Crowdsourcing and archives

I listened to a fascinating talk last week by an academic called Stuart Lee who's taken a crowdsourcing approach to building an archive of Great War (incl poetry) materials.  The audio file is available from Oxford Brookes University's website:  http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/publishing/podcast/crowd-sourcing-stuart_lee/.  But you can also download it from iTunes.  

The project originated from a much smaller JISC-funded initiative but the Archive now contains over 6,500 items contributed by the general public, 150 audio and movie clips and other materials like timelines.  So it can fit with the curricula for English and History lessons at all levels.  It is all accessible from their fantastic website: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/.  They have extensive "permitted use" rights for teachers and students.

Vera Brittain in V. A. D. uniform

The First World War Poetry Digital Archive has a section on Vera Brittain (mother of Shirley Williams).  She was great friends with Winifred Holtby (author of South Riding which is currently being serialized on the BBC) and her best-loved books, Testament of Friendship, records their campaigning (for peace and equal rights for women).  A truly inspirational woman.