Good news, I have now started posting on
the new website.
I have had some instruction from Christoph, our web designer, and
it seems fairly straightforward. People post all the time don’t they? However,
I want this website to look well-structured and with some standards – I was a
librarian after all – so I have to decide on main subject headings (parent
categories), subordinate headings (sub-categories), and indexing entries (tags).
We will be including text, images and audio files of extracts from our oral history
recordings, so all these need to be incorporated into the structure.
My original
list of main subject headings was far too long, so between us we cut it down to
a manageable six and it seemed to work until I listened again to one of the
recorded extracts, the topics of which could have been put under several main
entry points! I was getting frustrated at this point but fortunately my team
and Sarah and Julie, the ladies from the University of Hertfordshire, came to the rescue.
Sarah and Julie held another workshop for
us at UH. I had sent Sarah my headings and given her the link to the website
to have a look. The group discussed these and now we have come up with a
definitive set: Places (buildings streets etc.), Spaces (green areas including
the river, plus leisure pursuits), Industry (including rural industries and
occupations), People and Timeline (medieval through the centuries, pre-war, post-war etc.). We also have a general oral history
heading (can’t think of a better name) which is intended to cover the
transcriptions in more detail. More in depth indexing is required here. I had
better do a list of tags, so that I don’t put up too many variations, and make
a decision on where to use upper and lower case.
 |
| Workshop at UH on Tuesday, 15th October 2013 |
Good entry points and indexing should mean
that information will accessible and so benefit researchers as well as those
with a general interest in the Sopwell area. I am encountering many dilemmas
which remind me of cataloguing and classification training at library school!
IT for Nurses springs to mind! IT or Nursing, Nursing or IT? So, where do I put
the main entry for Sopwell Mill farm - under Industry, Places or Spaces? Where
should footpaths go, Places or Spaces? I think I should have paid more
attention.
You will have to wait a bit before the
website goes live I am afraid, but I am sure it will be worth the wait.
--
Sandy Norman
