/shakespeare-off-the-map
https://soundcloud.com/the-british-library/sets/alices-adventures-off-the-map
Wikimedia:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wildlife_Sounds_in_the_British_Library
Europeana:
https://www.europeana.eu/en/collections
http://www.eusounds.eu/

25. Thanks for listening
cheryl.tipp@bl.uk
@CherylTipp
stella.wisdom@bl.uk
@miss_wisdom