The British Museum has begun an unusual collaboration with Wikipedia, the online, volunteer-written encyclopedia, to help ensure that the museum’s expertise and notable artifacts are reflected in that digital reference’s pages.

About 40 Wikipedia contributors in the London area spent Friday with a “backstage pass” to the museum, meeting with curators and taking photographs of the collection. And in a curious reversal in status, curators were invited to review Wikipedia’s treatment of the museum’s collection and make a case that important pieces were missing or given short shrift.

Read more: British Museum Collaborates With Wikipedia – NYTimes.com.

The sheer magnitude of the numbers is staggering. The London-based British Museum BM bears the reputation of being the world’s most prominent museum because of the more than 7 million objects in its holdings, while the Taipei-based National Palace Museum NPM has earned fame because its collection of some 655,000 items constitutes the finest accumulation of Chinese artworks and artifacts in the world.

Although such massive, comprehensive collections have brought renown to the NPM and BM, they have also caused a number of difficulties, one of which is the problem of simply keeping track of the many objects. An equally pressing issue for the museums is finding a way to share their priceless treasures with distant art lovers and researchers who are unable to visit in person. Furthermore, given the limited availability of display space, the NPM and BM, like most other traditional museums, are only able to display a very small fraction of their holdings. Although more than 6 million visitors from all over the world visit the BM every year, most of them can only view approximately 42,000 objects on display at any given time, or a mere 0.006 percent of its entire collection. This problem of limited public access to overall holdings can also be seen at the NPM, where only around 0.7 percent of the museum’s ever-expanding collection can be displayed at any time.

Read more Taiwan Review – A Tale of Two Museums.

The BBC contacted Rattle in Spring 2009 to help them think through different audience propositions for what is now A History of The World, a landmark series on Radio 4 produced in conjunction with the British Museum. The basic premise of the programme is to provide a history of the world through objects, including 100 from the British Museum which the radio programmes focus on, and others from regional museums. Now that the website is live, and the programmes are being broadcast 3 times a day, no less, we thought it’d be a good time to talk about some of the work we did.

Read more here: Designing A History of The World.

The BBC and the British Museum have joined forces in an original and unprecedented public service partnership, focusing on world history. At its heart is a landmark series on BBC Radio 4, ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ which will broadcast from 18 January 2010.

This series is a narrative global history told through the British Museum’s unparalleled world collection. The series will tap in to the unique power of objects to tell stories and make connections across the globe. To produce the series the BBC and the British Museum have come together in an ambitious partnership to ensure the widest possible access and engagement across radio, television and online.

Read more: Medieval News: BBC and the British Museum creates ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’.

Organiser: Museums Association
Venue: British Museum, London
Dates: 07/12/2009
Social media is becoming an important new weapon in a museum's arsenal. But how should it be used? What does it cost? Can you control it, and how do you find the time to monitor it all and create content? Social media is becoming an important new weapon in a museums’arsenal. But how should it be used? What does it cost? Can you control it, and how do you find the time to monitor it all and create content? The fact that this content is often delivered through third-party websites or software changes accepted ideas around control and ownership. Such platforms enable users to comment on material and create their own content, bringing new challenges for your museum but also great opportunities.

This conference helps you to understand how to use social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.It looks at all aspects of social media including podcasting and blogging, to enable you to communicate and share your creative work.It explains how social media can be used to promote your museum, its collections, exhibitions and events to bring in new audiences, both online and to the museum.

The day will include a marketplace of social media experts providing examples of good practice in this rapidly evolving area.

Read more: Museums Association.