The National Archives have put 1,200 of its 20 Billion documents online for access through an 2D search interface. Digital Vaults as the Adobe Flash interface is called allows you to explore photographs, documents and video clip plus the connections between them.
Once all interface elements are loaded, the application presents you with a series of starting point, click one and the image for the selected topic will be shown in the center of the window surrounded by related items.
Additional information is available for each of the items by clicking on them and when you move an item to the center, all further related items are loaded and available for digging deeper.
Besides the 8 starting points displayed by default, you might want to try starting your tour with “pathways challenges” that provide clues on the relationship of the items. Search is available by predefined tags or keywords. Items can be dropped into your collect box for later use or to create your own archive of historic events.
Previous searches are kept for backtracking and - very neat - you can create movies to display sequences of items you’ve found and then email these movies to someone else.
Click on the image below for the link (multimedia)
Note: If you don’t have Flash installed there is also a HTML version of the Digital Vaults available.
Leave a Reply
(all comments are moderated)