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Making a Start
One year on
Half Way!
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One year on
Location: Devon
Our project was one year old at the end of March. Looking back with one exception it has gone very much to plan, the one exception has been in obtaining a voice recorder suitable for members who are no longer teenagers. With the trend for miniaturisation and portability operating buttons have become so smalland fiddly, you need a knitting needle to operate them. To overcome the problem we purchased a small laptop computer that has been dedicated to the audio element of the project & now record direct on to that. This has had additional benefits for editing & copying in that we now have a one-stop shop principle. I am pleased to say that things have moved on since then and there is now available a new recorder that is currently under evaluation by a sister group near Dartmouth & this looks very promising. For further information visit www.edirol.com
No doubt with the help of the preparatory work done for the grant application the first year has progressed well. Transcribing of the index and summary to the papers of a notable 15th and 16th century Dartmouth family is in progress; these alone consist of over forty closely written A4 pages with the same amount again still to be indexed. Burial records to St Clements Church are nearing completion with those for the Cemetery next in line. As it is not always possible for the source documents to be taken away, transcribing is from digital photo images using a split computer screen or if available a second computer. OCR is not an option with these documents and finding people with the required skill, equipment or time is slowing progress.
Training in web design and other skills is progressing. As archive material becomes available incorporating it into the site becomes part of the training programme. The local Community Collage, who are providing the training, has completed much of the initial design work & would be willing to complete it, we however feel it is essential that we are able to make the changes and additions that will occur in the future.
The town after many years now has a new library and the group took the opportunity at the official opening to advertise the project through a display and a rolling slide show of old photographs.
The group held it’s second “Local History Day” on the 5th March with speakers on Reading old documents, Researching the history of a House, Interpreting old Photographs and Parish History from Maps and Air Photo’s. The event was again well attended with other local groups having displays stands.
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