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Pots online
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has launched a project called PotWeb which aims to to create an online catalogue of its ceramic collections. The pilot study covers the periods from 1000 to 2000 AD. Brief summaries of available forms are accompanied by thumbnail colour pictures. These are of a very high quality, and certainly convey an excellent idea of the vessels. www.ashmol.ox.ac.ukMore and more museums are putting their collections, or parts of them, onto the Net in similar ways, or as simple databases. One of the first to put its database online in the 90s was Hampshire County Council Museums Service. The entries are basic, but if you are a student tracking down objects for a corpus it is enough to tell you if a letter or visit is needed or not. Click here, then go to 'search the collections catalogue.'
All change at the British Museum
The Queen Elizabeth II Great CourtOn December 6th the Queen opened the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court after nearly three years of building work. The courtyard is vast, which is the first impression you get on entering, especially when you raise your eyes to Foster's domed glass roof. Just as impressive from the outside, at least in terms of size, is the Reading Room in the centre, which is even larger than it was previously because a huge double staircase has been wrapped around it. I used to have the privilege, in the days of the British Library, to walk through the Reading Room every morning from the North Entrance, and was always dumbstruck by the magnificence of the dome. The restored dome is even more breathtaking: the original papier-mâché lining has been repaired, and the original paint scheme of gold on a light blue background has been reinstated. A wise decision was made to keep the original reader's desks in place, and it is intended that the Reading Room will continue to be a place of study, as it will house the Paul Hamlyn library of 25,000 volumes. And the controversial south portico? I personally think it looks fine, and I can't really see what all the fuss has been about. It was not an original feature of the courtyard, so there isn't a problem if it stands out as looking somewhat new; how could it not? The other porticos have been exposed to the elements for 200 years. It has been built in the style of Smirke and has three portals instead of one.
The Great Court will give 50% more public space for the museum, including a new Education Centre, a Young Visitors Centre, new galleries, shops and cafes. It will also house COMPASS, a computer based information system, where visitors will be able to research the museum's collections and have high-quality prints made of individual objects within seconds.
The main effect of the Great Court will be better freedom of movement. The original entrance hall (now restored to its original Victorian colour scheme) was badly cramped and disorientating for visitors. They will now be able to come through the entrance hall and the new South Portico into the Great Court, where they can collect their thoughts and decide how to use their visit. There is also a bridge link with the upper levels from the terrace on the outside of the Reading Room.
The British Museum Study Centre
Another development which is worth saying something about is the Study Centre. This is located a short distance away from the main Museum site on New Oxford Street. The current projected date for completion is 2004.
Although the Study Centre is still at the planning stage, it is intended that it will house a number of currently homeless British Museum departments, including Prehistoric and Early Europe. It is also hoped that it will be the central base for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which will be a key player in the intended use of the new building as an archaeological resource centre. Some of the ideas being discussed so far are: 'Archaeology in Action', which will allow visitors to see archaeological material being studied and processed by curators (e.g. coin hoards); live video conferencing, e.g. to allow link ups with British Museum archaeological fieldwork projects; handling and teaching sessions at all levels from schoolchildren to adult learners; and the opportunity for the public to work on the vast quantity of under-researched material in the BM collections.
Portable Antiquities Website
The Portable Antiquities Scheme website provides information about Scheme, eg contact details for the finds liaison officers and reports on recent finds. The main purpose of the site however is to allow researchers access to data gathered under the Scheme. The site has recently been updated to include records of around 10,000 finds, about 600 of which are accompanied by images. The search screen has also been revised to make it far more user-friendly. If you do get a chance, please have a look at the site (www.finds.org.uk) and in particular, the on-line database, and send me any comments.Richard Hobbs
Portable Antiquities Outreach Officer & RFG Secretary
Dept. of Coins & Medals,
British Museum, London WC1B 3DG
Email: rhobbs@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
Tel: (+44) 020 7323 8611