The Fitzwilliam Museum - University of Cambridge

Information Technology
Providing electronic access to the collections
Standing in a gallery in The Fitzwilliam Museum it is easy sometimes to forget the wealth of
information and knowledge that has been gathered around the objects on display. Whether it
is a painting, manuscript or fragment of Greek pottery, each item in the Museum’s collection
has its own history, physical description, and other important details to record. Managing this
information, and creating access to it, helps the Museum care for and research the collection.
For the visitor, it can add to an understanding and appreciation of these objects.
Over the past few years the Fitzwilliam, like many
other higher education and cultural organisations, has
made increasing use of information & communication
technologies (ICT). Electronic databases, digital
images and websites are now key tools, enabling faster
and more efficient storage, retrieval and publication of
information about the Museum’s collections.
The Fitzwilliam is establishing a leading role in the
use of ICT within a museum context, encompassing a
wide variety of curatorial, education and business
functions. This role has been encouraged by the
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and
is one of the strengths that the Fitzwilliam brings to
the East of England Museums Hub, a mechanism
through which it can share knowledge and
experience with other museums.
The imaginative use of ICT has underpinned a
number of recent learning, interpretation and access
projects at the Fitzwilliam. These include: Pharos, a
web-based collections information resource making
it possible to relate objects and their associations;
The Ancients’ Appliance of Science, an online
resource using museum objects to explore scientific
principles; eGuide, a mobile gallery guide being
developed as part of a project to use portable
computers as learning tools; and Harvesting the
Fitzwilliam and the 24 Hour Museum Metasearch
projects, both of which explore the potential of
gathering or “harvesting” data from the Museum’s
collections database to link to other information
sources, enabling people to search across a range of
collections simultaneously.
This work has been assisted by the continuing
development of the Museum’s ICT infrastructure.
There has been a steady expansion of the network of
computers and supporting technologies, which allow
staff to communicate and work online, recording,
updating and sharing information. During 2004 this
infrastructure development has also included the
installation of a wireless network throughout the
building and the setting up of public computer
terminals. These new facilities allow visitors to access
a range of electronic resources, including Pharos and
eGuide, as part of their visit to the Museum.
The creation of computer-based resources has
also been supported by an evaluation programme
through which the Fitzwilliam has sought to gain a
better understanding of the different types of use
that people make of its collections information. This
has included a user study based on interviews and
observation of people using the Museum’s online
Screens from Pharos, a web-based information
resource which provides collections information
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Information Technology