A Web 3.0 approach to building an online digital archive of architectural practice in post-War Queensland

Abstract

The “Architectural Practice in Post-War Queensland: Building and Interpreting an Oral History Archive” project is a collaboration between the University of Queensland, the State Library of Queensland and four of the longest-standing architectural firms in Queensland. The aim of this project is to build a comprehensive multimedia digital archive that documents architectural practice in post-war Queensland (1945-1975) – a period of architectural practice that was highly significant but is largely undocumented. Currently most of the knowledge of this period is in individual’s memories, in private hands, or highly dispersed across architectural firms and collecting institutions (State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library and Fryer Library). This paper describes our innovative approach (and the Semantic Web and Web 3.0 technologies that we are adopting) to building a comprehensive online and evolving knowledge-base for research, teaching and practice within the disciplines of history, architecture and design. We also describe the challenges that this project faces including ensuring the archive’s sustainability, resolving issues of identity and implementing quality control over the community-generated content.