1 00:00:15,457 --> 00:00:17,160 I started MonmouthpediA because I think 2 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:18,790 that knowledge can give us context and 3 00:00:18,790 --> 00:00:21,225 allow us to appreciate the things around us more. 4 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,634 The project is a collaboration between Wikimedia UK, 5 00:00:24,634 --> 00:00:26,720 Monmouthshire County Council, the museums, 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,361 the library, University of Wales, Cardiff Met, 7 00:00:29,361 --> 00:00:32,238 but most importantly individual contributors, 8 00:00:32,238 --> 00:00:34,760 local community groups and people 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,450 not just from Monmouth but people all over 10 00:00:36,450 --> 00:00:38,768 the world that are creating the content and 11 00:00:38,768 --> 00:00:39,962 making this happen. 12 00:00:40,193 --> 00:00:41,868 A QR code is a kind of bar code 13 00:00:41,868 --> 00:00:43,326 that you can read through your phone or 14 00:00:43,326 --> 00:00:45,943 tablet computer and it can take you to a web page. 15 00:00:45,943 --> 00:00:47,601 The great thing about QRpedia is that 16 00:00:47,601 --> 00:00:49,036 whatever language your phone is in 17 00:00:49,036 --> 00:00:51,400 it will take you through to that language page 18 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:52,185 on Wikipedia. 19 00:00:52,185 --> 00:00:53,755 If you have a Spanish phone 20 00:00:53,755 --> 00:00:55,345 it will take you though to the spanish article, 21 00:00:55,345 --> 00:00:56,651 German, German article. 22 00:00:56,651 --> 00:00:58,960 I think the real attraction of QR codes for us 23 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,602 is it gives us the chance to let people see our 24 00:01:03,602 --> 00:01:05,601 information in their own language which 25 00:01:05,601 --> 00:01:08,118 is a great boon, especially in Monmouth. 26 00:01:08,118 --> 00:01:10,921 The Welsh language is a possibility 27 00:01:10,921 --> 00:01:12,960 but also all the other world languages. 28 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:16,960 The other big advantage from a curatorial 29 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,240 point of view is that we love to give people 30 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,521 information until the "cows come home" 31 00:01:21,521 --> 00:01:24,124 and we can't do that in our ordinary labels 32 00:01:24,124 --> 00:01:26,425 because there's not enough space. 33 00:01:26,748 --> 00:01:29,877 What we have here is a Grade 1 star listed building 34 00:01:29,877 --> 00:01:34,040 with great stories to tell, lots of events and activities 35 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,800 which have taken place in the building, 36 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,522 and yet we got a very very small collection. 37 00:01:39,522 --> 00:01:42,800 So using the QRpedia codes, it gives people access 38 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,280 to a wide range of information about the stories, 39 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,440 as well as the artifacts. 40 00:01:50,225 --> 00:01:53,359 As a history student it's nice to pick and choose 41 00:01:53,359 --> 00:01:56,800 which information I can see and not having to be 42 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,033 bombarded with information, which can be quite 43 00:02:00,033 --> 00:02:03,939 intimidating sometimes when you go into a museums. 44 00:02:04,477 --> 00:02:07,400 It's fantastic that Monmouth is one of the first town 45 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,961 to offer the QR codes, and that is gonna become 46 00:02:10,961 --> 00:02:13,922 internationally renowned for the Wikipedia project 47 00:02:13,922 --> 00:02:17,271 is going on here. I think it's going to introduce 48 00:02:17,271 --> 00:02:20,080 a lot of people around the world to our 49 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,326 quite fascinating history. 50 00:02:22,465 --> 00:02:25,044 The author William Gibson once famously said: 51 00:02:25,044 --> 00:02:28,042 "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed". 52 00:02:28,042 --> 00:02:31,321 With Monmouth embrassing QRpedia as technology 53 00:02:31,321 --> 00:02:34,768 and becoming a WiFi town, we now have a real 54 00:02:34,768 --> 00:02:37,678 practical example of the way in which we can have 55 00:02:37,678 --> 00:02:39,902 communities coming together both locally 56 00:02:39,902 --> 00:02:43,536 and globally, to share and create a new 57 00:02:43,536 --> 00:02:46,074 sense of place in Monmouth and enable 58 00:02:46,074 --> 00:02:47,939 new visitor experiences for the town.