Tools of Knowledge

The project team ran a two-day workshop at the Science Museum’s Dana Research Centre on 7-8 December. The programme was as follows:

Thursday 7 December 

10:00-10:10 Welcome – Rebekah Higgitt (National Museums Scotland)  

10:10-11:00 Reflecting on Project SIMON (Chair: Rebekah Higgitt)

• Gloria Clifton (Royal Museums Greenwich): Background to Project SIMON, research and data
•  Alexi Baker (Yale Peabody Museum): Databases, digital maps, and early modern instruments 
• Alison Morrison-Low (National Museums Scotland): Researching the provincial instrument trade 

11:00-11:20 Break (tea & coffee) 

11:20-12:30 From SIMON to SEMSIM  (Chair: Rebekah Higgitt)

• Alex Butterworth (University of Sussex): Transforming SIMON to SEMSIM and beyond 
• Sarah Middle (National Museums Scotland): Introducing SIMEOn (Scientific Instrument Makers and Events Ontology) and SciApp (Scientific Apparatus Ontology) 
• Phil Weir and Shauna Fitzsimons (Flax & Teal): Improved Arches user interfaces for SEMSIM exploration and updating 
• Discussion of the morning’s presentations (led by comments from Richard Dunn) 

12:30-13:30: Lunch 

13:30-14:30 Geographies of the Instrument Trade (Chair: Alex Butterworth)

• Alexi Baker: Mapping the 18th-century London instrument trade 
• Duncan Hay (UCL): (recorded) Nationwide distribution and movement of makers 
• Sam Griffiths and Yichang Sun (UCL): Using Space syntax to explore the Manchester trade 
• Panel and general discussion 

14:30-15:30 Social and Business Networks  (Chair: Sarah Middle)

• Alison Morrison-Low: The business ‘family trees’ in Brass & Glass  
• Nayomi Kasturi Arachchi (Science Museum): Exploring the Business as a going concern 
• Alex Butterworth and Andrew Richardson (University of Northumbria): Design requirements for exploratory visualisation of Social Networks 
• Panel and general discussion 

15:30-16:00: Break (tea & coffee) 

16:00-17:15 Object Itineraries (Chair: Rebekah Higgitt)

• Sarah Middle: Object itineraries and Voyages in Time Zooniverse project 
• Josh Nall (University of Cambridge): Insights from XRF analysis of metals in scientific instruments  
• Daniel Belteki (Science Museum): SciApp as key: Astronomical objects in the 1876 Science Museum catalogue 
• Panel and general discussion

Friday 8 December 

10:15-12:45 Workshops (Dana Centre Study) and Science City gallery tours (max 15 people) from Alex Rose (Science Museum) – groups will be allocated on the first day. 

13:00-13:45 Lunch  

13:45-15:15 Panel Discussion: Infrastructures and Linked Open Data for Collections (Chair: Arran Rees, University of Leeds) 

• Sarah Middle and Duncan Hay: Infrastructures for managing and publishing large, heterogeneous linked datasets 
• Daniel Pett (Historic England): Using Arches 
• Gethin Rees (British Library): Introducing Pelagios 
• Stuart Lynn (freelance)/Nayomi Kasturi Arachchi (Science Museum): Neo4j as sandbox 
• Phil Weir (Flax & Teal): GraphQL for Arches? 

15:15-15:45 Break (tea & coffee) 

15:45-17:15 Scientific Instrument, Instrument Maker and User Datasets: Towards Future Projects (Chairs: Alex Butterworth and Rebekah Higgitt)

• Tiemen Cocquyt (Boerhaave Museum): Data on Netherlands instruments and makers 
• Martina Schiavon (University of Lorraine): Les procès-verbaux du Bureau des longitudes project 
• Louisiane Ferlier (Royal Society) Digital history of science projects and aggregation  
• Tim Boon (Science Museum): The 1876 Loan Collection Exhibition project 
• Panel and general discussion