We've been working with whatwashere.com to reach more users and plan their future. whatwashere.com are a not-for-profit company dedicated to learning & community. We thought you might find this interesting or have ideas for how it can expand to other places or adapt to other heritage or learning projects. You can talk to Ben Tunstall on [log in to unmask] or 07968 030628.
Bridget McKenzie & Mark Stevenson
Flow Associates, Consultants for Culture & Education
Press release: whatwasHere.com launch of its Liverpool pilot
November 2006
Did you ever get your marbles from a Gulley Sucker? Do you remember the Dockers' Umbrella? What lubricant would you want on your scones? What would it be like if history wasn't written just by historians, but by everyone? What would you write?
whatwasHere.com wants to revolutionise how history is written. Its pilot website in Liverpool tells history like it's never been told before: by everyone. It doesn't only tell the capital H history of Liverpool, but the everything-interesting-that-ever-happened-to-the-people-who-actually-live-there history of Liverpool. It's oral history for the My Space era.
Based around Google maps, the site lets people instantly publish the stories that matter to them on the spot where they happened, discuss other people's stories, use the Timeline to go back in time, make connections between big events and small across the map. If you know something that happened in Liverpool, put it on!
whatwasHere.com's aim is to get everyone - yes everyone - writing history. So in the pilot, the website is being used by a wide range of community organisations, including the Liverpool Library Service, schools, NHS volunteers, Merseytravel, Liverpool Community College, Workers' Educational Association, local history societies and the BBC.
Liverpool City Council leader Warren Bradley says: "Liverpool has a rich and varied past and this website gives people the opportunity to post their own unique memories. It will bring the history of each area of the city to life in a way in which a book just cannot do."
Joyce Little, Head of Libraries at Liverpool City Council, says: "We are absolutely thrilled to be working on this groundbreaking project, which is bringing the past to life in such a vibrant way. Everyone in Liverpool has a tale to tell about the history of the city, and I know this website will be a huge success."
The Future
whatwasHere.com hope the Liverpool website is just the start. Next stop, the whole UK, then the World! They are looking for partners and funding to develop projects with adult learning, museums, regeneration areas, schools and any one else who has histories to tell. Their future ambitions are large: imagine if the site also featured old maps, or was available on mobile phones. whatwasHere.com are keen to talk to anyone who can help them develop the site.
Events
Liverpool Libraries are already using the site in Family Learning events. The BBC are planning a launch in the city centre and Radio Merseyside will be broadcasting contributions.
About whatwasHere.com
whatwasHere.com is the brain child of Ben Tunstall. Eileen Barlex saw how it could work in learning contexts, and the learning programme at NESTA (the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) funded it. Grant Bage at NESTA says of the project "NESTA backed whatwasHere.com because it opened a fresh way of making history to the whole community - at the same time as drawing people into learning. This next stage of development will show just how effective this innovative tool can be, and we wish it well."
whatwasHere.com is a not for profit organization. The content is held under a Creative Commons Licence. A first version of the site went live in Walton in March 2006 and collected over 250 stories. These now appear on the Liverpool-wide version of the site that has gone live in September. The project is being evaluated by the Centre for ICT, Pedagogy and Learning at Manchester Metropolitan University.
For more information read the blog: http://blog.whatwasHere.com
Contact: Eileen Barlex: [log in to unmask], tel: 0207 737 5758
Ben Tunstall: [log in to unmask], tel: 07968 030628
Sarah Fraser: [log in to unmask], tel: 0781 7931311
Note to Mac users: Unfortunately the site does not currently work on Safari. You need to use Mozilla Firefox to view the site, which you can download free at: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox
