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Congruence Engine Data Register
The Congruence Engine Data Register is a register of collections and cultural heritage data related to UK's industrial past. It is designed to help people interested in industrial history to find, use, edit, and contribute to this type of cultural heritage.
The Congruence Engine Data Register, is a proof-of-concept of a collaboratively developed and curated minimal digital infrastructure for digital cultural heritage, and more specifically for industrial history. It has been developed as part of the TaNC-funded Congruence Engine project, which focused, among other things, on exploring what a UK collection of heritage materials might look like.
Please use this register to find museum, library and archive collections, heritage data, and other historic materials - all related to UK's industrial history.
About the Project
The Congruence Engine is a three-year research project which started in November 2021 and was hosted at the Science Museum. The aim of the project was to connect industrial history collections held in different museums and archives across the UK using the latest digital techniques (including AI). It was one of five ‘Discovery Projects’ funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the ‘Towards a National Collection’ funding stream.
The Congruence Engine Data Register has been envisioned, designed and developed as one of the key aspects of the minimum infrastructure for a UK collection that the Congruence Engine project is exploring. As such, the Congruence Engine Data Register is a place to record the existence of a (collection, archive) dataset that is available to be used as part of the UK collection. By design it has an industrial history focus. Developed using Wikibase.Cloud, the Congruence Engine Data Register embodies the principles of minimal infrastructure, designed to be lightweight, scalable, and sustainable. The Congruence Engine Data Register is thus a ‘social machine’ experiment in practice : it is developed for the community, by the community.
Outputs
- User Guide
- Project documentation - context, processes and lessons learnt
- Data Register App - an exploration of data re-use
- Data Register Archive - an exploration of archiving method for Wikibase, using Snowman
Acknowledgements
The development of Data Register has been a collaborative effort of many team members affiliated with the Congruence Engine project, primarily Arran Rees, Kunika Kono, Felix Needham-Simpson, Anna-Maria Sichani and Jane Winters. Many people have supported us along the way with their expertise and experience. We would like to thank Stuart Prior from Wikimedia UK, Christos Varvantakis from Wikimedia Deutschland and Jason Evans from the National Library of Wales. Also the projects Semantic Name Authority Repository Cymru (SNARC) and Beyond Notability: Re-evaluating Women's Work in Archaeology, History and Heritage, 1870 – 1950 have been inspirations in the application of Wikibase and Wikidata for a Cultural Heritage project.
Usage
Unless otherwise stated, all content on this wiki is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication (exceptions: logos, header image).
Suggested Citation
To cite an individual item found in the Congruence Engine Data Register, please use the following format:
ITEM NAME, The Congruence Engine Data Register, (https://congruence-engine.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Item:QXX, DATE ACCESSED). For example: West Yorkshire Queer Stories Bradford oral histories, The Congruence Engine Data Register (https://congruence-engine.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Item:Q2, 01 October 2024).
To cite the project and web site as a whole please use the following format:
The Congruence Engine Data Register, DATE ACCESSED.