The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

jfurlong · Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 9

A forum member asked us separately about planned updates to our online database or additional resources that we might be providing. Having also seen a few posts about what we do and don't seem to have I thought I'd let you know a bit about what we hope to do in the future, timescale subject of course to the 'f' word - funding!

Forward plans
Memorials are, fundamentally, about the people who are commemorated on them. They are a physical embodiment of our nation's history and the part ordinary people played in it. Through our forward plans, we want to be able to tell their stories and show the impact of war on people's lives.

Images: We intend to create an image library with access to images of each memorial - both historic and contemporary.

Names database: We will also be creating a searchable names database, building on work we did with Channel 4 as part of their WW1 Lost Generation series so we can include all the war memorials we have recorded. However, that is the easy bit. Where possible we would then like to start identifying each person by putting faces to names and biographical information about them and, where they are commemorated on more than one memorial, linking the memorial details so that their name will only appear once in search results.

Learning: We intend to develop cross-generational learning programs and materials

Volunteers: All this work would not be possible without the help of volunteers so we hope to be able to expand their number and roles to help with the very involved aspects of the proposals, especially the names project.

Partnerships: We also want to build up closer working partnerships with groups like yourselves who have already achieved so much and have a fantastic level of knowledge and expertise, thus avoiding duplication of work and effort. We'd also like to develop federated searches with organisations like CWGC, TNA and newspaper libraries so people can see where relatives are buried, have links to their service details and articles about the memorials and view the unveiling programmes or committee minutes. these are the obvious partnerships - there are a lot more I imagine!

Mapping: We would like to be able to map all the war memorials so that people can view search results in map form. This is something I'm quite excited about as there is huge potential for revealing new trends and patterns of commemoration through presentation of information in this way.

You can download the full project plans on our website at:

http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.22845

Funding
Plans need funds! We only have two staff members for this national project (which is why some things seem to take a very long time to be processed) and a small budget but we have a strong team of office volunteers and fieldworkers and we are seeking funding to get these various projects up and running. The above plans were developed with an Heritage Lottery Fund bid in mind enabling us to do it all in one go but they turned down our bid in October of last year. So there will be some tweaking as money is much tighter at the moment e.g. some elements, like the travelling exhibition, will be sidelined for the moment and projects will be developed separately as and when funds and/or resources can be found for them.

The commencement of the projects is also dependant upon a current review that is taking place in the Imperial War Museum. The review will be complete by late April 2009 and it may be that UKNIWM can employ different funding initiatives from this date.

So watch this space as it could be an exciting year for us in pursuing our vision: 'To nurture remembrance of the people and events that war memorials in the United Kingdom commemorate'. Lest We Forget.

Jane

spoons · Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:27 pm Post subject:

Jane, thank you very much for this detailed insight into the UKNIWM, I am sure that many who read this will find it interesting and helpful.

If you think of any way that members of this project might be of assistance, please ask.

Paul

Adam Brown · Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:12 am Post subject:

Jane

Thanks for the detailed update; we'll cross our fingers for funding.

The mapping sounds very good. From what you have typed does that mean you could search for pink granite obelisks for example, or celtic crosses?

It's a very ambitious programme. In several areas the information already posted here on our forum fits the bill exactly which should help you. We won’t be doing ourselves out of a forum though since we've plenty of other posts on here which wouldn't find a home on a UKNIWM website and also we have the advantage of having our information on the web instantaneously.

Something so ambitious must have a long term plan. If you get all the funding complete how long would you think it would take to get the bulk of the information you’ve already got such as photographs and names on a website?

Kind regards

Adam