Visualising China, the JISC-funded digital archive of images on the history of China 1850-1950 launches today.
There are a number of interesting features on this web site which was put together by the University of Bristol:
– separate collections (Historical Photographs of China from the University of Bristol; the Sir Robert Hart Collection from Queen’s University, Belfast; and Joseph Needham’s Photographs of Wartime China from the Needham Research Institute, Cambridge) are clustered together offering users a seamless search
– existing web based content is also integrated in the search results from sources such as the Google Books library of China-related publications
– visualisation of data in different ways such as through a timeline, geographical map and concept map that allows to explore the images according to themes
– users can contribute information to the images thus enriching the content of the archive
– researchers can organise images on to their own workbenches, download low-resolution images, and explore the collections by word searches, date ranges, photographer, people depicted, maps and classification terms
– last but not least, the web site solicits feedback through a cute feedback form which doesn’t consist of the typical online questionnaire but invites people to suggest, and rate, ideas, pose questions, report problems and give praise.
My praise is definitely: well done to the Visualising China team!