The British Museum has embarked on a £10m mission to catalogue and digitise 2.4 million items to improve access to and the security of its collection.
The famous London museum decided to digitise its collection following reports that the thefts of 2,000 artefacts had gone unnoticed over the past 20 years.
“Essentially we were the victims of an inside job by someone we believe, who over a long period of time was stealing from the museum and who the museum had put trust in,” said George Osborne, the museum’s chair. “There are lots of lessons to be learned.”
Of the 2,000 stolen items, about 350 have been recovered so far. Last month, the museum launched a public appeal for assistance in locating the remaining artefacts, believed to be pieces of jewellery dating back to the ancient Greek and Roman periods, as well as small objects such as gems, often set in rings.
The museum believes the thefts were made possible by a lack of accessible data on the items, which made it possible for an insider to gradually steal them from the storeroom for decades without being detected.
To prevent similar security breaches, it has decided to digitise its entire collection, including its 2.4 million uncatalogued pieces. The process is expected to cost £10m and last five years. To date, the government has not been approached for financial help, with the museum saying that it plans to raise the funds privately.
“Following the discovery that objects have been stolen from the collection, we have taken steps to improve security and are now confident that a theft of this kind can never happen again,” interim director Mark Jones said in a statement. “It is my belief that the single most important response to the thefts is to increase access, because the better a collection is known – and the more it is used – the sooner any absences are noticed.”
The British Museum also announced plans to provide “enhanced access” to its study rooms, where members of the public and researchers can see items from its collection by appointment. However, the thefts have resulted in access to its “strongrooms” being heavily restricted.
The decision to increase digital access to the collection aims to make the items in the museum available to people all over the world, as has been described as part of the museum’s response to repatriation requests.
“Part of our response can be: ‘They are available to you. Even if you cannot visit the museum, you are able to access them digitally’,” said Osborne. “That is already available – we have a pretty good website – but we can use this as a moment to make that a lot better and a lot more accessible.”
According to the British Museum’s website, its total collection consists of more than eight million objects.
