WEBVTT 00:00:15.457 --> 00:00:17.160 I started MonmouthpediA because I think 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:18.790 that knowledge can give us context and 00:00:18.790 --> 00:00:21.225 allow us to appreciate the things around us more. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:24.634 The project is a collaboration between Wikimedia UK, 00:00:24.634 --> 00:00:26.720 Monmouthshire County Council, the museums, 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:29.361 the library, University of Wales, Cardiff Met, 00:00:29.361 --> 00:00:32.238 but most importantly individual contributors, 00:00:32.238 --> 00:00:34.760 local community groups and people 00:00:34.760 --> 00:00:36.450 not just from Monmouth but people all over 00:00:36.450 --> 00:00:38.768 the world that are creating the content and 00:00:38.768 --> 00:00:39.962 making this happen. 00:00:40.193 --> 00:00:41.868 A QR code is a kind of bar code 00:00:41.868 --> 00:00:43.326 that you can read through your phone or 00:00:43.326 --> 00:00:45.943 tablet computer and it can take you to a web page. 00:00:45.943 --> 00:00:47.601 The great thing about QRpedia is that 00:00:47.601 --> 00:00:49.036 whatever language your phone is in 00:00:49.036 --> 00:00:51.400 it will take you through to that language page 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:52.185 on Wikipedia. 00:00:52.185 --> 00:00:53.755 If you have a Spanish phone 00:00:53.755 --> 00:00:55.345 it will take you though to the spanish article, 00:00:55.345 --> 00:00:56.651 German, German article. 00:00:56.651 --> 00:00:58.960 I think the real attraction of QR codes for us 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.602 is it gives us the chance to let people see our 00:01:03.602 --> 00:01:05.601 information in their own language which 00:01:05.601 --> 00:01:08.118 is a great boon, especially in Monmouth. 00:01:08.118 --> 00:01:10.921 The Welsh language is a possibility 00:01:10.921 --> 00:01:12.960 but also all the other world languages. 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:16.960 The other big advantage from a curatorial 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:19.240 point of view is that we love to give people 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:21.521 information until the "cows come home" 00:01:21.521 --> 00:01:24.124 and we can't do that in our ordinary labels 00:01:24.124 --> 00:01:26.425 because there's not enough space. 00:01:26.748 --> 00:01:29.877 What we have here is a Grade 1 star listed building 00:01:29.877 --> 00:01:34.040 with great stories to tell, lots of events and activities 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:36.800 which have taken place in the building, 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:39.522 and yet we got a very very small collection. 00:01:39.522 --> 00:01:42.800 So using the QRpedia codes, it gives people access 00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:46.280 to a wide range of information about the stories, 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.440 as well as the artifacts. 00:01:50.225 --> 00:01:53.359 As a history student it's nice to pick and choose 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:56.800 which information I can see and not having to be 00:01:56.800 --> 00:02:00.033 bombarded with information, which can be quite 00:02:00.033 --> 00:02:03.939 intimidating sometimes when you go into a museums. 00:02:04.477 --> 00:02:07.400 It's fantastic that Monmouth is one of the first town 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:10.961 to offer the QR codes, and that is gonna become 00:02:10.961 --> 00:02:13.922 internationally renowned for the Wikipedia project 00:02:13.922 --> 00:02:17.271 is going on here. I think it's going to introduce 00:02:17.271 --> 00:02:20.080 a lot of people around the world to our 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.326 quite fascinating history. 00:02:22.465 --> 00:02:25.044 The author William Gibson once famously said: 00:02:25.044 --> 00:02:28.042 "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed". 00:02:28.042 --> 00:02:31.321 With Monmouth embrassing QRpedia as technology 00:02:31.321 --> 00:02:34.768 and becoming a WiFi town, we now have a real 00:02:34.768 --> 00:02:37.678 practical example of the way in which we can have 00:02:37.678 --> 00:02:39.902 communities coming together both locally 00:02:39.902 --> 00:02:43.536 and globally, to share and create a new 00:02:43.536 --> 00:02:46.074 sense of place in Monmouth and enable 00:02:46.074 --> 00:02:47.939 new visitor experiences for the town.