Q&A

Q&As, reading list and our participatory methodology

Here’s a reading list of 15 open access publications that relate to British colonial legacies in geological collection:

1. “Collecting the World: The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane” by James Delbourgo
   • Link: https://www.cambridge.org/engage/api-gateway/mem/assets/orp/resource/item/5ae2dd2c32e65f0f2c37d136/original/collecting-the-world-the-life-and-curiosity-of-hans-sloane.pdf
2. “Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science” by Jim Endersby
   • Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pp8w6
3. “Colonial Geology and the ‘London School’: Science, Imperialism, and the Networks of Empire” by Jim Endersby
   • Link: https://www.cambridge.org/engage/api-gateway/mem/assets/orp/resource/item/5c375c105d4634e0d45d4ee5/original/colonial-geology-and-the-london-school-science-imperialism-and-the-networks-of-empire.pdf
4. “Geology and Empire: Geoscience in the British Empire, 1821-1914” by David R. Oldroyd
   • Link: https://www.cambridge.org/engage/api-gateway/mem/assets/orp/resource/item/58ed69adfa7c617ffc6c1168/original/geology-and-empire-geoscience-in-the-british-empire-1821-1914.pdf
5. “The Geographies of Empire: Geological Exploration, Knowledge, and Power, 1800-1920” by Keith R. Benson
   • Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pp9mm
6. “Geology, Exploration, and Indigeneity in the South Pacific” by Jim Endersby
   • Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pp9g9d
7. “Nature’s Government: Science, Imperial Britain, and the ‘Improvement’ of the World” by Richard Drayton
   • Link: https://www.cambridge.org/engage/api-gateway/mem/assets/orp/resource/item/5c2e40105d4634e0d45c742a/original/nature-s-government-science-imperial-britain-and-the-improvement-of-the-world.pdf
8. “Geological Collections from the Exploration of the British Empire” by Douglas Palmer
   • Link: https://doi.org/10.1180/SP411
9. “The Geological Survey of India and its colonial legacies” by Mukul Kumar
   • Link: https://doi.org/10.1144/SP449.13
10. “Geology and the British Empire: Colonial Expansion through Earth Science” by David Branagan
    • Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1365764
11. “Geology and Empire: The Imperialist Themes of Geology” by Jane Samson
    • Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(00)00047-6
12. “Geology and the colonial state: The geological survey of New South Wales and its influence on New South Wales colonial administration” by Robert V. H. Randolph
    • Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2328-2193.1986.tb

Participatory Methodology

The project will use a participatory design methodology to achieve its goals. This means involving interested individuals and communities in the process. We want to find out what questions people have about mineral collections and how they can contribute to the knowledge base and catalogs. We will also help people learn how to search, use, visualize, and transform our mineral records. By engaging a diverse group of participants, including curators, scientists, and community leaders, we aim to transform our understanding of mineral collections.

To accomplish this, we will collaborate with our project team, digital experts, and participants to create digital tools that support search functions and visualizations of information in the catalogs. Ethical participatory design is at the core of our approach. It means involving everyone in the decision-making process and understanding the challenges and solutions that arise.

Our co-design methodology focuses on shaping digital tools based on users’ needs and aspirations. Participants will take part in activities like workshops, interviews, and group discussions. These activities will help explore questions about the collections, connect information across different catalogs, and present it in useful ways through online tools. We aim to create a shared knowledge base that includes different perspectives and expertise, leaving a lasting impact even after the project ends.