Anna Mernenko, MA student in Digital Humanities at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, is conducting research into the engagement strategies of crowd-sourced/public humanities projects such as Letters 1916-1923. From end of November till mid-December 2018, Anna will observe the social media activities of Letters 1916-1923 and compare them to another citizen humanities project with a similar focus on cultural heritage material (e. g. letters).
The “Memories of Selma Lagerlöf” project, hosted by the University of Gothenburg, and Letters 1916-1923 are highlighting topics and protagonists deeply intertwined with the histories of Sweden and Ireland respectively. Anna will analyse the strategies these projects use to reach, as well as engage and motivate, members of the public who own historical sources. Both projects encourage people to share letters from their family collections online.
Apart from monitoring the project teams’ interactions with the public on Twitter and Facebook, Anna will interview contributors online and ask them to participate in a survey that will help her collect more information why people have taken part in the project. Exploring the personal experiences of the contributors that shared their letters will be the central aspect of the study.
If you have previously contributed to the Letters 1916-1923 project by sharing a family letter, Anna would appreciate your participation in a short anonymous survey before the 20th of December 2018. This survey will ask you about your personal motivation in participating in the Letters 1916-1923 project. Please access the survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/NJxb3dKzkA4qQdPf1.
If you have any questions about Anna’s research and how the information you provide will be processed, please do not hesitate to contact Anna via email: gusmernan [ at ] student.gu.se