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WARCnet survey: COVID-19 Web Collections
This survey aimed to explore the methodologies and strategies employed by heritage institutions in collecting and documenting COVID-19-related developments on the Web. With a primary focus on European efforts, the survey sought to understand the scope and collection tactics of COVID-19 Web archives. Conducted under the auspices of the WARCnet...Bingham, Nicola ; de Wild, Karin ; Nyvang, Caroline ; Geeraert, Friedel
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Other
Models for MapReader ACM SIGSPATIAL 2023 Geohumanities Workshop paper
Collection of fine-tuned models created during research published in Kasra Hosseini, Daniel C. S. Wilson, Kaspar Beelen, and Katherine McDonough. 2022. MapReader: a computer vision pipeline for the semantic exploration of maps at scale. In Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Geospatial Humanities (GeoHumanities '22). Association for...Hosseini, Kasra ; Beelen, Kaspar ; McDonough, Katherine ; Wilson, Daniel C. S.
computational humanities, computer vision, maps, models, and image classification
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Learning object
Computer Vision for the Humanities: An Introduction to Deep Learning for Image Classification (Part 1)
This is the first of a two-part lesson introducing deep learning based computer vision methods for humanities research. Using a dataset of historical newspaper advertisements and the fastai Python library, the lesson walks through the pipeline of training a computer vision model to perform image classification.Strien, Daniel van ; Beelen, Kaspar ; Wevers, Melvin ; Smits, Thomas ; McDonough, Katherine
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Blog post
What’s in a name? The Sovietisation of the Mongolian language and the Challenges of Reversal
This blog post introduces a newly digitised collection of Mongolian newspapers and discusses how the script of the text within these newspapers highlights issues relating to the Sovietisation of the Mongolian language.Jevon, Graham
newspapers, Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia, digitisation, China, writing, digital images, and Russian revolution
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Blog post
The Legacy of Slavery: A 19th Century Newspaper and 21st Century Racial Inequity
This blog post introduces a newly digitised collection of 18th/19th century Barbadian newspapers and commented on the slavery related content of these newspapers within the context of 21st century racism.Jevon, Graham
newspapers, Christianity, resistance, Barbados, racism, empire, Americas, colonialism, Caribbean, slavery, digital images, and British Empire
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Blog post
Mapping Caribbean Diasporic Networks through the Correspondence of Andrew Salkey
This is a guest post by Natalie Lucy, a PhD student at University College London, who recently undertook a British Library placement to work on a project Mapping Caribbean Diasporic Networks through the correspondence of Andrew Salkey.Lucy, Natalie
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Workflow
Mapping the Caribbean Diaspora through Andrew Salkey's Correspondence
A British Library PhD Placement project to map the Caribbean Diasporic Network evident in the correspondence files of the Andrew Salkey Archive using data visualisation platforms Gephi and Kepler. The aim of the project was to map the movement of the correspondents across the globe overtime and create visualisations of...British Library
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Learning object
Peripleo Linked Pasts tutorial
This is a tutorial in mapping cultural heritage and humanities data and making these available on the web using Peripleo software. Delivered as part of the Linked Pasts symposium on 23 Nov 2022, this document was provided as a handout. Peripleo is a prototype application for the discovery and spatial...Rees, Gethin ; Simon, Rainer ; Gadd, Stephen
location, cultural heritage, map, and geography
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Learning object
Locolligo British Library tutorial
This explanation of how to transform and wrangle geographical cultural heritage and humanities data using Locolligo software. Delivered as part of the British Library’s internal ‘Hack and Yack’ training programme on 19 Jan 2023, this document was provided as a handout. Locolligo is a single-page, browser-based JavaScript application to facilitate...Gadd, Stephen
location, geography, map, and cultural heritage
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Blog post
Star Baker or Avid Taste-Tester? – Exploring Evanion’s 19th-century baking ephemera collection
Developments in baking products in nineteenth-century Britain made baking easier, quicker and cheaper. Using advertisements from the Evanion collection, this blog looks at the revolution of the pudding in Victorian Britain.Solomons, Amy
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Blog post
Character, costumes and comedy: Pantomime posters in the Evanion collection
This blog post explores three pantomime posters within the Evanion collection at the British Library. The blog traces developments in Victorian pantomimes such as costumes, comedy, elaborate sets and celebrity appearances.Solomons, Amy
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Learning object
Examining sports history through digitised & born digital resources
This workshop was held on November 11, 2022 as part of the Sporting Irish Lives conference hosted by Ulster University at their Belfast campus. It was aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers that study the topic of sport. The running time for this session was 70 minutes so...Byrne, Helena
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Website
Locating a National Collection project website
Project website for the Locating a National Collection (LaNC) project that houses instances of LaNC’s Peripleo maps interface alongside descriptive text (https://github.com/britishlibrary/locating-a-national-collection). The website was built using Joe Padfield’s simple-site, many thanks to him (https://github.com/jpadfield/simple-site). LaNC was a Foundation project within the AHRC-funded Towards a National Collection Programme.Gadd, Stephen ; Simon, Rainer ; Rees, Gethin ; Isaksen, Leif
location, geography, map, and cultural heritage
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Learning object
Colonial Knowledge: Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia
J. G. Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia has long been used as a central source for the study of the region. Yet, it is essential to understand the contexts of its production in order to fully appreciate its content. It has long been pointed out... -
Learning object
Invisible Ink: Intercepting Post in Second World War
During WWII, secret instructions for the interception of post passing through the Gulf were circulated to Political Agents in Bahrain, Kuwait and Muscat. In August 1939, anticipating the outbreak of war in Europe, the Government of India sanctioned the interception of post for examination and censorship in the Gulf. Three...Lowe, Daniel
communication methods, Second World War (1939-1945), censorship, and Persian Gulf
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Learning object
A Considerable Fortune: The Wealth, and Death, of Sheikh Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī'
At the time of Sheikh Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī’s death in 1913, his great wealth was revealed to the British in intelligence reports sent by Yūsuf bin Aḥmad Kanoo. On 12 July 1913, Major Arthur Prescott Trevor, the British Political Agent at Bahrain, received an urgent report from Yūsuf...Lowe, Daniel
Qatar and Wahabi (Tribe)
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Learning object
The Death of Queen Victoria: the Politics of Mourning for the British in the Gulf
Upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, instructions sent to the Native Agent at Sharjah on how to visibly mourn her death reveal aspects of the construction of empire via ritual mourning practices. Although Queen Victoria never set foot on the soil of the empire over which she was...Lowe, Daniel
foreign relations, Sharjah, and Bushire
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Learning object
‘Persian Gulf Tragedy’: the Death and Legacy of John Gordon Lorimer
The untimely death of John Gordon Lorimer, acting Resident in the Persian Gulf 1913–14, was seen as a tragedy. Yet, his legacy – in the form of his Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia – emerged forty years later and has remained central to the study of...Lowe, Daniel
gazetteers, intelligence operations, Bahrain, Būshehr, and Persian Gulf
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Learning object
‘Imperial Boredom’ and Imperial Reading
A colonial officer named Hickinbotham illustrates the everyday boredom of administrating the Empire with his practical jokes and escapist reading list. The British biographical publication Who’s Who of 1942 records that Edward Wakefield and Tom Hickinbotham, the Political Agent at Kuwait, circumnavigated Warbah, an island in the Gulf near the...Lowe, Daniel
Yemen, Kuwait, Political Agent, Kuwait, Aden, Arabian Peninsula, and Persian Gulf Political Residency
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Learning object
Performing Authority: the ‘Islamic’ Seals of British Colonial Officers
Cultural appropriation was as much a part of empire as military force. The use of ‘Islamic’ seals by British colonial officials is one example of this. In his record of nineteenth century Egyptian society, Edward William Lane wrote that ‘[a]lmost every person who can afford it has a seal-ring, even...Lowe, Daniel
foreign relations, communication methods, Persian Gulf Political Residency, Sir Knight Lewis Pelly, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, and Sir Knight Charles Dalrymple Belgrave
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Learning object
The King’s Oryx: Ibn Saud’s Diplomatic Gift to George V
In 1920, a gift from Ibn Saud in the form of a female oryx was the first ever to have survived the difficult journey from Arabia to London. In correspondence between HM the King and the Amir of Najd of 1920 it was noted that an animal ‘unique of its...Lowe, Daniel
Āl Sa'ūd (Family), King of Saudi Arabia Sa'ūd bin 'Abd al-'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd, Saudi Arabia, and First World War (1914-1918)
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Blog post
George Percy Churchill’s Biographical Notices of Persian Statesmen and Notables
In 1906, the Government of India Foreign Department published (and republished in 1910) an index of prominent Qajar statesmen, compiled by George Percy Churchill, Oriental Secretary at the British Legation in Tehran. According to Cyrus Ghani, this collection of notes and genealogical tables, entitled Biographical Notices of Persian Statesmen and...Lowe, Daniel
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Learning object
The Death of Captain Shakespear
A little known first-hand account, that the British Agents in Bahrain garnered by chance, sheds light on William Henry Irvine Shakespear’s death. Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear is an enigmatic figure in the history of Anglo-Saudi relations. Although he was one of the youngest Political Agents to serve in the...Lowe, Daniel
military operations, Naid, Āl Sa'ūd (Family), Kuwait, King of Saudi Arabia Sa'ūd bin 'Abd al-'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd, Saudi Arabia, and First World War (1914-1918)
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Blog post
Shubbak 2017: contemporary Arab culture at the British Library
The biennial Shubbak Festival returns to London this year between 1st and 16th July with a range of exciting and engaging events on contemporary Arab culture, with an array of literary events taking place once again at the British Library.Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Shubbak Literature Festival at the British Library
On Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July 2015, the British Library will host the Shubbak Literature Festival as part of Shubbak, London’s largest biennial festival showcasing the best in contemporary Arab culture.Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Conference on Digital Islamic Humanities
Two representatives from the British Library attended the recent conference, ‘The Digital Humanities + Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies’, hosted by the Middle Eastern Studies Department of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Organised by Dr Elias Muhanna and held on 24-25 October 2013, this conference sought to bring together...Lowe, Daniel ; Sobers-Khan, Nurs
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Blog post
Lebanese LGBTQ publications: essays, magazines, memoirs and narratives
Blogger and novelist Fadi Zaghmout, together with translator Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, recently visited the British Library. His debut novel, ‘Arūs ʻAmmān (ʻThe bride of Amman’), deals with the various struggles facing young Jordanians, including sexual orientation and gender identity. With this subject in mind, we looked at different sources –...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Performing Authority: the ‘Islamic’ Seals of British Colonial Officers
The function of seals as symbols of textual authority and ownership is deeply rooted in the Islamic world, especially in Arabic and Persian-speaking societies. Historically, seals were used for authorising various documents, including letters and legal contracts, and for marking the ownership of books and manuscripts. Edward William Lane attests...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
The Death of Queen Victoria: the Politics of Mourning and Memorialisation in the British Persian Gulf
This blog post marks the 195 anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth on 24 May 1819. On the afternoon of 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. In the United Kingdom, as well as many thousands of miles away around the Empire, reactions ‘were...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Colonial Knowledge: Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia
John Gordon Lorimer’s monumental Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia – often simply referred to as ‘Lorimer’ by many researchers - has been digitised and is now accessible for free through the Qatar Digital Library.Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
‘The Jewish State of Eastern Arabia’
In September 1917, Lord Francis Bertie, British Ambassador to France, received an unusual proposal from Dr M L Rothstein, a Paris-based Russian Jew. Bertie explained to the Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, that Rothstein proposed the Entente Powers should equip and organise an army ‘for the conquest of the Turkish...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
The Death of a Political Agent: Captain Shakespear
Today, 24 January 2015, marks 100 years since the death of colonial officer and Arabian explorer and photographer, Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, who died in a battle at Jarrab between the forces of Ibn Saud, the founder of modern-day Saudi Arabia, and his adversary, Ibn Rashid. Shakespear was well...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
‘Persian Gulf tragedy’ – the death of John Gordon Lorimer
On the morning of Sunday 8 February 1914, John Gordon Lorimer, the officiating British Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, retired to his dressing room to ascertain the exact calibre of his automatic pistol as he wished to order cartridges from Bombay. He was later found lying on the...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Calcutta to Bihar: an artist's journey
As part of the Visual Arts collections at the British Library, we hold an extensive collection of drawings, sketches and watercolours by amateur British and European artists who travelled through the Indian subcontinent. In 2015, we acquired a wonderful little sketchbook, measuring a mere 80 x 204 mm, by an...Roy, Malini
Hinduism, South Asia, art, visual arts, and Islam
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Blog post
Adam Munni Ratna, a Buddhist monk in England in 1818
The Visual Arts section has recently acquired a portrait of Adam Sri Munni Ratna, a Singhalese Buddhist monk, who accompanied Sir Alexander Johnston (1775-1849) from Sri Lanka to England in 1817-18. Raised between Scotland, Madras and England, Johnston would be appointed as the President of the Council of Sri Lanka...Roy, Malini
religion, South Asia, art, visual arts, and Buddhism
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Blog post
East India Company headquarters on Leadenhall Street
BBC One’s new period drama Taboo with actor Tom Hardy follows the story of James Keziah Delaney and his encounters with the East India Company. As the headquarters of the East India Company on Leadenhall Street was demolished in 1861 which is the present day site of Lloyds of London,...Roy, Malini
trade, South Asia, art, and visual arts
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Blog post
Battle of Panipat 1761
Panipat, north of Delhi, is the location of three historic battles that shaped Mughal history. On the battlefield here in 1526, Babur defeated the Afghan Sultan of Delhi Ibrahim Lodi, which not only ended Lodi rule but gave the Mughals a stronger foothold on the subcontinent. The second battle took...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, South Asia, art, and visual arts
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Blog post
William Beckford's albums on Hindu mythology
The English novelist and noted bibliophile William Beckford is highlighted in the British Library’s current exhibition ‘Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination’. Exhibition curators (Greg Buzwell, Tanya Kirk and Tim Pye) feature Beckford’s Gothic novel Vathek as one of the earliest examples in this style. Beckford’s masterpiece expressed the ‘orientalist...Roy, Malini
Hinduism, religion, South Asia, exhibitions, and art
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Blog post
‘White Mughal’ William Fullerton of Rosemount
Scottish surgeon William Fullerton (d.1805) from Rosemount enlisted with the East India Company and served in Bengal and Bihar from 1744-66. Developing close ties with locals, including the historian Ghulam Husain Khan, he remained in the region after retiring. Although his impressive linguistic abilities brought him attention, Fullerton’s prominence stems...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, language studies, South Asia, art, and visual arts
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Blog post
The accident that befell Sir Donald Friell McLeod
Even if the attendant or station inspector had shouted ‘Mind the Gap’ (the phrase first used in 1969 at rail stations in the United Kingdom), it would not have prevented the horrific accident that befell Sir Donald Friell McLeod at the railway station at Gloucester Road in 1872. Arriving at...Roy, Malini
religion, South Asia, art, and visual arts
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Blog post
Distinctive leg-of-mutton legs and fine jewels: a new display of Indian paintings in the Treasures of the British Library
Regular visitors to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library, may have encountered our recent display of Natural History drawings from India next to the entrance to the Magna Carta. From 8 March 2014, a new display of Indian paintings from the Visual Arts collection will be...Roy, Malini
Hinduism, South Asia, exhibitions, and art
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Blog post
Mughal painting by Faizallah recently acquired by the British Library
In our recent exhibition and the accompanying publication Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, we featured paintings made in Delhi as well as at the Mughal province of Awadh during the 18th century. In March, we were able to add to our collection a splendid work by the artist Faizallah...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, South Asia, and art
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Blog post
Marianne North's Visions of India
The British Library holds one of the richest archives of prints, drawings and photographs from South Asia. As Visual Arts Curator, exploring the vast collections and learning about the history of the works of art is just part of my daily activities. Although my previous blog posts have focused on...Roy, Malini
South East Asia, South Asia, and art
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Blog post
Book of Affairs of Love
Karnama-i ‘Ishq (Book of affairs of love) by the Hindu poet Rai Anand Ram Mukhlis (d. 1751) is a romance in Persian on the afflictions of a young man’s heart and the challenges he faces for eternal love. The poetical narrative is derived from an existing Hindi literary work, the...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, South Asia, and art
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Blog post
A farewell to the Mughals
British Library's exhibition Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire closed on 2 April 2013. The last few days of the exhibition saw a record number of visitors! Since opening in November 2012, we have been surprised by the overwhelming response from the press and social media. We never anticipated being...Roy, Malini
science, Mughal India, and art
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Blog post
Open and Engaged 2019: Open Access Week at the British Library
There are opportunities and benefits for growth in open access and open scholarship when experience and knowledge is shared between Higher Education Institutes and cultural heritage organisations. On Tuesday 22nd October, The British Library celebrated Open Access Week with the event, Open and Engaged - Forging links between higher education...Miles, Susan
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Blog post
The Botish Library: developing a poetry printing machine with Python
In June 2020 the Office for Students announced a campaign to fill 2,500 new places on artificial intelligence and data science conversion courses in universities across the UK. While I’m not planning to retrain in cyber, I was lucky enough to be in the cohort for the trial run of...Rossi, Giulia Carla
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Blog post
Writing Tools for Interactive Fiction
Interactive fiction (IF), or interactive narrative/narration, is defined as “software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment.” The British Library has been collecting examples of UK interactive fiction as part of the Emerging Formats Project, which is a collaborative effort from all...Rossi, Giulia Carla