Beyond Notability

This three year research project, based in the Institute of Classical Studies, is exploring the histories of women active in archaeology, history and heritage as revealed in the archives of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Archaeological Institute.

The project brings together academic researchers with expertise in intellectual and social history, information science and digital humanities in partnership with the Society of Antiquaries of London in order to recover the broad landscape of women’s work in archaeology, history, and heritage and their intellectual networks in 19th and 20th-century Britain via detailed investigation of two significant cultural-institutional archives.

Impact and outreach

The project is creating an unprecedented openly accessible research data set of women active in archaeology, history and heritage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is telling their stories and mapping them using linked open data, providing detailed biographical entries for women working in these fields that could help entries on Wikipedia and Wikidata to be created or enhanced, and challenging current standards of 'notability' in these resources.

The project team has also run a series of Wiki ‘edit-a-thons’ in which attendees are invited to dive into the data and help increase representation on Wikipedia and Wikidata of women active in archaeology, history and heritage. The sessions provided attendees with training on creating Wikidata entries and editing Wikipedia.

Further information

The project team includes:

• Professor Katherine Harloe (Institute of Classical Studies), Principal Investigator
• Dr Amara Thornton (Institute of Classical Studies), Co-Investigator
• Dr James Baker (University of Southampton), Co-Investigator
• Dr Ammandeep Mahal (University of Southampton), Research Fellow in Information Science

Beyond Notability is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).