Crowd-fuelled archaeology and history online: An introduction to MicroPasts

Crowd-fuelled archaeology and history An introduction to MicroPasts Chiara Bonacchi Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert UCL Institute of Archaeology MicroPasts Conference 31 March 2015 Royal Geographical Society Old problems becoming more pressing… • Sustainability • Diversification of funding • Generalised trends across EU – Reduced employed workforce – Reduced public funding – Greater reliance on grant-financing +£25 mil in income from 2009 to 2010 +18% funding applied for in ‘13-14 from ‘12-13 -30% employed workforce in ‘12-13 than ‘07-08 Chiara Bonacchi New trajectories? • Web technologies • Collaborations • New ‘ecology’? Chiara Bonacchi Chiara Bonacchi In archaeology • • • • ‘Light’ methodologies Open data/practices Big data? Public Archaeology Chiara Bonacchi MicroPasts • Establishing and studying collaborations between institutions and members of the public to: – Crowd-sourcing open datasets (e.g. CC0, CC-BY) – Co-designing new research into archaeology, history and heritage (sometimes involving crowd-sourcing) – Crowd-funding those new collaborative projects Chiara Bonacchi Crowdsourced.micropasts.org • • • • Crowdsourced.micropasts.org Launched 16 April 2014 Different and modular kinds of applications Research-orientated / pop-up Chiara Bonacchi • Community.micropasts.org • Launched 16 April 2014 Chiara Bonacchi crowdfunded.micropasts.org • Crowdfunded.micropasts.org • Launched 16 October 2014 • Community archaeology and history Chiara Bonacchi Task runs submitted 04/14-03/15 Phases Online publicity Targeted comms + National press / Contributory Contributory Collaborative Co-creative Hosted Contributory Collaborative Co-creative Hosted CS platform Forum CF platform CS platform Forum CF platform Mainly BM UCL Community groups Dialogue for new collaborations BM UCL & new institutions/ research groups 30 35 New active members 04/14-03/15 15 20 Mainly BM UCL 2 3 5 10 1 0 New members 25 Show the members and the tasks Mainly CS – with platfrom par6cipants, par6cipa6on and outreach 16 April 2014 18 August 2014 Dates Chiara Bonacchi Citizen archaeologists • 931 registered & +670 anon. • N=53 contributors of 25 tasks – 68% women vs. 46% visiting micropasts.org – University degree / above (+80%) – In employment / retired – Skill sets communication arts history editing archaeology elling p d o m hotography 3D curatorship IT ess management n i s bu Chiara Bonacchi Participation 3rd Qu. Max 1 2 4.5 16 1,0070 100 1000 10000 Median 10 – Fleetingly involved – Lighter participation sustained through time – Intense participation sustained through time 1sr Qu. 1 • 3 groups (kind & intensity) Min Chiara Bonacchi Motivations of +25 tasks contributors • • • • • • • • • Learning / training opportunity for collaborators Learning opportunity for their family / friends Relaxation / gaming / flow experience Aesthetic pleasure Helping out / giving back Making valuable use of own knowledge / skills Maintaining a connection with own area of studies Advance scientific knowledge Competition • • • • • • • Archaeology History Specific collections Specific periods Museum and HE institutions IT /web-based methods /crowdsourcing Photography Chiara Bonacchi Crowd-funding TDP over £2,000 Small amounts Not from a crowd Hybrid model Not from citizen archaeologists • Motivations • • • • • Motivations Research agenda Participating in the proposed research Family history/genealogy Interest in hearing the results* Engaging with research process Engaging with research outputs Interest in a specific historical period/context/topic** Place-making agenda Living locally/improving local area Connection with/interest in a specific place/its history Social agenda Sense of place Supporting friend(s) Support to personal network Belonging to/supporting the community group Documenting/preserving/ opening up heritage Supporting a worthwhile initiative Benefiting society Chiara Bonacchi Value • Skill building / career development • Acquisition of new knowledge • Discovery of new interests • Personal sense of achievement • Change of attitudes / behaviour (competition) • Enjoyment • [only 2 / 55 state not to have gained anything in particular • 47 applications completed • Over 46,000 task runs • Over 2/3 of NBAI transcribed • 66 models • Open source platforms • New research proposals with potential new posts • Knowledge useful for policy and practice Chiara Bonacchi Data Consolidation Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Consolidation Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Photo-masking Data Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Photo-masking Apps Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Photo-masking Apps Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Collaboration Workflow for 3D Models Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Collaboration Workflow for 3D Models Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Centre Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Sketchfab Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Sketchfab Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Quality Control ✓ ✗ Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Quality Control Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Accessibility Crowdsourcing platform Amazon S3 Flickr Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Uses Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Uses Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Data Uses Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Community-led Sustainability Adi Keinan‐Schoonbaert Thank you! @Chiara_Bonacchi c.bonacchi@ucl.ac.uk @Adi_Keinan adi.keinan.09@ucl.ac.uk