Reading Communities: Connecting the Past and the Present

阅读经验数据库，1450-1945(RED)是世界上最大的与阅读经验有关的单一资料库，由AHRC资助，于2006年启动，目前收录了超过33,000个个人条目。它是一个独特的全球阅读实践史研究和教学资源。作为数字人文学科众包的先驱，RED在通过志愿者参与公共参与方面也有良好的记录。红色团队成员指导志愿者在已发表的作家或历史人物的信件和日记中寻找阅读证据，并培训志愿者从自己家庭档案中未出版的材料中输入信息。这使阅读历史的研究实现了彻底的民主化，使有兴趣的公众能够帮助定位、识别和输入这一主题中如此多的学术研究所依赖的原始材料。阅读及其历史是公众广泛感兴趣的话题。RED作为一个开源的、面向外部的项目，有可能接触到比十年前最初项目设计中预期的更广泛的个人和团体。因此，《阅读社区：连接过去和现在》的主要目的是接触到新一代的非学术受众--特别是阅读群体--而Red以前从未与他们接触过，并利用社交媒体的发展。通过这样做，我们的目标是让今天的读者与过去的读者建立更紧密、更丰富的关系，从而将过去和现在的阅读实践联系起来。这个后续项目将通过英国五个主要城市的活动接触到读者群体：贝尔法斯特、伯明翰、爱丁堡、利物浦和伦敦。每个地点的活动都有一个特定的主题，并以特定的社区为目标。活动的时间安排将与全年与阅读有关的活动和周年纪念活动相吻合。贝尔法斯特的活动是围绕这样一个问题组织的：“有没有北爱尔兰读者这样的东西？”并将鼓励阅读团体的成员思考北爱尔兰读者在过去100年里如何通过阅读塑造他们的文化身份。贝尔法斯特的活动将安排在1916年复活节兴起一百周年(4月24日；贝尔法斯特)，这是塑造国家文化认同的关键时刻。伦敦的活动将鼓励参与者思考第二次世界大战期间的阅读。与“信息数字化部”项目合作，我们将汇集有关冲突期间阅读的历史信息，并通过口述历史研讨会，向今天在世的人们征集童年阅读的证词和记忆。伦敦的活动旨在与不列颠之战(9月15日，伦敦)周年纪念日相吻合。活动将包括工作坊、公开讲座、分享读物、电影观看和会议。该项目将包括有史以来第一次阅读体验路演，参与者将能够携带家庭档案中的物品，如日记、信件或注释书籍，在红色志愿者的帮助下探索它们的背景，并将详细信息输入数据库。两个口述历史工作坊(伯明翰和伦敦)也将记录关于回忆过去阅读经历的证词。

Launched with AHRC funding in 2006, The Reading Experience Database, 1450-1945 (RED) is the world's largest single repository relating to reading experiences, now containing over 33,000 individual entries. It is an unique global research and teaching resource for the history of reading practices. A pioneer in crowdsourcing for the digital humanities, RED also has a proven track record of public engagement through the involvement of volunteers. RED team members have mentored volunteers to search the published letters and diaries of writers or historical figures for evidences of reading, and have trained volunteers to enter information from unpublished material in their own family archives. This has enabled a radical democratization of research in the history of reading, allowing interested members of the public to help locate, identify and enter the source material on which so much academic research in the subject depends.Reading and its history are topics that have wide interest to members of the public. RED as an open-source, outward-facing project has the potential to reach a much wider range of individuals and groups than was anticipated in the initial project design ten years ago. The main aim of 'Reading Communities: Connecting the Past and the Present' is therefore to reach out to a new generation of non-academic audiences - particularly reading groups - with whom RED has not engaged before and to take advantage of developments in social media. In doing so, we aim to bring today's readers into a closer and more enriching relationship with readers from the past, thereby connecting past and present practices of reading.This follow-on project will reach communities of readers through events in five key cities across the UK: Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London. Activities in each location will have a specific theme and target specific communities. Events will be timed to coincide with reading-related events and anniversaries throughout the year. The Belfast event is thematically organised around the question, 'Is there such a thing as a Northern Irish reader?' and will encourage members of reading groups to consider how Northern Irish readers have shaped their cultural identity through reading in the last 100 years. Events in Belfast will be timed to coincide with the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising (24 April; Belfast), a key point in shaping national cultural identity. The London event will encourage participants to think about reading during the Second World War. Working with the 'Ministry of Information Digital' project, we will bring together historical information about reading during the conflict, and through the oral history workshop, solicit testimonies and memories of childhood reading from people alive today. The London event is designed to coincide with the anniversary of the Battle of Britain (15 September; London). Activities will include workshops, public lectures, shared readings, a film viewing and a conference. The project will include the first-ever reading experience 'roadshows' in which participants will be able to bring items from family archives, such as diaries, letters or annotated books, explore their context with the help of RED volunteers, and enter the details into the database. Two oral history workshops (Birmingham and London) will also capture testimonies about recollecting past reading experience.