Digital Handsworth - Project Information

Information about the project

Digital Handsworth Project is financed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). It is one of seven projects forming the Digital Midlands consortium. Other consortium projects are:

· Exploring the Potteries

· Literary Heritage West Midlands

· Revolutionary Players

· Secret Shropshire

· Staffordshire Past Track

· Windows on Warwickshire

Digital Handsworth will provide a multimedia resource guide to the history of the community focussed on the ancient parish of Handsworth.

The project will both improve access to material of historical significance and capture and preserve ephemeral resources such as photographs, personal documents and film in the possession of archives, libraries, museums and the community. By placing such diverse materials together we will create a resource which is rich, relevant, growing and living. We will look at the recent past and use alternative evidence such as personal documents, recollections and oral history. The intention is to chart the development of the area from a rural village, with mediaeval origins, through its rapid urbanisation between 1850 and 1940, into the multicultural suburb of today. This website will also allow those interested in the history of the area to access relevant information and resources without the need to visit the institutions, which hold the original materials. These records will be conveniently available alongside one another in combinations, which their physical dispersal normally makes impossible. Community involvement is an important element of this project. Through a series of activities held at appropriate venues in the community, local people will be encouraged to use and contribute to the archive.

Attic Media have provided website design. Consultancy on digitisation and the delivery of resources has been provided by the Higher Education Digitisation Service (HEDS)

The website uses the "Recall" Content Management System, developed specifically for Digital Midlands projects by Staffordshire Education Joint IT Unit

Contributors to the site have provided audio recollections and text for some resources. Whilst every effort has been made to monitor these for accuracy, Digital Handsworth is not responsible for any opinions that may be expressed. Inclusion does not necessarily indicate endorsement of these views.

How to use the site

There are several ways of accessing material on this website. When you select Search you have a choice of three methods of finding resources:

Keyword Search.

Allows you to enter a keyword or short phrase associated with your search, for example "Public Houses" .You can refine your search to achieve more significant results by specifying; type of resource required, for example "photograph", time periods or specific dates, for instance "Victorian " or "1930".

Your results will be displayed as a series of thumbnail images. Clicking on these will bring up the full record for the relevant item. Some photographs and documents have a "zoomify" facility, which allows you to see the image in magnified sections. The first time you use this a small "plug-in" will be downloaded to you computer. See the technology guide below for more details.

Theme explorer

Theme explorer is a great way to explore the database. All resource records are classified against a series of themes, which are subdivided into main topics. By clicking on a theme you can then see any of its subdivisions. For example; Buildings, Architecture & Monuments > Commercial Buildings > Public Houses and Inns. Choosing this last subdivision would give you a series of thumbnail images of the records relating to Public Houses.

Map Explorer

Map Explorer enables you to define an area of interest using maps. You can select the entire parish or zoom in to an area covering just a few streets. Once you have decided on an area you are interested in, you can view all of the resource records located within that area or add extra search terms before viewing the results.

Timeline gives a broad outline of key dates in the history of Handsworth and will have links to more detailed explanations where these are available.

Gallery

Gallery has three subdivisions:

Handsworth Histories; A series of short illustrated articles that give an introduction to key topics on the history of Handsworth

Image Gallery; Look at collections of work by local photographers and other images of Handsworth

Exhibitions; A selection of featured exhibitions on different aspects of Handsworth

Learning Journeys

Learning Journeys are a series of entertaining activities which will help you to learn more about using the resources available on this site.

Album

Album allows you to create your own collection of resources. Once you have registered and set up an album you can save your favourites in the album and revisit them whenever you use this site.

Copyright

Please respect the copyright of the contributors and creators of resources on this site. To view our full copyright statement, terms and conditions and privacy statement please select the links below.

Privacy statement

Terms and Conditions

Please enjoy your visit to Digital Handsworth!

For feedback and comments please contact

digital.handsworth@birmingham.gov.uk

Website Technology Guide

Browser requirements

This web site has been developed and tested to comply with current W3C approved standards, HTML 4.01 & CSS 2. Due to the incomplete or non standard support for web authoring standards in early versions of some of the most popular web browser applications, we recommend that site visitors use version 5 or above of Microsoft Internet Explorer or version 6 or above of Netscape Navigator to access the site. If you are using an earlier version of either browser, you will need to upgrade before using the site.

http://www.w3.org/

http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1A-Conformance

Accessibility

This website has been developed to comply with W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and has an "A" rating.

Zoomify image plug-in

Many of the image files held within the site database have an extra facility, enabling site users to zoom in and examine areas of an image at a larger scale. This facility uses technology known as "Image Streaming". Our website provides image streaming support in the Zoomify fomat. To view Zoomify images you will need to download and install a small piece of software known as a plug-in. For Microsoft Internet Explorer the plug-in is an Active-X component which is about 250kb in size. The first time you access a Zoomify image you will probably be prompted as to whether you wish to install the plug-in. If you have any concerns regarding the installation of the plug-in you may wish to visit the Zoomify website, where more information about the technology is available.

Audio and Video

Audio and Video content is available in Microsoft Windows Media - Streaming Media Format which requires a player supporting Windows Media. You may already have one installed on your system. However, if you are unable to receive audio or video content you may need to install or upgrade Windows Media Player on your computer. This is free software available from Microsoft, for Windows and Macintosh computers.

http://www.windowsmedia.com/download/

Streaming Audio and Video requires Windows media player version 7 or above. This software is available as a free download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia. Alternatively, if you install Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or above, a windows media player will be installed as part of a typical installation.

If you are accessing the internet via a Network, a Firewall or Proxy server may prevent you receiving audio and video streams. You will need to refer this problem to your Network Administrator to enable access to streaming content through a Firewall or Proxy server.

	Information about the project Digital Handsworth Project is financed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). It is one of seven projects forming the Digital Midlands consortium. Other consortium projects are: · Exploring the Potteries · Literary Heritage West Midlands · Revolutionary Players · Secret Shropshire · Staffordshire Past Track · Windows on Warwickshire Digital Handsworth will provide a multimedia resource guide to the history of the community focussed on the ancient parish of Handsworth. The project will both improve access to material of historical significance and capture and preserve ephemeral resources such as photographs, personal documents and film in the possession of archives, libraries, museums and the community. By placing such diverse materials together we will create a resource which is rich, relevant, growing and living. We will look at the recent past and use alternative evidence such as personal documents, recollections and oral history. The intention is to chart the development of the area from a rural village, with mediaeval origins, through its rapid urbanisation between 1850 and 1940, into the multicultural suburb of today. This website will also allow those interested in the history of the area to access relevant information and resources without the need to visit the institutions, which hold the original materials. These records will be conveniently available alongside one another in combinations, which their physical dispersal normally makes impossible. Community involvement is an important element of this project. Through a series of activities held at appropriate venues in the community, local people will be encouraged to use and contribute to the archive. Attic Media have provided website design. Consultancy on digitisation and the delivery of resources has been provided by the Higher Education Digitisation Service (HEDS) The website uses the "Recall" Content Management System, developed specifically for Digital Midlands projects by Staffordshire Education Joint IT Unit Contributors to the site have provided audio recollections and text for some resources. Whilst every effort has been made to monitor these for accuracy, Digital Handsworth is not responsible for any opinions that may be expressed. Inclusion does not necessarily indicate endorsement of these views. How to use the site There are several ways of accessing material on this website. When you select Search you have a choice of three methods of finding resources: Keyword Search. Allows you to enter a keyword or short phrase associated with your search, for example "Public Houses" .You can refine your search to achieve more significant results by specifying; type of resource required, for example "photograph", time periods or specific dates, for instance "Victorian " or "1930". Your results will be displayed as a series of thumbnail images. Clicking on these will bring up the full record for the relevant item. Some photographs and documents have a "zoomify" facility, which allows you to see the image in magnified sections. The first time you use this a small "plug-in" will be downloaded to you computer. See the technology guide below for more details. Theme explorer Theme explorer is a great way to explore the database. All resource records are classified against a series of themes, which are subdivided into main topics. By clicking on a theme you can then see any of its subdivisions. For example; Buildings, Architecture & Monuments > Commercial Buildings > Public Houses and Inns. Choosing this last subdivision would give you a series of thumbnail images of the records relating to Public Houses. Map Explorer Map Explorer enables you to define an area of interest using maps. You can select the entire parish or zoom in to an area covering just a few streets. Once you have decided on an area you are interested in, you can view all of the resource records located within that area or add extra search terms before viewing the results. Timeline gives a broad outline of key dates in the history of Handsworth and will have links to more detailed explanations where these are available. Gallery Gallery has three subdivisions: Handsworth Histories; A series of short illustrated articles that give an introduction to key topics on the history of Handsworth Image Gallery; Look at collections of work by local photographers and other images of Handsworth Exhibitions; A selection of featured exhibitions on different aspects of Handsworth Learning Journeys Learning Journeys are a series of entertaining activities which will help you to learn more about using the resources available on this site. Album Album allows you to create your own collection of resources. Once you have registered and set up an album you can save your favourites in the album and revisit them whenever you use this site. Copyright Please respect the copyright of the contributors and creators of resources on this site. To view our full copyright statement, terms and conditions and privacy statement please select the links below. Copyright statement Privacy statement Terms and Conditions Please enjoy your visit to Digital Handsworth! For feedback and comments please contact digital.handsworth@birmingham.gov.uk Website Technology Guide Browser requirements This web site has been developed and tested to comply with current W3C approved standards, HTML 4.01 & CSS 2. Due to the incomplete or non standard support for web authoring standards in early versions of some of the most popular web browser applications, we recommend that site visitors use version 5 or above of Microsoft Internet Explorer or version 6 or above of Netscape Navigator to access the site. If you are using an earlier version of either browser, you will need to upgrade before using the site. http://www.w3.org/ http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1A-Conformance Accessibility This website has been developed to comply with W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and has an "A" rating. Zoomify image plug-in Many of the image files held within the site database have an extra facility, enabling site users to zoom in and examine areas of an image at a larger scale. This facility uses technology known as "Image Streaming". Our website provides image streaming support in the Zoomify fomat. To view Zoomify images you will need to download and install a small piece of software known as a plug-in. For Microsoft Internet Explorer the plug-in is an Active-X component which is about 250kb in size. The first time you access a Zoomify image you will probably be prompted as to whether you wish to install the plug-in. If you have any concerns regarding the installation of the plug-in you may wish to visit the Zoomify website, where more information about the technology is available. Audio and Video Audio and Video content is available in Microsoft Windows Media - Streaming Media Format which requires a player supporting Windows Media. You may already have one installed on your system. However, if you are unable to receive audio or video content you may need to install or upgrade Windows Media Player on your computer. This is free software available from Microsoft, for Windows and Macintosh computers. http://www.windowsmedia.com/download/ Streaming Audio and Video requires Windows media player version 7 or above. This software is available as a free download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia. Alternatively, if you install Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or above, a windows media player will be installed as part of a typical installation. If you are accessing the internet via a Network, a Firewall or Proxy server may prevent you receiving audio and video streams. You will need to refer this problem to your Network Administrator to enable access to streaming content through a Firewall or Proxy server.