Memoryshare is an information visualization tool and user-generated archive that the BBC launched back in 2007. The visualizaton is a timeline that resemles a DNA-strand, with a slider on the right that enables you to go back and forth in the structure; a slider on the left side to jump from one year to the other; and a search-function with which you can access specific information via text.
Little colour-coded bulbs along the DNA strand represent the individual archive-entries. I could not figurte out, wheter colour and shape of the bulbs have meaning assigned, too. By clicking on the bulbs, the detailed information opens in a new window. Mouse-over a bulb highlights related entries.
Results can also be viewed as a list to get a different kind of perspective on the data. Entries start in the year 1900 and go up to date.
Memoryshare was featured in Infosthetics on June 24th, 2009, text:
"BBC Memoryshare [bbc.co.uk] is a living archive of memories from 1900 to the present day. Users are invited to contribute, share and browse memories of all their memorable days and life experiences, and see them in the context of recent and historical events. Memories can include text, photos and videos.
Memoryshare is a web service across a number of sites on bbc.co.uk, such as local websites, radio and television. It was launched on the BBC Norfolk site on 8 July 2007, on the BBC London site on 23 July 2007 and on the BBC South Yorkshire site on 25 July 2007. It uses the DNA software developed for h2g2. The long-term aim for BBC Memoryshare is for a fully dynamic service which will enable users to find and search BBC content against date, to create content and to share multi-media content with other users."
links:
- memoryshare on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoryshare
- h2g2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2g2
- on infostehtics: http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/06/bbc_memoryshare_a_place_to_share_and_explore_memories.html
Posts
Hi Nina
ReplyDeleteI'm the producer on Memoryshare - thanks for linking to us!
Interesting to hear that you wondered whether the shapes and colours of the memory icons have a meaning. We hoped people would try and figure that out.
The colours indicate the day of the week of the first day of the memory (Red is a Saturday, Purple a Sunday etc.) The shape is an abstraction of the first letter of the title of the memory.
Primarily though, we hope the colours and shapes help to distinguish between the memories and give the site a playful feel.
Hope that helps!
Simon Delafond
BBC Memoryshare
Hi Simon,
ReplyDeleteyou are welcome, i love your project!
Thanks for the information about the colours and shapes, that's a nice additional feature!
nina