THE SHAKESPEARE Birthplace Trust is opening up its archives online.
New website www.collections.shakespeare.org.uk offers free access to over 10,000 images of objects, documents, photographs of productions and more, held in the trust’s extensive museum library and archive collection.
Paul Taylor, the trust’s head of collections, said: “We want as many people as possible across the world to learn from, and enjoy the huge collections held by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
“With over 10,000 objects, 50,000 books and a million documents entrusted to us, we’re simply not able to have all of these treasures on display. This new online resource means that people all over the world can explore these incredible items at any time.”
The website holds detailed information and images on all manner of items from historic editions of the plays and 16th century maps through to furniture and early Shakespearean souvenirs.
Paul added: “This isn’t just a new website for the trust. It’s a complete redesign of how we think about and manage our collections information.
“Behind the scenes catalogues will be the focus of our attention for the next few years, creating links between the three areas of collection (museum, archives and library) to manage and present them in a combined and connected way.”
The project to digitise the collection started in 2015, and three members of staff have been working on the project over the past 16 months.
