People’s Collection Wales / Placebooks development Tom Pert, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Dr Alan Chamberlain, University of Nottingham

People’s Collection Wales? An online, multimedia, multi-platform web- service providing bilingual content created by Welsh museums, archives and libraries and user-generated content on Welsh cultural heritage.

Economic value of heritage & recreation Welsh Historic Environment supports 30,000 jobs contributes approx. £840m to Welsh economy. Walking contributes around £548 million to the Welsh economy each year (Ramblers Cymru). Why not combine the two?

PCW Trails Trails are the item-type that most clearly illustrate the possibilities for linking online cultural-heritage resources with tourism and community engagement.

User-generated trail creation using online TrailBuilder tool

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Free “Trails Cymru” app for iPhone & Android

Visit Wales i-frame provides visitor information relevant to the spatial context of trail.

Problems Maps & media are not cached – app needs network to operate properly

3G network coverage Best Worst

Problems Maps & media are not cached – app needs network to operate correctly Problems supporting updated software platforms Unable to offer level of flexibility requested by key user groups Moderation

Solutions Use flexible 3rd party tools that cache trail route, maps and media... Placebooks!

WHAT IS PLACEBOOKS? place.books |pleys books| 1. To create books; verb [trans.] 1. To create books; to narrate or describe a place you live in or wish to visit. 2. To make books using digital media. Quick Summary of what placebooks is

My Book

WEB INTERFACE www.placebooks.org

OVERVIEW OF THE EDITOR here’s an example of a book that someone made about the Gower EACH ELEMENT CAN BE GEO-LOCATED ON THE MAP - BOOK HAS A LOCATION

VIDEO DEMO

SHARING BOOKS Share published material Share rights – group publishing Sharing encourages feedback!

SEARCHING FOR BOOKS

MOBILE APP For Android and iPad

WHAT THE MOBILE APP DOES A tool for accessing placebooks while ‘on the go’ and being able to use features ‘in the wild’, in areas without any data connectivity.

FEATURES Downloaded books Access your online shelf search nearby books based on activity type and/or distance from where you are. All books that you download go into your download tab Downloaded books Access your online shelf Search for nearby books

NAVIGATING THROUGH BOOKS Scroll up and down Swipe left and right between pages

INTERACTING WITH IMAGES

INTERACTING WITH VIDEO

INTERACTING WITH MAPS - Cached OS Maps - YAH marker (red pointer) tracks where you are on the map - Geotagged media items can be opened by clicking on their icons (orange camera icons)

IPAD VIDEO DEMO

WHAT NEXT? Bilingual PCW hosted & branded version of Placebooks available to service users PCW maps (including historic maps) incorporated into Placebooks system Internationalise - European languages Work with more partners Launch on 3rd July – Royal Geographical Society

Abstract Placebooks and the People’s Collection of Wales Dr Alan Chamberlain, Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham New developments in mobile, location and sensor-based or ‘ubiquitous’ computing now make it possible for users to move beyond the urban fringes. They herald the expansion of computing from cities into rural locations that have long been marginalised due to the limitations of existing technology. Current digital mapping services largely focus on urban environments with many systems offering rich street views of urban settings, but such views of rural space are largely absent. Placebooks is a ‘toolkit’ that allows people to create and share community-based maps that reflect their interests and concerns. For example, users are able to sketch routes of their favourite pathways through the countryside. GPS data and community content, relevant to different points on their route, can then augment these routes. Tags and content can also be added to other users’ routes, adding to the overall body of knowledge. We will be giving a brief introduction to the project followed by a demonstration of the system. For more information email: Alan.Chamberlain@Nottingham.ac.uk This work was supported by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) [grant number – EP/I001816/1] Abstract

Contact us tom.pert@rcahmw.gov.uk (@trompet2) azc@cs.notts.ac.uk