New Museums and Collections portal launches
Friday, 01 May 2020
A purpose-built online portal has been created for the University’s museums and collections. For the first time, all of our collections and catalogues are accessible in one place. Here you can explore the collections, discover how to use them or visit online exhibitions.
The University of Reading began its collecting over a century ago and the collections have been used to support the work of the College and later the University. the collections extend from rare books and unique archives to artworks, ephemera and objects, as well as samples for zoologists, botanists, and geologists. Over time, the University’s subject-specific museums and collections have grown in order to meet the needs of world-class teaching and authoritative research. Increasingly they support multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research, as well as being vital places for engagement with the community.
We caught up with Guy Baxter, Head of Archive Services and asked him about the role of this portal.
Guy had this to say:
"Recent events have highlighted how important it is for researchers, students and the wider public to engage with museums and collections online. The wide variety of world-class research materials held at the University makes the clear presentation of what we have and how people might access and use it particularly important.
“Our new portal will do that, enabling us to uncover links between the millions of documents, books, objects and artworks that we care for, and telling the stories behind the collections.
“New online exhibitions will showcase the collections, alongside our existing blogs and social media channels. We hope that these new resources will also inspire people to get involved in our museums and collections, by visiting, studying, attending events or volunteering."
Throughout the University’s history, its collections and museums have served vast numbers of researchers, students, and members of the general public, at all levels and ages. We are delighted to welcome more than 50,000 visitors annually and tens of thousands more across our websites and social media channels.