A workshop organised by British Library Labs and Sheffield Hallam University as part of the British Library Labs Roadshow (2017).

A series of presentations exploring the British Library's digital collections, how they have been used and the lessons learned by working with researchers who want to use them. This will be followed by discussions and feedback around potential ideas of working with the Library's data.

The Roadshow will showcase examples of the British Library’s digital content and data, addressing some of the challenges and issues of working with it, and how interesting and exciting projects from researchers, artists, educators and entrepreneurs have been developed via the annual British Library Labs Competition and Awards. This year we intend to focus on some of the lessons we have learned over the last four years of working with the Labs, promote our awards and get attendees thinking of what they might do with the British Library's collections. The team will also talk about future plans at the Library to support Digital Scholarship. The day will include presentations from the researchers who are working on interesting Digital Humanities projects at Sheffield Hallam University.

Date and Time:
Friday 12th May 2017, 12.30-16.00

Cost:
Free refreshments provided.

Location:
Room No. 9002, Sheffield Hallam University, Cantor Building

Map:
Please refer to the following map detailing how to get to the event.

BL Labs Roadshow (2017)

The British Library Labs project has been running since 2013 and the Labs team visited Sheffield Hallam last year. Labs will reflect on the lessons they have learned over the last four years and focus on some of the typical questions researchers first ask and the common misconceptions they have of working with the the British Library's digital collections and data. They will also provide examples of what researchers were able to actually achieve and the challenges they faced.

Hundreds of thousands of digital items and objects are being created and collected for researchers to use such as digitised manuscripts, sheet music, newspapers, maps, archived websites, radio, performances, TV news broadcasts, and artworks, as well as the more expected items like scanned versions of books.

This wonderful cacophony of content is having a significant effect on how institutions like the British Library support the research needs of their users. Will people discover new information when they are no longer restricted to viewing a single page from a single book at a time? How can the British Library build systems that provide a coherent route across its content, regardless of whether it is a televised news report or a unique signature drawn in the margins of a map? How can we use crowd-sourced information, computer vision and machine-learning techniques to provide people with better tools to better judge and interpret the context of illustration or work? How can we exploit animations and interactive infographics to better convey the information found in our holdings?

This is the research space that British Library Labs explores and we want to encourage researchers at Sheffield Hallam University to work with us and share their research questions and innovative ideas around this.

1300 Introduction

1305 What is British Library Labs and what have we learned in the last four years?
Ben O'Steen, Technical Lead, British Library Labs

The British Library Labs project supports and inspires scholars to use the British Library’s incredible digital collections in exciting and innovative ways for their research, through various activities such as competitions, awards, events and projects.

Labs will highlight some of the work that they and others are doing around digital content in libraries and also talk about ways to encourage researchers to engage with the British Library.

Labs will discuss the annual BL Labs Awards which recognises outstanding work already completed, that has used the British Library’s digital collections and data. This year, the Awards will commend work in four key areas: Research, Artistic, Commercial and Teaching / Learning.

There will be an examination and reflection on the lessons the Labs team have learned by working with those who have wanted to use the Library's digital collections and data over the last four years.

1400 LibCrowds
Alex Mendes, Research Software Engineer, Digital Scholarship, British Library

Alex Mendes will talk about an innovative crowdsourcing project to help convert library card catalogues into records on the British Library’s discovery system.

1410 Data and 3D design: crafting physical datasets

Nick Dulake, Senior industrial designer at Design Futures, Sheffield Hallam University

The default way of viewing data is usually flat and one-dimensional. What happens when we pass that one-dimensional data into the three-dimensional world and add novel user interaction? I will discuss how we can use design process and advanced manufacturing to craft physical datasets that enrich the interface between data and the various stakeholders and communities.

1435 Fast prototyping and design thinking with digital content for physical interaction
Dr Daniela Petrelli, Professor in Interaction Design, Art and Design Research Centre at the Sheffield Hallam University

Digital content is generally consumed online, sitting at a computer or on a smartphone but it does not have to be so. Using Internet of Things technology digital content can be embedded into space or mixed with objects to create interactive experiences. I will discuss how we can design with digital content and go from ideas to a working prototype in a matter of hours.

1500 Break

1530 Discussion - British Library data and collections and discussions and feedback on ideas, challenges and issues.

Labs will give an overview of some of the Library's digital collections and lead on a discussion on how they can be used. The team will also give feedback on ideas delegates might have on using the collections.

1600 Finish

Feedback Form
Please complete the following feedback form for the event

Speaker Biographies:

Ben O'Steen, Technical Lead of British Library Labs.

Previous to working for Labs he was a freelance developer in the academic sector. While his expertise lies in solving interesting problems using computers, his formal training is in chemistry: He has authored a Physics GCSE training course, created electronics for art installations, co-founded the “Developer Happiness” conference (dev8d.org), and he was the lead developer in the Bodleian Library’s Research and Development department building their Resource Description Framework (RDF) - powered repository and digital asset management systems. In recent years, he has worked on Jisc funded projects (OpenBibliography, OpenCitation), wrote reports for funders on topics such as text-mining and sat on technical advisory boards for the Web-service Offering Repository Deposit (SWORD) protocol , ORCID and other groups.

Alex Mendes, Research Software Engineer, Digital Scholarship, British Library

Alex has worked at the British Library for several years and recently completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with the Open University. He enjoys the consistent challenges encountered when attempting to find innovative new solutions to unusual problems in software development.

Nick Dulake, Senior industrial designer at Design Futures, Sheffield Hallam University.

Nick has extensive experience in product design for industry (including museums and heritage), taking many products through from concept design to production, from one off and low volume products to mass-produced goods. His consultancy experience includes designing and developing products and managing new product development projects across consumer, medical, and fast moving consumer goods. He has consulted for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as major multinationals, including brands such as Unilever, Panasonic, Adidas and JCB. His portfolio of design for electronics include products that are currently on the market and in daily use, i.e. a sophisticated sensor-rich wearable device for the precise monitoring of body movements for the purpose of health and medication; and interactive products / installations in public exhibitions in museums that have been used by tens of thousands of visitors. His research interest is focussed on how the use of new technologies is changing the design process; open design that enables people to customise and replicate products for their own needs; and how product design combines with electronics to create new experiences.

Dr Ian Gwilt, Professor of Design and Visual Communication, Art and Design Research Centre at the Sheffield Hallam University

His personal areas of research include practice and theory into: visual communication and social practice; information visualisation/materialisation, augmented artefacts and locations; hybrid creative practices such as design for museum interaction, interactive installations and augmented reality for mobile devices. He is also interested in how we can incorporate visual communication design practices into trans-disciplinary research teams. His practice/thesis PhD examined how the computer-based graphical user interface can be seen as a creative/cultural artefact.

Dr Daniela Petrelli, Professor in Interaction Design, Art and Design Research Centre at the Sheffield Hallam University

Is a Professor in Interaction Design at the Art & Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University. Her current research brings together the material and digital worlds in the context of personal memories and cultural heritage. She coordinates the meSch project (Material Encounters with Digital Cultural Heritage), a 4-year, 12-partner European project aiming at developing technology to allow curators, designers and artists to make smart exhibits and spaces to better engage visitors with cultural heritage. Other interests include data and information visualization, intelligent user interfaces and personalization. For her work, Daniela has received a number of awards and recognition from both academia and industry. She has a diverse background in fine art, computing, and social research. She publishes regularly at international conferences and journals, and has presented her work in several international venues.