Centre for Nomadic Studies Website

Client Overview

• Client Name: Centre for Nomadic Studies
• Industry: Research, Culture, and Digital Archive
• Website URL: centrefornomadicstudies.com

Challenge

The Centre for Nomadic Studies needed a website that could do more than present normal pages. A large collection of scanned documents and video material needed to be brought into WordPress in a way that was structured, manageable, and useful for visitors.

The archive material was not a simple copy-and-paste content migration. It involved scanned documents, video assets, metadata, and content that needed to be processed before it could become useful on the site. Manual entry would have been too slow and too error-prone for a collection of this size.

Project Goals

• Build a WordPress website that could support a substantial research archive.
• Script the import of a large collection of scanned documents and video material.
• Use AI-assisted OCR to extract text from scanned documents where practical.
• Use AI-assisted transcription workflows to process video content.
• Structure imported material so it could be searched, managed, and expanded over time.
• Reduce manual admin by turning repeatable archive processing tasks into scripted workflows.

Process and Development

1. Archive Review: Reviewed the scanned documents, video material, and metadata requirements so the import process could be planned around the real shape of the collection.
2. Import Scripting: Wrote custom scripts to process and import a large volume of archive material into WordPress without relying on repetitive manual entry.
3. AI-Assisted OCR: Used AI-assisted OCR workflows to extract usable text from scanned documents and prepare that content for the website.
4. AI-Assisted Transcription: Used transcription workflows for video material so content could be represented more clearly inside the archive.
5. Structured WordPress Content: Mapped the processed material into WordPress content structures that could be managed, searched, and extended after launch.
6. Testing and Cleanup: Reviewed imported records, media links, metadata, and archive pages so the final collection was usable rather than just technically imported.

Solutions Delivered

• A WordPress website with archive-focused content structures.
• Custom import scripts for scanned documents, video, and supporting metadata.
• AI-assisted OCR workflows for document text extraction.
• AI-assisted transcription workflows for video content.
• Searchable and maintainable archive content inside WordPress.
• A more repeatable workflow for processing future archive material.

Results

• A large archive collection was moved into WordPress far more efficiently than manual entry would have allowed.
• Scanned material became more discoverable through extracted text and structured content.
• Video material could be represented with transcription output rather than existing only as media files.
• The client received a website that supports both public presentation and ongoing archive management.
• The project created a stronger foundation for expanding the collection over time.

Conclusion

The Centre for Nomadic Studies project is a good example of where WordPress development, scripting, and AI-assisted content processing overlap. The value was not only in building the website, but in turning a large set of scanned documents and video material into a structured digital collection that could be searched, managed, and extended.

Client testimonial

The Centre for Nomadic Studies is an academic research centre focused on the political economy of nomadic cultures, conducting interviews with semi-nomadic communities and digitizing archival materials and photographs from 20th century explorers and travel writers.

I had seen a website James designed for another King's College London research centre and was impressed by its clarity, formatting, and presentation. I wanted that same standard for the centre I was starting and James delivered.

The experience was excellent. James was patient with a wide range of uploads, always responsive, and happy to jump on a Zoom to talk through changes. Since launch, we've already had people reach out and new partnership conversations started. I would absolutely recommend James.

Samuel De Canio , Head of Centre, Centre for Nomadic Studies, KCL