A History of the World in Leicester

An Iron Age Coin submitted by Harborough Museum

The BBC's latest exciting history project will explore how objects can reveal the amazing stories of people and places, across time and space.

The core aim of 'A History of the World' will be to build a digital museum of world history.

Anyone can upload their own objects onto the main site to help create the giant historical catalogue.

This is your chance to get involved, and tell the history of Leicestershire and the world beyond.

Ten artefacts from city and county have already been chosen by local museums, that they feel best represent Leicestershire's history and multicultural connections with the wider world.

Leicestershire's objects

World history from Leicestershire

Elizabeth Wilson, from New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester, is one of the curators involved in the project.

Every object that the museums keep have a human association; from the person who made it, found it, stored it, or carried it across country borderlines.

Red Woman, 1912, Oil on Canvas, by Franz Marc

This means that the object may not just be related to Leicestershire. Museum curators across the world are constantly in contact with each other, finding connections between objects and unveiling hidden histories.

The stories behind your own personal objects, when uploaded on the main project website, will help form similar connections and build the history of the world.

Elizabeth estimated that the city's six museums and storage already hold two million objects, so billions of objects must exist in the whole of the region.

"Down from the table that you eat your dinner off, to the tv, to the sheets that you sleep within, to the clothes that you put on, the things that you play with.

"Each of those objects has a story has a story to tell and so the wealth of knowledge out there and the number of objects is absolutely amazing and is all there to be discovered."

How to get involved

'A History of the World' is looking for objects with extraordinary stories, that have local and global resonance.

This can include...

• Objects that tell the history of people and places
• Objects from Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland that went on to have global significance e.g. shoes and knitwear
• Objects found through excavation
• Objects of trade that have been exported or important from the region
• Objects brought back by local people, migrants or visitors from other parts of the world that tells the story of events and communities beyond the UK.
• Objects that tell stories of events that have global significance, e.g. a war, a strike, a coronation, the Olympics
• Objects that describe the daily lives of communities of past times

Add your object to the website

Firstly you will need to create your BBC Identity. This will mean, as well as adding objects to 'A History of the World', you will be able to contribute comments on blogs and message boards across the BBC website.

Get online to upload your objects to the database

Register and create your BBC Identity

Once registered visit the 'A History of the World' website and click on the 'Make History - Add Your Object' button.

A History of the World website

You will need a good quality digital photo of your object in .jpg format to upload onto the site.

The uploader page will also ask for information about your object, such as where it came from, when it was made, its colour and size. You can also add links to other sites, so people can 'find out more'.

You will also need to write the object's story in up to 150 words.

Once submitted the object will be moderated, and when approved it will be added to the site. You will be given a profile page that will show any object you have uploaded and comments made by you.

The full BBC terms and conditions can be found at link text here

Objects roadshow

On Tuesday 16 February 2010, BBC Leicester are hosting an 'objects roadshow' at The Guildhall in the city.

Bring your personal object along between 10:00 and 16:00, and tell us its story.

Experts will be on hand with historical information and to help you upload the details of your object onto the 'History of the World' website.

Object roadshow at The Guildhall