Letters of 1916 project awarded a SFI Discover grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded a SFI Discover grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). The funding will allow the Letters of 1916 project to extend its outreach, with four Community Engagement Events planned to be held in Enniscorthy, Cork, Galway and Belfast in 2015.

On 29th January 2015, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) announced €1.6 million in funding for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) educational and public engagement projects in Ireland. Supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation (DJEI) and delivered through SFI’s education and outreach programme SFI Discover, the funding will support 39 initiatives designed to encourage people of all ages to develop an active and informed interest and involvement in STEM.

Attendees at the Letters of 1916 community engagement events will learn about the technology and the practices used to create and manage a digital archive, as well as how to ‘read’ advanced discovery methods (including network analysis, topic modeling, and geospatial mapping). They will be offered the opportunity to take a hands-on part in the processing of historical documents for inclusion in a digital archive and experience the full range of activities from digital imaging to processing to uploading letters using the Omeka content management system. They will also be tutored on how to create machine-readable transcriptions of letters using XML/TEI tags. By taking part, attendees will gain a new insight into, and appreciation for, the technologies behind Web 2.0.

The SFI Discover Programme seeks to promote the awareness and engagement of the Irish public with science, technology, engineering and maths by catalysing, inspiring and guiding the best in STEM education and promotion. It is a key element of SFI’s Agenda 2020 Strategy which includes the aim of having the most engaged and scientifically informed public in Ireland. The Letters of 1916 team is delighted to be part of the SFI Discover Programme and engage with a wider public in 2015.

Click here to read more about the SFI Discover Programme funding and participating projects.