Two way street is a website which has cataloged around 1.9 out of the 2.2 million artifacts from the British museum. The sources which the site presents is the artifacts from the museum. These artifacts are physical objects which through this website have been given a digital life.
These artifacts are then processed through photographs. These photographs are then each given a description and then categorized into many smaller subgroups from the decade during which it was discovered, to the type of object it is to the type of decorations it has.
In terms of the presentation, the sight allows the user to navigate through different sub sections and categories of objects exploring the various objects. The objects themselves often do not have names and instead are represented by photos alone. This sort of presentation may make sense since there are millions of artifacts which have been cataloged thus that much text could be overwhelming when exploring the artifacts.
Overall the site itself is massive in its scale. There are almost 1.9 million artifacts cataloged and meaning about 1.9 objects which have been meticulously photographed and then given a description. In terms of navigation, one can either choose to explore the artifacts based on the various categories. Decades are represented by squares with darker squares showing that more objects had been collected during that decade. This in my opinion is a clever way of presenting an age old form of categorization. Other categorizations such as collections are generally represented by photos of objects within those collections.
The objects themselves though are many don’t have too much information associated with them besides the basic facts. This is probably due to the immense number of artifacts present in the collection. Overall the sight itself offers a good overview of the many artifacts available to be seen at the British museum though the information is not densely packed meaning anyone trying to discover historical roots of many artifacts will be left disappointed.
It would be neat if along with a description of the artifact they could include an interactive map to display where it was found (or plundered, depending on who you ask). Could you also maybe include a link to the website?
Its awesome how powerful DH projects can be in terms of exploring massive amounts of Data. Going to a museum and exploring these artifacts is impossible, but this website really provides us with a new way to explore artifacts.
Wow, just thinking about the process of cataloguing almost 2 million artifacts already makes my head hurt. Actually doing it is an immensely impressive feat. It would be cool if they had more time, to 3D scan the objects so that you can click and drag the objects to see a full 360 view of them.
Yeah I really agree! Projects such as these have really offered us the ability to transcend physical borders and see things we otherwise might never get the chance to through simple clicks on the internet!