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Birth of modern China image archive launches today

Visualising China, the JISC-funded digital archive of images on the history of China 1850-1950 launches today.

Boys in military uniform

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!

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