JISC

This project proposes to extend the idea of ‘community engagement’ both geographically and technically to include local people in Asia and Africa who use mobile phones.

SOAS Archives and Special Collections

We will digitise a rare collection of more than 4,000 fragile glass lantern slides taken overseas by missionaries from 1900 to1950. The slides are accompanied by scripts, which were read out when the slides were shown to audiences in the UK. Partnering with the University of London Computer Centre, we will make this content accessible not only through an internet connection but also through mobile phones, which are widespread in rural Asia and Africa.

We will also create a new model for partnership with two of the communities whose history is shown in the slides. Specifically, we will enable local people to comment on our historical slides and upload their own contemporary (and historical) images, videos, oral histories and documents to the website. This community participation will be organised by a local coordinator, while SOAS will provide technical support as well as training guidelines and a video. If successful, this innovative project will produce a model that HE, other public bodies and the private sector can use for programmes of knowledge exchange with overseas communities.