Documentation Detectives: Operation Brum

Can this be done on smartphone?

Although it technically can be done on smartphones, we recommend using laptops or desktop computers for Zooniverse transcriptions. This is because the records can be difficult to read on smaller screens, and the underline feature does not work as smoothly on a touchscreen.

What are accession registers?

Accession registers are where we record info about objects as they are added to our permanent collection. Their details can include things such an object’s name, dimensions, materials and other descriptive features. Our registers date from the museum’s founding in 1885 to 2003, the point where we switched to a digital collections management system. Besides being a great source of basic collections information, accession registers provide a window into seeing what types of objects different curators were collecting across the history of Birmingham museums, as well as the changing ways they have been interpreted.

Why are we using Zooniverse? Why not do this ourselves?

One of our key goals with Dynamic Collections is to encourage a wider pool of people and communities to access and interact with our collections. This will partly be accomplished by making our collections information publicly available via a digital platform. This will become achievable once our internal collections database has been updated with the info transcribed from our accession registers.

We also want our goal of open collections access to be achieved by involving more people in the processes taken to get to create that final digital collections platform. Crowdsourcing through Zooniverse quickly emerged as a great solution for us to bring this project and our records to more people easily and remotely. Plus, through features such as Zooniverse Talk, we can more easily interact with our remote volunteers and find what objects/records interest them the most.

There have been several Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs made available for transcription projects. However, during our testing we found these tools were too inconsistent and inaccurate when transcribing our object records. As such, Zooniverse emerged as the better choice not only for audience participation, but also for data quality.

Why be involved? Why do your contributions matter?

This is a great opportunity to gain not only transcription skills, but also an insight into how our museums have recorded different objects at different times across 120 years. These types of records have historically been kept under lock-and-key in museum storage, so this is a chance to look at records which have typically been inaccessible to most of the public.

The transcriptions you write here will be directly contributing to a database which will make our collections more accessible for both museum staff and the public. Many future projects will become a reality because of the transcriptions you create today. We have identified this as a priority to better connect with communities, unlocking our collections and Birmingham’s heritage.

Where can I learn more about the objects I find interesting?

Although we will not be able to build a complete publicly accessible collections information database until after this project is completed, there are other ways you can learn more about any records you find particularly interesting.

The first way is simply to get in touch with us. Here on Zooniverse, we have a dedicated discussion board in the Talk page called "Objects of Interest". This is a place for discussing not only any object records you've transcribed, but also any collections you want to learn about or see displayed in Birmingham museums. Each record also has its own Talk section which you're welcome to post any questions on.

Additionally, BMT does now have a digital image website which is open to the public. Known as the Digital Asset Resource, it contains a wide range of pictures and scans of different objects which will be continuously updated over time. The images are organised by broad collection types such as Social History as well as specific curated themes such as the Pre-Raphaelites, so be sure to check it out.

Why do images vary so much in size/resolution?

The object record images you see are all taken from larger image files created by scanning each page of our paper accession registers. As these pages could sometimes include upwards of 10 or more objects, this means that the cropped images we prepared for Documentation Detectives can end up rather small. We've tried to avoid uploading any images which will be too small or blurry to be legible. If you find any text you're struggling to read, we recommend playing with the zoom in/out tool, marking the text as 'Unclear' using the transcription tool below the text box, and/or refreshing the page to load a new record.

How many records are there?

We estimate there are between 800,000 and 1 million objects in the collection today. Our previous stage of Documentation Detectives saw over 80,000 records transcribed which originated from several different physical book series. For Operation Brum, we’ve uploaded an older selection of c.10,000 records dating between 1930 and 1944. These were scanned from a single register series we call the "All Collection Type" registers, as back then most objects were recorded altogether in the same book. As such, Operation Brum will cover a mixture of records from Fine Art, Applied Art (e.g. furniture), Archaeology, Social History, Topographical Views, Coins, and Science & Industry.