Transecting the Strand Union Workhouse: An Excursion into Social History along Digital Geo-located Paths

Tools

Sprake, Juliet and Rogers, Peter. 2014. Transecting the Strand Union Workhouse: An Excursion into Social History along Digital Geo-located Paths. In: Owen Rhys and Zelda Baveystock, eds. Collecting the Contemporary: A Handbook for Social History Museums. Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, pp. 520-549. ISBN 9781910144282 [Book Section]

Text (Transecting the Strand Union Workhouse)
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Abstract or Description

Transects have been used in science, forensics, ecology and archaeology as a path along which data is captured in situ that can then be visualised to show patterns, frequency of occurrence, density and volume of ‘finds’. We have taken this data collection method into visitor tours to explore how location-based learning might inform the social history of buildings. By utilising a Twitter account linked to a mapping tool we have made a service, transecTour, that enables users to draw a geo-located transect path and log the frequency, occurrence and type of things or finds spotted along that route. In this project, finds are manifested in multiple ways – from a conversation with the receptionist at a local community centre, graffiti messages on a wall, to worn away tarmac and decaying medical posters. These are the kinds of ‘here and now’ features that enable a building to be annotated with personal, everyday, ‘off the cuff’ geo-located data.

Item Type:

Book Section

Keywords:

social history, museum, geo-location, Twitter, workhouse, buildings at risk

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Design > Pi (Prospect and Innovation) Studio

Dates: