I've just arranged my fifth interview and noticed that only men have been volunteering to be interviewed!  While they have all been very interesting, this is surely not going to give us a very balanced view of Digbeth and Deritend.

Or is it? 

Are these areas 'for men'? 

Don't you ladies visit anywhere here? 

I know some of you do because I've seen you working in cafes and other businesses and providing support services.  So, come on girls, tell me what you think about the places and spaces of Digbeth/ Deritend/ Eastside.

As the only girl on this project, I'd really like to talk to you.

Don't let the Spice Girls' message be in vain - let's see a bit of 'Girl Power'!

Of course, some chips would have cheered us up while we were walking round Eastside in the rain, preferably from Deritend fish & chips because:

1) they're nice; and

2) the chip shop is half way up the hill, so you get some exercise which means you are allowed a few chips!

Can't lose!

Oh dear....

It all started so well.

A really interesting interview with a respondent who spoke clearly, made fascinating observations and was thoughtful about his own place in Eastside. 

Our aim of assessing walking interviews was also given a boost, as it appeared to me that the beginning and end of the interview 'proper' were even more blurred than usual.  I usually chat to interviewees while setting up the equipment (although that used to mean a tape recorder - this project really has Equipment!), and we usually chat afterwards.  Frequently, this is when the really good observations are made!!  However, with a 'normal' interview there is a kind of formal ending, usually with me giving the respondent a chance to ask questions or make any other comments.  In this case, though, the whole interview had been more of a chat and before we reached the end of the walk, my respondent was asking me questions about the project and my own academic background - something that usually happens 'afterwards', off-tape.  Does this prove the increased informality of the walking interview - and, therefore, its value where informality is particularly useful?  Or is it a one-off, dependent on the character of this one interviewee????

Yes, very interesting!

But...

It rained!  And we discovered that bad weather doesn't put off all respondents!

And...

(Future employers look away now!)  The audio recording failed!!  Yes, I confess, I hate anything more technical than a tape recorder, and my relationship with them has been fraught on occasion!  It may have been the rain, gremlins in the machinery- or, more probably, I didn't turn it on properly.  Still, this interviewee did want to be anonymous , although probably not to the extent of silence....

So, learning points: 

1) just looking at the weather forecast isn't enough - sometimes it is correct and you have to act on it!

2) double-check everything.... 

Jane has just gone off to do another interview, this being the first that she's had to do while it's been raining.  I feel vaguely guilty sitting in my nice warm office.  Hey ho, the joys of being in charge...

Jane's quite right, I have been busy playing with techno things.

The website has been given a bit of a facelift, now that we actually have some research materials collected to put on it.  It's still quite basic in terms of its underlying structure and appearance, but that doesn't much matter - at least it's a bit clearer to navigate now.

One of the philosophical things underpinning this project is the commitment to making the data publicly available/sharable.  This has traditionally been a bit tricky with GIS (mapping) data, but there are a number of tools out there now which make things a lot easier.  Hence on the webpage now in the 'interviews' section you can have a look at maps showing where Jane walked with the participants, based on the sat nav (GPS) tracks recorded at the time.  At some point relatively soon we'll start adding extracts from the transcripts as well - Jane's just checking over the great work that one of the Department's postgrads has done in transcribing interviews recorded in a noisy urban environment.  Incidentally, a bit of fiddling with the output levels from the mics and it has to be said that we've managed to get some amazingly high quality recordings - even with buses blasting past on Heath Mill Lane.

The maps on the webpage are based on Google Maps.  Okay, here's the geeky bit (well, this is supposed to be a record of how we actually do the research).  First I took the GPS tracks into ArcGIS - the hardcore mapping software we're using.  Then I converted the 'point' files, where the GPS records the location every 10 seconds, and made them into polylines - basically joining the dots.  These I exported as KML files - this is a file format used to exchange spatial data on the web, it's a bit like HTML in that it's a text file with a series of codes in it indicating, for example, where to put a dot on a map.  You can open KML files directly into Google Earth, but I wanted to try and embed some maps into the web page I'm making for each interview we do.  If you make KML files (and many cheap sat nav boxes can record location tracks as KML for you to download onto your computer) you can open them within Google Maps (go to Google and click 'maps').  If you put those KML files on your website, you can get Google to generate some HTML code that you can put in your own webpages which will embed the map into your page.

Simple.

Well, okay, not hugely simple.  It's a bit of a faff, but it means you can share all kinds of spatial data with people who don't have sophisticated GIS software themselves and without having to spend tens of thousands of pounds on specialist GIS web servers and licences to use Ordnance Survey data - you just put your data on top of Google's maps.

So that's what I was up to this afternoon.  Most of the days when you end the day thinking "I've earned my money today" you've been doing something really tedious.  It's nice when you've been doing something interesting and still get that feeling.

Oh and we've put links up to photos we've got from our interviewees that are being hosted on Flickr if you want to have a look.  That's the strange thing about the web these days, you don't really need a lot of storage space yourself - you can make use of other sites and simply link all the data together.  Which is kind of what Web 2.0 is really about.

Yes, even though it was Saturday, a researcher's work is never done - well, that's not quite true, but this sounds more interesting!

Another fascinating walking interview discovering new streets and old histories.  One place I have visited is St Basil's in Heath Mill Lane.  (Soap box alert!) NB, make sure you support St. Basil's Big Sleep Out/ Sleep In (I particularly like the 'Sleep In' for those of us who have a choice about such things and like our beds) on November 30th!  In talking to people who have become homeless or reading the Big Issue, I am often struck by how easy it is to lose one's home, so help prevent youth homelessness by supporting St Basil's. (Down off the soap box and back to the interview!)

As I was saying, another fascinating walk round in (fortunately) unremarkable weather and some amazingly quiet streets - away from the main roads and the Gigbeth events.  I learnt about 'Dirty Deritend' not necessarily being a derogitory comment, more a factual observation, given the animals, etc.  Also, while most of the stories told related to within a lifetime, right at the end we talked about the Civil War history of Birmingham.  Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there....

I still need people to talk to - not all have to do a walk.  I would like to do some 'normal' interviews, too, just sitting down (perhaps with a coffee - milk, half a sugar, please).  So if you have been following the blog or seen the leaflets and have ANY link with Eastside (living, working, now, in the past) do get in touch.