Researchers at the 黑料网 are investigating how online communities are changing the way local history is written and remembered.
The research team, led by Professor Claire Wallace, Vice-Principal of research, and Professor Chris Mellish of computing science, looks at the ways online communities are preserving local history in collaboration with local history societies on the Outer Hebrides.
Professor Wallace said, 鈥淚n the twenty first century, we are able to digitise historical material such as photos, personal documents and archival records, which enables us to search out information in ways that were never possible before.
鈥淭hrough the use of the most recent computing science we are able to provide people with ways of storing, linking and extracting historical information in ways that are meaningful to them.
鈥淭he research raises questions about how digital archives can be used in local communities to form a sense of identity and belonging.
鈥淭he development of digital archives in constructing heritage is increasingly becoming a valuable resource for tourism or for researching family histories鈥�.
The research features in the Research Councils UK (RCUK) 鈥楤ig Ideas for the Future鈥� paper that explores the research taking place in UK higher education at the moment.
鈥楤ig Ideas for the Future鈥� features projects from all fields including science, engineering, social sciences, medicine and the arts and humanities.