Open Plaques selected for RSA Catalyst support

We’re delighted to announce that Open Plaques has been selected for RSA Catalyst funding and support. This backing from the RSA will help us accelerate collaborative development of the website and its content through a one-day event this autumn, and also sees the entire plaques project come full circle as the original plaques scheme was first started by the RSA themselves in 1867!

The Catalyst funding is being provided with the aim that – through the event (and collaboration around it) – we make the site more accessible to public input and usage. That could be via improving the facility to add new plaque listings into our database, or adding the facility for logged-in users to edit biographical information and include other media about the people, places and organisations commemorated by the plaques themselves.

Those are just two of the many ways we could improve the website – in terms of its design, user experience, information architecture, login / registration and more. But we’ll be looking especially for YOUR suggestions on that front in the run up to the event, so we can collate and refine ideas in advance, and then focus activity on the day itself on getting things built and ready for public release.

If you’re a developer, designer, usability or UX expert, IA, content producer, mobile geek or any other kind of digital specialist, we want to hear from you! Keep an eye out for the event announcement (places will be very limited), but even if you can’t make it along, any input would be most welcome and appreciated.

In turn, the event has scope for collaborative input from a broader ecosystem of participants – so history buffs and bloggers, heritage professionals and enthusiasts, online community and social web folk will all have something to contribute. Feel free to get in touch with your ideas or questions via email or Twitter, or add a comment here.

Open Plaques couldn’t have got to where it is now without the fantastic community support we’ve already received. We’re also very grateful for the support we’ve gained from Flickr through their machine tags service for integrating photogtaphs.

We’ll announce the date for the event soon, (currently looking at mid-to-late September) and will keep you updated here and via our Twitter account.

On a historical note, the first ever plaque – for Lord Byron – (which was actually a brown plaque, as were most on the RSA scheme) no longer exists since the building it was on was demolished. But of the 36 original plaques errected by the RSA between 1867-1901, before they handed the scheme over to London County Council, the 14 remaining are all listed here. Only three are now lacking a corresponding Open Plaques photograph, one of them for a certain Dr Samuel Johnson. If you’re tempted, here are the instructions.

The RSA was formed as the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce back in 1754 and has a very interesting history itself – check out its timelime for some of its notable people and achivements. Its Catalyst seed funding initiative carries on that tradition of supporting activity “intended to encourage and inspire, to help Fellows to turn their great ideas into great social outcomes. Catalyst funds are available for new or early-stage projects that have a tangible social impact.”

We’re extremely excited and honoured to have gained their support, and hope the September event will progress the site toward being a valuable resource for education, heritage, history and location-based learning and discovery, as the resources we provide for open and free re-use become richer and more comprehensive.