Frequently Asked Questions
What is People’s Collection Wales?
A website full of fascinating photographs, sound recordings, documents, videos and stories about the history and heritage of Wales and its people, People’s Collection Wales is the first of its kind in Wales.
People’s Collection Wales draws together the digital collections of the main heritage institutions in Wales, alongside content from smaller museums, archives and libraries, and is a place where you can share your story of Wales.
It provides quick and easy access to the rich heritage of Wales and allows you to contribute your own content to enhance the variety on the site and make sure that the history of your area is told.
Who developed the site?
The project is funded by the Welsh Government and the website has been developed by Welsh company Sequence. It is a partnership between Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, The National Library of Wales, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, Llafur: The Welsh People’s History Society and involves many other partners such as BBC Cymru Wales, Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru, CADW, Visit Wales, Ramblers Cymru, S4C and others.
Why contribute?
Everyone has some piece of the jigsaw which tells the story of Wales, whether it’s a comment on a photograph which has sparked a memory; or a photograph, story, letter, diary, drawing, postcard, recording (film or sound), poem or souvenir that adds one more piece to the jigsaw. Items like these are being forgotten, lost, thrown away, deleted, or accidentally damaged on a daily basis. Using People’s Collection Wales to share these items builds, enriches and strengthens our national heritage and ensures their preservation for future generations.
How can local community and historical groups get involved?
Culturenet Cymru are partners with the People’s Collection Wales Programme who work with local community groups in order to build new skills and enable community digitization projects. This can be combined with advice that explores the different ways to contribute and utilize the tools available within Peoples Collection Wales.
A range of training dates have been arranged for this year – get in touch via the contact form to find out more.
How can I contribute?
Register
Sign up for an account and get involved. Registering is quick, easy and free – simply select an username and provide us with an email address and password and you’re good to go.
Once you’re registered, you have your own account where you can collect together items that interest you from the site in your scrapbook or start adding photos and comments or building trails and stories.
Why not give it a try today?
Add a comment
You can start contributing straight away, without having to register, by adding comments. There is a comments box under every item in the site, just type the comment in the box and press 'submit'.
Your comment could help:
• identify places, buildings and people
• correct misinformation
• give further information
• answer questions
• provide anecdotes or stories connected to the item
• start a discussion
Add an item
On every page of the website there is a red box with the word 'Contribute'. In this box are sections that you can click to 'contribute an item'. When you click on 'contribute an item' you are asked to sign in, or register if you haven't already done so. Then you are taken step-by-step through selecting the item (from where it is stored on your computer, e.g. 'My Pictures'), through to giving it a title and description, date, who created it and locating it on a simple map.
When you’ve added all your information, press ‘Submit for Moderation’ at the end of the process, your item will be added to the site and can be viewed, first just by you, and, after it has been approved through moderation, by everyone who visits the site.
Items people have contributed to the site include:
* A photograph of a building that has now disappeared
* An old school photograph
* A photograph of a room from the 1960s
* A photograph showing what women wore in the 1930s
* The story of being evacuated from Newport to Rhymney during the war
* A recording of a song
* A typed poem from an eisteddfod
* an account of working in Ebbw Vale steelworks
Create a Collection
Once you’ve added a few items to the site, you might want to draw them together into a collection telling the story of a particular place, event or person. You can also include items contributed by others to your collection to enhance the story you want to tell.
Allowed File formats and sizes
The maximum size for an uploaded file is 64MB (65536KB)
The file types that can be uploaded are as follows
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Image files allowed = .jpg, .gif, .png
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Video files allowed = .flv, .mp4, .3gp, .avi, .mov, .wmv
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Audio files allowed = .mp3, .wav, .wma
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Text files allowed = .txt, .htm, .html
How do I create a collection?
Once you’ve registered, go to Your Account > Collections > Create a Collection
Fill in the Create a Collection form, providing a title, some information and decide upon the membership and privacy settings.
Once you’ve created your collection, the option to add items to that collection will appear next to each item on the site. Browse the site and select items to add to your collection; your own items or any of the thousands already on the site.
How do I create a trail?
Trails are a great way of getting people out and about, viewing heritage in its original surroundings and making the most of the Welsh countryside. They can also show historic routes such as those taken by the Drovers or pilgrims, or even show the routes taken by those who emigrated to America or Patagonia during the nineteenth century.
Using Microsoft’s Bing Maps, it’s quick and easy to create a trail on People’s Collection Wales.
- Go to ‘Maps & Trails’ and select Create a Trail.
- The first page will load all the items that you have uploaded and any that are in your scrapbook. If you have a large number of items in your scrapbook, this may take a while to load and be difficult to navigate so it might be an idea to clear your scrapbook and add the ones you want for the trail.
- Once they have loaded, drag the items you want to use onto the map. They will automatically appear where they have been geo-located. Once you’ve dragged all the items you will need, select ‘Next Step’.
- The ‘Draw Trail’ page will open. Zoom into where you want to draw your trail and plot the route by clicking where you want the route to start and plotting the blue line around the area. When you have reached the end, double click to finish the trail and click next.
- You will then be asked to fill in some information about the trail – let people know what they can find on your trail and where it goes.
- Once you’re happy, click ‘Save Trail’ and it will be submitted for moderation.
- If you want to edit your trail in the future, go to ‘Your Account’ and ‘Trails’. Select the pen and paper icon under the item to edit. Then you can add more items from your scrapbook or change the information associated with it.
What is moderation?
All content uploaded to the site is moderated before appearing to the public. When you contribute an item you will be asked to provide information such as a title, description and, importantly, copyright information.
Once you have submitted an item for moderation, it enters a queue and is assessed according to the House Rules. While the item is in moderation, it is only visible to the user but not to other users of the site.