"Self Service": Sharing Cultural Heritage with Web 2.0

Achteruitkijkspiegel (www.achteruitkijkspiegel.nl) is an interactive local history web site that will be created with input from the public, schools, businesses, and organisations. The advanced information design uses XML-Encoded Archival Description, Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting, Geo-data, and Google maps. The debate in the Dutch media about the benefits of a national timeline inspired the author to develop a way of using contemporary social media to strengthen historical awareness. The Achteruitkijkspiegel (literally: rear-view mirror) aims to develop in ways that make it easy and fun to discover relationships between objects (images, documents) and historical knowledge (oral history). The project, the initiative of a company specialising in knowledge management, is subsidised by the Municipality of Enschede and receives additional financial support from the Province of Overijssel. The aim is to extend the project to other interested Dutch municipalities in 2010.