National Archives
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Domesday preserved in new BBC project

BBC Learning has unveiled a new multimedia project, Domesday Reloaded, giving the public a chance to view and update the historical material collated 25 years ago for the original BBC Domesday project.

Past to present

Launched in 1986 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the original Domesday Book, the first BBC Domesday project saw over a million people capture pictures, maps, video, surveys, statistics, essays and personal testimonies to help compile a digital snapshot of the country. The technology used to record and preserve this data quickly became obsolete, however, so very few people ever got to see the finished results or their contributions.

Now, 25 years on, the rarely seen community disc archive will be republished onto the BBC's dedicated website which enables people to explore the images and articles from the past. As experts in web archiving and digital preservation, we have been working closely with BBC Learning to ensure this valuable resource will be available to the public for generations to come.

Domesday 'Reloaded'

Tim Gollins, Head of Digital Preservation at The National Archives said: 'This exciting opportunity to work with the BBC to sustain the information from Domesday Reloaded will enable people to compare life in Britain from 1086 through 1986 to 2011 and beyond. This unique resource will be of huge value to social historians in future generations just as Domesday Book is today.'

Members of the public can help bring the archive to life by sending in their current stories, comments and photographs, via the website, to see how life in Britain has changed in such a short time - and perhaps how some things have stayed the same. The campaign will be featured online and on national and local radio and television.

Visit Domesday Reloaded.

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