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Visualising the uncertain in heritage collections : understanding, exploring and representing uncertainty in the First World War British Unit War Diaries
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Liem, J., Slingsby, E., Goudarouli, E., Bell, M., Turkay, Cagatay, Perin, C. and Wood, J. (2023) Visualising the uncertain in heritage collections : understanding, exploring and representing uncertainty in the First World War British Unit War Diaries. Literary Geographies, 9 (1). pp. 101-123. ISSN 2397-1797.
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Abstract
This paper argues that cultural heritage data is inherently ambiguous and may involve different types and levels of uncertainty. Using a variety of examples based on The National Archives (UK)’s Unit War Diaries collection unveiling stories of the British Army and its units on the Western Front in the First World War, we discuss the ways in which visualisation can help us approach heritage collections as data, enabling their visual representation in a constructive and informed way. It also aims to open up the discussion about the theoretical and methodological challenges that uncertainty, which is often hidden, can bring to the understanding of ambiguous heritage data.
In brief, we discuss ways in which uncertainty appears in cultural heritage collections, either as something innate in the collections or resulting from the data extraction and narrative construction process. We identify three main types of uncertainty: inaccuracy, incompleteness and ambiguity, with the latter then subdivided into inconsistency, imprecision and non-specificity. Distinguishing, considering and quantifying these different types of uncertainty can help understand the level of confidence that we can have in narratives, source data and the extraction process. This can then enhance the discoverability of cultural heritage collections that involve high levels of uncertainty.
In this way, we suggest that cultural heritage organisations should strategically focus on improving the understandability and discoverability of their digital collections by exposing and embracing uncertainty in cultural heritage collections and by innovating in its visual presentation to researchers and the public.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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| Subjects: | C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CB History of civilization D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies | ||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Cultural property , Great Britain. Army -- History -- World War, 1914-1918 -- Simulation methods , Great Britain. Army. British Expeditionary Force, Cultural property -- Computer simulation, Cultural property -- Conservation and restoration, World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British -- Simulation methods , Digital mapping, Information visualization, Visual analytics | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Literary Geographies | ||||||
| Publisher: | Department of Interdisciplinary Studies ; Manchester Metropolitan University | ||||||
| ISSN: | 2397-1797 | ||||||
| Official Date: | 2023 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 9 | ||||||
| Number: | 1 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 101-123 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 5 April 2023 | ||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 5 April 2023 | ||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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