the visible archive

I recently gave this presentation at the National Digital Forum 2011 in Wellington. It proposes a way to think about collection interfaces through the concept of generosity - "sharing abundantly". The presentation argues that collection interfaces dominated by search are stingy, or ungenerous: they don't provide adequate context, and they demand the user make the first move. By contrast, there seems to be a move towards more open, exploratory and generous ways of presenting collections, building on familiar web conventions and extending them. This presentation features "generous interfaces" by developers including Icelab, Tim Sherratt and Paul Hagon, and it includes a preview of some work I am currently doing with the National Gallery of Australia's Prints and Printmaking collection, in collaboration with Ben Ennis Butler.