Your questions about the project




How can I join MOCO?

Unfortunately the MOCO project is now closed, but please do use our website and resources to inspire your own activities and projects.

See MOCO Resources

Do participants retain the copyright on their submissions?

Yes – however, participants have given the MOCO Project and the Mass Observation Archive the right to use their contribution for whatever purposes it deems suitable (commercial or non-commercial), subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Mass Observation Archive.  Secondly, participants have agreed that all other users may share (copy, distribute, transmit) their contribution as long as the user attributes the work in the manner specified within the MOCO Terms and Conditions, the work is used for Non-Commercial purposes and the work is not altered or transformed.

What happens to submissions longterm?

All material collected by the MOCO project is a valuable part of the MOCO website and will remain online as part of this web resource for at least three years. Submissions have also been sent to the relevant community groups to enable the growth of their own archives and websites. Finally, all material collected during the project is also being donated to the Mass Obeservation Archive at the University of Sussex. The Archive is open to the public, please see the Special Collections website for more information.

Who did the MOCO project work with?

Community Groups

The project has been dependent on a number of project partners. However, our most important partners were undoubtedly the community, special interest and support groups that we have worked in collaboration with.
Follow the link for a full list of MOCO's participant groups.

Project Partners

The MOCO Project was based at the Centre for Community Engagement (CCE) at the University of Sussex. CCE offers a variety of long and short courses, in subjects ranging from creative writing to practical archeology. Their courses and day workshops all engage with local history and culture, and welcome local residents as well as people from further afield to benefit from their courses. 

Mass Observation Archive, based at Special Collections at University of Sussex, provided the knowledge resource for the MOCO project. We are grateful to the director Dorothy Sheridan, and Special Collections Manager Fiona Courage for their support of the project. 

Adam Matthew Digital provided the digital Mass Observation images made available on this site. 

Bolton Museum and Archive provided Humphrey Spender's 'Worktown' photographs.

The project was funded by JISC. JISC is a Higher and Further Education funding body providing project funding in the area of innovative use of ICT to support education and research in the UK. Read more about the JISC Developing Community Content Projects here.

How do I adapt the MO techniques to suit my group's needs?

Please visit the Adapt MO techniques page for comprehensive information on how you can individualize the tasks we've used to meet the needs of your group's project.

Can I quote from the material displayed on the MOCO website?

Yes –anyone is entitled to use the material for Educational Purposes (means for the purpose of education, teaching, distance learning, private study and/or research) but not for Commercial Purposes (i.e. selling or reselling the material or using it for any commercial gain) with the exception for the Humprey Spender Bolton photographs, which may not be used at all. The appropriate citation notifications (see below) must accompany any usage.  Users may:

  • copy items and save them;
  • print the items;
  • excerpt, annotate, and aggregrate the items;
  • use the items in virtual learning environments, managed learning environments and in any material to be used in the course of instruction. Course and study packs in non-electronic non-print perceptible form, such as Braille, may also be created;
  • distribute, communicate and make available the items, to the public in any form and in any media whether now known or hereafter created as long as it is for educational non-commercial purposes;

At all times, when using Mass Observation Communities Online material you must include the statement:

'This item is from The Mass Observation Communities Online Archive (c) the Mass Observation Archive Trustees/"Insert name of community group". If the submission is not affiliated to a community group then 'This item is from The Mass Observation Communities Online Archive (c) the Mass Observation Archive Trustees’ will be sufficient.

  • when referring to original Mass Observation material you must include the following copyright notice: 'Mass Observation material (c) Trustees of the Mass Observation Archive.'

Further more – any use of the material must follow a “Share-alike” policy which means that if you use this material under the conditions that we allow, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same license.