Title: Parks
1Parks Gardens UK projectNew vistas for
historic designed landscape records.
- Rachael Sturgeon
- Project Manager, PGDS
- Janet E. Davis
- Web Manager, PGDS
2Project aims
- Encouraging volunteers to research record
- Collating information from other sources
- Creating
- database
- web site
- educational resources
3Specific project aims
- 6,000 records of sites in England Wales
- 1,000 records of sites in Scotland Northern
Ireland - References records
- Archives sources
- Associated Person records
- Associated Organisation records
- Digital images digital image records
- 20 themed educational resources
4Who is involved?
- Parks Gardens Data Services
- not-for-profit company set up by
and
5Who is involved? Stakeholders
Advisory Panel Experts include representatives
from English Heritage RCAMHW Hampshire County
Council Consultative Group Volunteers
organisations - NADFAS, County Gardens Trusts,
NCCPG Universities Culture 24
6Who is it for?
Experts
Non-experts
General public
Volunteers
Tourists
Site owners/managers
Archaeologists
Historians
Heritage professionals
Planning professionals
Design professionals
HE FE students
Life-long Learners
UK schoolchildren
7Accessibility issues - physical and technological
- Front end of web site
- Need to allow for
- people with disabilities, especially with visual
impairments, including colour blindness - slow dial-up internet access
- older hardware and software
8Database interface
9Intellectual accessibility - navigation
Building a semantic bridge using navigation
- Providing methods to access the database records
that do not require - prior knowledge of historic parks gardens
- knowledge of UK geography or local authority
areas - good spelling or high level of literacy.
10Find records
11Map-based Search
12Intellectual accessibility - images
Building a semantic bridge using description
- People read pictures according to what they
know. - Need to describe what is where.
- What is obvious to one expert will not be
obvious to another from a different discipline. - Accessibility for visually-impaired.
13Intellectual accessibility - writing style
Building a semantic bridge using writing style
- Using plain English or providing explanations of
specialist terms - Abbreviations and acronyms written in full.
- Friendly but objective style.
- Concise, short sentences.
14Controlled vocabulary
Example of early controlled vocabulary list for
terms to describe the context or principal
building for historic parks and gardens.
15The Thesaurus within the database
16Data entry form - Context
17Illustrated Glossary
18Illustrated Glossary - Front End
19Back end content editor
- Designed to be used by staff with no or little
HTML knowledge. - Incorporates easy entry of basic metadata.
20Front end content editor
- Next stage - letting volunteers add their own
articles from the front end.
21Conclusion
Accessibility Sustainability Delivery of content
www.parksandgardens.ac.uk