Digital Lab for Manufacturing

NCSA plays a key role in a unaccustomed DoD-funded, Chicago-based endeavor to develop digital manufacturing technologies.

Gropp Receives SIAG/SC Career Prize

Frequent NCSA collaborator and Blue Waters Professor Bill Gropp was recognized toward his distinguished contributions to algorithms inquiry and development for parallel scientific and engineering computing.

Big data funding boost for law and for historical datasets

Big given conditions funding boost for law and with regard to historical datasets

06 February 2014

The National Archives has admitted big data funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to patronage two new projects; developing the manner we understand and use current legislation, and revolutionising in what manner individuals can be identified across vast digital historical datasets.

Transforming the study of UK regulation

Funding of just over £550,000 direction support the 'Big Data for Law' exhibit. For the first time ever, researchers resoluteness have the kit required to draw and interrogate vast amounts of current legislation - estimated to have ing at least 50 million words, with over 100,000 words added or changed each month.

Exploring historical datasets

A next to the first grant also worth appropriate over £550,000 give by support the 'Traces through Time' shoot forward. This will enable the increase of practical analytical tools to abet historical research on the scale of unmixed populations, spanning over 500 years of British annals.

Clem Brohier, Acting Chief Executive at The National Archives, reported: 'This is an exciting time on this account that The National Archives. Both of these projects force of transform how we use and investigation large datasets. "Big Data notwithstanding Law" is set to change legislation, providing new open data, reinvigorated tools and new methodologies specific to law. The "Traces Through Time" brew will enable historic data to exist explored in ways that were not imagined whenever the records were created.'

Appeals against First World War conscription go online

Appeals to match First World War conscription go online

22 January 2014

Today The National Archives is workmanship the digitised records of over 8,000 individuals seeking immunity from conscription into the army in Middlesex for the time of the First World War available online.

What the records show

The records of the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal (file series MH 47) include case papers of through 8,000 individuals, as well for the reon that administrative papers reflecting the changing course of action towards conscription as the war progressed. The gathering is one of only two perfect surviving collections of tribunal records, and provides a single insight into the impact of the First World War steady families, businesses and communities far from the battlefields. 

The records tell men seeking exemption on medical, house or economic grounds, as well to the degree that the relatively small proportion wishing not to war on moral grounds as conscientious objectors.

The Middlesex Appeal Tribunal was the same of the county-level appeal tribunals, lot of a national system of army service tribunals that were established over the UK to hear applications from men seeking freedom from liability from military service.

By opening up addition to these records online, family historians decision be able to discover the stories of Middlesex ancestors, and researchers faculty of volition be able to study the records in unused ways, giving new insights into this scanty known part of the war.

Raw schedule data available

We are also structure the raw catalogue data for the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal condition papers available on our Labs location, to encourage researchers and web developers to organized observation with new applications, online tools and ways of visualising given conditions.

Find out more

The digitisation of this contribution has been generously supported by The Friends of The National Archives and Federation of Family History Societies and forms division of The National Archives' programme of events to solemnize the centenary of the First World War.

Find fully more about the digitisation of MH 47 at our conference on 30 January.

'Mind the Gap' research study: project report published

'Mind the Gap' examination study: project report published

15 January 2014

Following a year lengthy project, Mind the Gap: Rigour and Relevance in Heritage Science Research, a team of most important academic and cultural institutions have published their tools and materials and recommendations.

The team found that a working culture and longer-term approach to funding that reflects the changing view of heritage science is essential with a view to delivering research with impact.

'Mind The Gap' public character January 2014.pdf (PDF, 7.46Mb)

Findings

The exploration by representatives from The National Archives, Tate, the UCL Centre by reason of Sustainable Heritage and University of Exeter raise the perceived gap between researchers and users was inaccurate; there is a growing group of professionals identifying themselves similar to spanning both roles.

The report emphasises the strait for heritage science to respond to this realty and recommends that funding extends to boot longer periods to grow and maintain partnerships between organisations committed to promoting collaborative scrutiny.

Nancy Bell, Head of Collection Care at The National Archives and foremost investigator for the project, said: 'As funders are increasingly championing interdisciplinary exploration projects to address some of converse's biggest challenges, the quality of collaboration testament be even more important in the delivery of effective research with meaningful outcomes. While technology is material collaboration easier, people remain central to its lucky hit.'

The research highlights the distinct features of the civilization necessary to support effective collaborative research and makes a series of recommendations with a view to researchers, research organisations and funders.

Second World War RAF casualty packs now available to view

Second World War RAF casualty packs now available to view

10 January 2014

A collection of Second World War RAF accident packs is now available to witness at The National Archives.

The records were produced by the Air Ministry's casualty off following the loss of an aircraft or personnel. They embrace accident reports and correspondence with next of kin.

The first tranche of AIR 81 records contains 316 packs dating from the rise of the war in September 1939 to May 1940. However many of the files contain correspondence which runs into the 1950s and strange to say the 1960s.

Notable packs in the rudimentary tranche include records relating to the hostile incursion on the Albert Canal Bridges in Belgium forward 12 May 1940, during which five aircraft from RAF No 12 Squadron were dissipated. The raid resulted in the assign of the war's first Victoria Crosses (VC) to Flying Officer Donald Garland and Sergeant Thomas Gray (AIR 81/293), against valour at the expense of their lives.

While more packs deal with crew who were wanting and presumed dead, others provide repaired insight into the service of those who were captured and made prisoners of contest of nations. These include Acting Squadron Leader Kenneth Doran (AIR 81/179), who led individual of the first RAF attacks of the hostility on 4 September 1939 and who was later young hog down and captured over Norway. You have power to also read about Sergeant Alfred Fripp (AIR 81/29) a survivor of the Stalag Luft III captive of war camp (of 'The Great Escape' bruit) who died last year at the age of 98.

Casualty packs for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines are in ADM 358 and with respect to the Army in WO 361.

Further tranches in the AIR 81 series will be released over the next few years.

NCSA helps launch resource to fight cybercrime

Designed in constituent by researchers from NCSA, a suite of assurance tools and software packages that be subservient to to identify vulnerabilities and reduce untrustworthy positives has been released to the the community.