Wirral Part 4 - National Museums Liverpool

• Inconsistencies in recording had produced a biased dataset, creating
problems with querying (under / over estimates) and skewed results. Liverpool
had the least in-depth recording c.900 polygons (i.e. time-depth was too
shallow), certainly in comparison with the Wirral which appeared overrecorded
c.3000 records (as of June 2005).
• Omissions in the Specific Date and Historic Character Type Fields (drop-down
field boxes in the database) led to omissions and inconsistent final (GIS
based) reports.
• Some wrong identifications - some sites were recorded as one thing when
they were definitely something else.
• Mismatches in dates in all three data fields led to problems with querying
(particularly Historic Character Type and Specific Date).
• Unseen or unrecorded sites - quite a few sites (particularly Places of Worship
and canals) were missed and not recorded. There were a number of multiple
records for one area (a recording error) with correlating multiple polygons.
In addition
• A review was undertaken to identify any work that could be completed by an
assistant – i.e. completion of discreet settlement studies to existing pro-forma.
• An assessment was made on whether to transfer the existing survey data to
the HBSMR system used by the Historic Environment Record (ExeGeIS) HLC
module prior to completion or post completion of data capture.
Solutions and result
The solution was the total reworking of the pre-existing dataset (and associated GIS).
This began in 2008 and involved:
• The entire recasting of the pilot project (Liverpool) in-line with other districts.
Result: Liverpool district has a complete dataset and associated GIS. From
the c.900 records (pre-April 2008), Liverpool now has 3189 records - more in
line with the complexity city.
• The completion of all relevant drop-down boxes for all the districts.
Result: consistent querying and reporting.
• The complete overhaul of the GIS mapping, involving editing /subtraction and
redrawing of pre-existing polygons and the introduction of new ones. Result:
corrected, consistent and new records
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