British Museum Will Digitize Entire Collection at a Cost of $12.1 M. in Response to Thefts
British Museum Will Digitize Entire Collection at a Cost of $12.1 M. in Response to Thefts
British Museum has announced plans to digitize its entire collection in order to increase security and public access, as well as ward off calls for the repatriation of items.
The project will require 2.4 million records to upload or upgrade and is estimated to take five years to complete. The museum’s announcement on October 18 came after the news 2,000 items had been stolen from the institution by a former staff member, identified in news reports as former curator Peter Higgs. About 350 have been recovered so far, and last month the museum launched a public appeal for assistance.