This document discusses crowdsourcing and citizen history projects in cultural heritage. It defines crowdsourcing as outsourcing functions to a large network of people through an open call. Cultural heritage crowdsourcing involves meaningful public tasks related to collections that provide inherent rewards. Citizen science involves public participation in data processing, analysis, and research design. Participatory project models range from contributory to collaborative to co-creative. Examples of citizen history projects discussed include FreeBMD, Old Weather, Operation War Diary, and Children of the Lodz Ghetto. The document examines competing models of citizen history and structural issues that can undermine such projects.

1. Citizen history and its discontents
Mia Ridge, Open University / Trinity College Dublin
@mia_out www.miaridge.com
18 November 2014
Senate House, London
IHR Seminar in Digital History

2. What is crowdsourcing?
'the act of a company or institution taking a
function once performed by employees and
outsourcing it to an undefined (and
generally large) network of people in the
form of an open call’ (Jeff Howe and Mark
Robinson for Wired, 2006)

3. Cultural heritage crowdsourcing is...
...asking the public to undertake meaningful
tasks related to cultural heritage collections
in an environment where the activities
and/or goals provide inherent rewards for
participation. The project should contribute
to a shared, significant goal or research
interest.

4. Crowdsourcing in cultural heritage
Transforming input content into output
content...
...via a powerful purpose and / or enjoyable
tasks that people want to help you with

5. Citizen science
Version I: assisting scientists through
participation in data processing tasks
Version II: Some definitions additionally
include participation in data analysis and
research design

6. Participatory project models
Contributory
 the public contributes data to a project
designed by the organisation
Collaborative
 both active partners, but lead by organisation
Co-creative
 all partners define goals together
(Bonney et al, 2009,Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education
(CAISE)

7. Avocational history
• ‘amateur’ historians, sometimes with formal
training or decades of experience

8. Communities of practice
• ‘Social learning systems’, knowledge
acquired through participation

9. What is ‘a historian’?

10. American Historical Association (AHA)
'core competencies'
• the ability to engage in historical inquiry,
research, and analysis;
• to practice historical empathy;
• to understand the complex nature of the
historical record;
• generate significant, open-ended questions
about the past and devise research strategies to
answer them;
• to craft historical narrative and argument;
• to practice historical thinking

11. Historical thinking
• Observation
• Sourcing
• Inferencing
• Evidence
• Question posing
• Corroboration
Bill Tally and Lauren B. Goldenberg, “Fostering Historical Thinking With Digitized
Primary Sources,” Journal of Research on Technology in Education

12. Examples

13. FreeBMD

14. Forums as communities of practice

15. Old Weather

16. Old Weather

17. Operation War Diary

18. Operation War Diary

19. Operation War Diary

20. Operation War Diary

21. Operation War Diary

22. Children of the Lodz Ghetto

23. Children of the Lodz Ghetto

24. Conclusions from case studies
• Exposure to historical material is powerful
• A critical mass of discussion is important
• Expert input in discussion is
transformational
• The effect of the ‘absent expert’?

25. Competing models of ‘citizen history’
• Grassroots, self-organised projects
• ‘Accidentally’ citizen history projects
• Intentional citizen history projects
• Citizen history is the new crowdsourcing
• ‘Accidentally not quite citizen history
projects’

26. Structural issues that undermine
‘citizen history’ projects

28. Thank you!
Mia Ridge, Open
University/Trinity
College Dublin
@mia_out The Library of Congress
https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179923
364/