Exploring British Design
Overview
Exploring British Design was an Arts and Humanities Research Council project, funded as part of its Digital Transformations Scheme. It was a collaboration between the University of Brighton Design Archives and Jisc Archives Hub.
The project connected design-related content in different archives held by the Design Archives and other related content. A collaboration between researchers, information professionals, technologists, curators and historians, the aim was to build a proof of concept portal that would give researchers the freedom to explore the depth of detail held in British design archives.
Traditional routes through descriptions descend from the collection-level down through series to individual items. This practice comes from the principle that archival context is key to interpretation, but this project aimed to create a more dynamic navigation, across collections at different levels rather than the traditional top down approach. To enable this, we built context and connections through the creation of rich authority descriptions, designed to work with the Web and adopting recently-agreed international standards. These descriptions are about much more than unambiguous identification; they are essentially about relationships and connections; they can provide a means to connect individuals and organisations together through establishing specific relationships and documenting key events. Connected to other key access points such as companies, exhibitions, design disciplines, objects, and materials, the Virtual International Authority File is a mechanism to connect sources across the world.
With a focus on the mid-twentieth century, the website we developed was comprised of authority records for 61 de-signers, 8 design organisations/manufacturers and it made a showcase of one design event: the 1946 Britain Can Make It exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It contained skeleton records for a further 800 people, organisations or events. Using an entity-based approach, our aim was for the biographical authority records to serve as entry points from where researchers could follow their own paths through the data to identify networks of designers, investigate where relevant archives are held and build narratives across collections and institutions.