There are two ways to let the world know about your organisation on Culture24 – through our database (which we call DDE), and by sending us your press releases.
Here is a quick guide to both:
What is a DDE?
Culture24’s Direct Data Entry (DDE) system is the way for every organisation on our database to add and amend their details.
The service is completely free to use, and you can add as much information as you like, as often as you like.
Information added to this system is published on the main Culture24 website.
In addition to the main site, we have a family of specialist sites, like Engaging Places, which use specific bits of information – such as information about architecture and the built environment.
We use the information you give us about your institution, resources, collections and events to decide whether your venue is suitable for these sites. Keeping your details up to date means that we can find, link, tag and channel your information much more easily, and bring new audiences to your stuff.
Where do I start?
Step 1
Email dde@culture24.org.uk for your institution's user name and password.
At the moment, we hand-crank this part of the process. We try to do this as quickly as possible, but sometimes it can take a day or two to be emailed back to you. Soon, this bit will be automatic and much, much faster.
Step 2
First, go to www.24hourmuseum.net/production/dataentry. A popup window will appear. Type in your username in capital letters, and password in lower case.
And you’re in!
If for some reason you’re not in, email ruth@culture24.org.uk and she will do her best to find out what’s gone wrong – and then do her best to fix it.
How do I use DDE?
When you have logged into the system, you will see your main organisation admin page. There are five sections you can add information to:
Manage your organisation details
Manage your collections
Manage your educational resources
Manage your events
Preview your entry
Each of these links to a page where you can add and change information. There are detailed instructions on each page to guide you through the process. If you are stuck or are finding something confusing, get in touch with Ruth Harper ruth@culture24.org.uk and she’ll try to set you straight.
Here’s a brief description of what goes in each section:
Manage your organisation details
This section is for your general information. You can add or edit your contact details and opening hours as well as adding more information like a description and a picture of your venue. The more information you can add to this page, the better.
A brief version of institutions’ details are displayed on nearly every page of our website, along with a picture – so we heartily recommend that you add an image to your entry if you don’t already have one!
Manage your collections
This is the section where you can describe what collections, or specialisations your institution has. If you don’t have a static collection, it’s worth mentioning in this section what sorts of things you tend to do: This section, along with the ‘manage your institution details’ section, will be changing over the next few months as we introduce a full taxonomy for you to use.
Manage your educational resources
Educational resources aren’t just for teachers; in this section, you can list any resources you have – either for schools (which you can tag to the National Curriculum), or for the general public.
It is worth paying attention to the special programmes we run. For example, if your resource relates to the built environment, just tick the Engaging Places box, and it will also be displayed on the Engaging Places website.
Manage your events
We think of an ‘event’ as anything with a start and end date; so any temporary exhibitions, lectures, workshops, one-off guided tours or performances should go in here.
Events information is linked across the site as ‘related listings’, as well as being shared with other organisations like Visit Britain.
Preview your entry
Click the link to see what your entry will look like on our site.
The DDE Home link at the top right of the screen will always take you back to your main venue admin page.
Tip: To save information you have added to a section, scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘submit’. Your changes will go live the next time the site is published; usually at 8.30 each morning, but sometimes this can be up to four times a day.
Send us your press releases.
Press releases should be sent to newsdesk@culture24.org.uk. This address goes to a mailbox, read daily by the entire editorial team.
We read every press release we’re sent and our editorial team covers a huge range of venues, large, small and in-between. While we can’t cover everything we’re sent, we will do our best to make sure you’re covered at some point. Our staff writing team and volunteer journalists make a big effort to visit you and see things for themselves.
How to send us a press release
Using these simple guidelines will make our lives easier when you send us your releases.
We prefer email to post.
It really helps if you make the subject of your release clear in the subject line of your email. We get a lot of releases every day, and this helps us find yours. Please email press releases as .doc word attachments.
Pictures
Please send pictures as attachments to the same email as your press release. Try not to crop the pics too much, or make them too small. Around 100 to 500 kb in filesize is best, although we can handle bigger at a pinch.
Please, please don't add the images into the Word press release file. This makes it into a really big, unmanageable file which has been known to make our mailserver cry.
Helpful contacts:
For DDE passwords, email dde@culture24.org.uk
For DDE queries, email ruth@culture24.org.uk
To send us a press release, email newsdesk@culture24.org.uk
For Engaging Places password and database queries, email ruth@culture24.org.uk
For Engaging Places general enquiries, email engagingplaces@cabe.org.uk
For any other enquiries, email info@culture24.org.uk
Or if you’d rather talk to someone phone 01273 623266.
