Cultures with antiquities being curated in foreign countries should be
given better access to their heritage
By Claire Nicholas
September 2014
ABSTRACT
It is suggested that museum websites could do more to engage with the nations represented
by the artefacts in the museums’ collections, as curating artefacts from foreign countries for
the benefit of education and science might result in the donating cultures feeling alienated
from their heritage. Three surveys were conducted to test this hypothesis, taking Egypt as a
case study, and thanks are extended to all participants for their help with this research.
The paper looks at how museums need to adapt to a changing environment and discusses
usage of museum websites and their online collections. Comments received from the public in
Survey 1 include a lot of support for using museum websites and their online collections,
however there are also many criticisms. The issue of language is addressed. Survey 2 involved
examining 81 websites of museums outside Egypt believed to contain Ancient Egyptian
artefacts in their collections but of these only six offered translations in Arabic on their
websites. On this basis, less than 8% of museums with Ancient Egyptian collections are able to
easily communicate with the population whose heritage has been removed from their country.
Survey 3 considers which form of Arabic should be used – the classic form, or colloquial
Egyptian – with the outcome being the former.
The conclusions are:
1. The number of museums with Ancient Egyptian collections and a translation in Arabic
on their websites needs to be significantly increased, which would not only increase
the number of visitors to websites but also enhance Egyptians’ engagement,
understanding and learning of the objects in the online collections;
2. Museums should plan to have these changes in place within five years;
3. Effecting this change fits with the UK’s Museum Association’s proposals in their
‘Museums 2020 Discussion Paper’
The changing environment for museums
The two big impacts affecting museum management are the digital age and worldwide
economic recession in 2008/2009, although lack of funding has been an ongoing issue for
many institutions for far longer (Janes 2013: frontispiece). Museums that do not adapt to these
challenges might well find their future threatened. The Museums Association in the United
Kingdom conducted a study in 2011 and found that one-fifth of the museums in the UK had
received a cut in funding of at least 25% within the last year; the way they had coped with this
was to reduce staffing and opening hours, and one had closed altogether (Janes 2013: 331).
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An additional impact on museums is that they now have to be more visibly accountable and
credible in their communication to the public (Madan 2011: 30).
Museums still generally use physical attendance and engagement of visitors to their
institutions as their benchmarks, rather than the much wider audience which is, or could be,
achieved via their websites. Published visitor studies typically quote actual rather than virtual
attendance. For example, in Museum Marketing and Strategy, published well into the age of
the internet and cyberspace, all of the data collected on visitors, through use of phrases such
as ‘visitors contribute income’ appears to relate only to those who physically attend the
building (Kotler 2008: 153-168). When discussing attracting new audiences, using the internet
is barely mentioned and using museum websites to reach a wider body of people is not
mentioned at all (Kotler 2008: 168-176). Visitor attendance is still seen as the museum’s
reason for existence, without which it becomes just a collection (Lord 1999: 22).
Proposals in a consultation paper issued in 2012 by the UK’s Museums Association include
rectifying this omission by encouraging museums to expand their thinking away from
traditional policies and do more work off-site (Museums Association Discussion Paper 2012:
18). Museums should now pay more regard to their online visitors, and treat online activity as
part of their success.
Black develops this thought when suggesting it is through regular attendance that engagement
and learning take place, and that virtual attendance is the practical way to encourage such
frequency (Black 2012: 52).
What do the general public think of museum websites, in particular, their online collections?
Survey 1 was posted on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn, as well as sent to groups found
through other sources to glean opinions from the general public. Although it was open to
everyone, the questionnaire was only available in English which reduced the potential number
and spread of participants. A further impact on the number of results was that a financial
incentive or reward was not offered, so the only people likely to offer an opinion were those
with a personal interest in the subject; therefore the opinions should be considered as
relevant, because they were offered by an engaged audience.
After data cleaning, the survey yielded 242 responses. Of these, 176 stated English was their
native language with the remainder covering a broad spectrum of languages, of which Arabic
or Nubian were the first language for six respondents. Although all answers play a crucial role
in the overall summary, the six Arabic or Nubian ones are of particular interest for this study
and are itemised in the summaries.
One question offered 11 different statements describing online collections on museum
websites, and asked respondents to select all that resembled their opinions. The following
table shows the results, with numbers in brackets denoting the answers from the Arabic and
Nubian speakers.
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Number of
responses
86
84
76
63
59
51
46
44
40
40
11
Statement
Being able to zoom in on the objects is a great advantage (1)
Useful to be able to read about the objects at my leisure (1)
Annoying that we only see the collection highlights, and not all of the objects (1)
Museums miss the opportunity to make this into a much more engaging facility
I tend to use the online facility to supplement my visit to the museum (1)
Given that space is not really an issue, I'm surprised the text doesn't go into more detail
Are just another version of the museum catalogue (1)
Objects are always shown individually, we still need to see them in context of others (1)
Fairly static and ordinary
I rarely use museum websites, but might consider using them more often in future (1)
Online collections are vivid and exciting
The options were designed to offer useful feedback to museums on how they might be able to
improve their websites.
Respondents were given the opportunity to add supporting text; their anonymised comments
relating to use of websites are shown at Appendix 1. The wording of each one is exactly as
originally submitted, except in one case where a few words that might be considered offensive
have been removed. None of these comments were made by the Arabic or Nubian speakers.
Survey 1 included a list of major museums, and asked which ones the participants had visited;
these results form Appendix 3. Several of the museums itemised in Survey 1 also appeared in
Survey 2, enabling the results to be combined. Several comments were made about the lack of
variety in the list, but to incorporate one that reflected all options would not only have been
impractical, it was likely to have produced fewer results, not more, due to the list being
unmanageable.
Language and identity
Published works read for this research include several books concentrating on bringing
museums into the 21st century, and how to make them more engaging, particularly to their
online visitors (Cameron & Kenderdine 2010 ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’; Simon 2010
‘The Participatory Museum’; Black 2012 ‘Transforming Museum in the Twenty-first Century’).
Rarely was the issue of language mentioned and, when it was, the brief inclusion usually
referred to use of jargon rather than which languages should be adopted to ensure the
museum visitors could fully understand the exhibits.
The choice of language to connect museum artefacts with today’s populations is crucial, to
ensure visitors can understand and engage with the exhibitions. Clearly the first consideration
is to ensure the visitor has the option to learn about the exhibits in their own language, and
the need for clarity with language is as important for online visitors as it is for those who turn
up to see the exhibitions in person.
Using Arabic to converse with Egyptians requires additional consideration. The Arabic spoken
in modern Egypt is not the standard (‘Classic’) format, but instead is referred to as Egyptian
Colloquial Arabic. The differences between the two forms have been likened to comparing
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today’s English with that used in the times of Shakespeare – it can be understood, but the
grammar and vocabulary has little bearing on daily life and would be difficult to maintain in
speech.
If the proposals contained in this paper are to be adopted, the question for museums with
Ancient Egyptian collections is which form of Arabic to use? Using the classic form to engage
with a wider Arabic-speaking audience would seem logistically sensible; however, would this
address modern Egyptians’ needs and, conversely, could the museum risk alienating them
through offence given by not acknowledging their own version of the language? Alternatively,
would offering both versions be practical?
Egyptians are intensely proud of their identity and their language is one way of reflecting this.
Yasir Suleiman considered the relationship in his 2003 book on ‘The Arabic Language and
National Identity’. Citing work conducted by Gershoni and Jankowski in 1986, he identifies
Arabic as not being one language, but a collection of languages which spring from the same
master format; for example, Lebanon and the Hijaz also have their own version (Suleiman
2003: 176). The issue is further complicated in Egypt in that there is a tendency to split the
language between the spoken and written versions, with the latter typically representing
classic Arabic.
In the 1920s and 1930s, some Egyptian nationalists believed a discontinuance of using classic
Arabic as the written form in Egypt would aid a break from the close association with other
Arabic-speaking countries, thereby strengthening Egypt’s own identity (Suleiman 2003:179).
Others quote the Pharaonic history as being the key to modern Egypt’s identity, rather than
the Arabic connection, and Salama Musa in particular urges more Egyptians to become trained
Egyptologists (Suleiman 2003: 183). It is further stated that more work on Ancient Egypt should
be published in Arabic, which he believes to contain an influence of Coptic (Suleiman 2003:
183). Therefore this work also underlines the importance of uniting modern populations with
their ancient heritage in order to strengthen their identity, to set up a structure so that the
heart of Egypt’s culture is protected and developed for future generations.
In preparation for this paper, a question was posed (Survey 3) amongst large groups of
Egyptians on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn about which version of Arabic they would prefer
to see foreign websites use. On this occasion social media didn’t yield any answers, so instead
a few individuals were asked the same question. They all answered ‘in classic Arabic’ though
gave the following differing reasons:



Egyptian colloquial Arabic is slang;
Classic Arabic is the version most Egyptians expect to see;
Classic Arabic is the proper form, though care should be taken to avoid complicated
words
(Nicholas 2014: personal conversations)
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Are Egyptians interested in their history?
However, do Egyptians sufficiently care about their ancient heritage to justify the time and
expense museums will have to incur to translate their websites?
Since the revolution of 2011 when Hosni Mubarak was ousted from his presidency, Egypt has
suffered from political and social disturbances, often resulting in loss of human lives and
national treasures. Damage and looting has been widely reported, particularly during times
and areas where there is a reduced police presence. The Western world has received images of
an Egypt that imposes wilful destruction on its antiquities.
The reverse side which is not shown, because it is not news, is of the population that relies on
tourism which, with the exception of leisure in the Red Sea resorts, is based on the country’s
ancient history. Since 2011 foreign tourism has plummeted and, although Egypt has striven to
compensate for the loss by increasing domestic tourism, the overall decline is noticeable.
During a stable period, tourism contributes up to 11% of Egypt’s GDP (Euronews.com, 26
August 2013). Figures quoted by Nations Encyclopedia state that 2.3 million people are
employed by the tourism industry, though this probably does not reflect the millions more
whose businesses rely on visitors to purchase their goods (Nations Encyclopedia, date
unknown).
A desire to see tourism returned to pre-2011 figures is more likely to be driven by a need for
survival rather than an interest in archaeology or wanting to achieve a higher education status,
however the outcome is the same: those who know about their history are better placed to
earn income from tourism. Giving Egyptians more access to free information about Ancient
Egyptian history and its resulting archaeology online, in Arabic, might encourage some to
improve their knowledge and, therefore, their future.
Which museums already have translations in Arabic on their websites?
Survey 2 consisted of examining the websites of 81 museums outside of Egypt which are
believed to have Ancient Egyptian artefacts in their collections. Of these, 68 specifically state in
their opening pages that they do hold such items, so it can be argued that they market
themselves on this particular collection. Only five of these museums offer translations in
Arabic, and they are:
Field Museum
Durham University Oriental Museum
Garstang Museum
British Museum
Musee des Beaux-arts de Lyon
Chicago
Durham
Liverpool
London
Lyon
The remaining 13 museums either did not expressly state they have Ancient Egyptian artefacts
in their opening pages, or did not have a full website themselves and used either only one
informative page, or a tourist website. One of these – the University of Liverpool –
offered a translation in Arabic.
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Should museums offer the translations?
This paper proposes that only museums with a significant Ancient Egyptian collection should
look to add a translation in Arabic to their websites, as there has to be a realistic balance
between the cost of doing so and the likely benefits to the audience. However, in order to
determine whether the collection is significant, various factors should be taken into account:





Does the museum aim to attract an international audience?
Does the museum openly market its Ancient Egyptian collection, as though it is one of
their main attractions?
Does the museum specialize in Egyptology?
Does the museum produce publications on either Egyptology or their Ancient Egyptian
artefacts?
Does the museum’s Ancient Egyptian collection ever feature in a main exhibition, or
the centre of a talk/event?
If any of the above are answered with a Yes, then they should consider doing the translation. If
several questions are answered with a Yes then the Museum should consider implementing
the translation as a priority over the coming five years.
The following obstacles might be given as a reason to not do any translating, and are
addressed below each statement:
1. The museum rarely gets any visitors from Egypt
There is a high level of poverty in Egypt which makes the prospect of overseas travel
for many people little more than a dream. The limited physical presence of Egyptians
in museums merely serves to increase the argument for enabling them to browse the
collections from afar.
2. Regardless of the language, it is too costly to add an online collection to the website
Not all museums have an online collection, and most that do only publish highlights
from their collections rather than attempting to portray all items on the web. Whether
an online collection exists, the main attractions are usually featured on the website
pages. Clearly the museum needs to make an informed decision based on their
audience and collection as to how useful an online collection would be, but comments
from Survey 1 might serve to encourage museums to improve their online facilities.
Such improvements would fall within the aims of the Museums 2020 paper issued by
the UK’s Museums Association.
3. Setting up the translation is time consuming and costly, which isn’t included in the
museum’s budget
The way to handle this is to plan for the future, rather than try to finance everything in
one go. Getting the improvement into the plans is the main aim. When planning the
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schedule, see whether the volunteer-base includes some who are qualified and
available to offer their expertise. Also consider approaching businesses or grant-giving
associations for help with funding the translation as a specific project (Janes 2013:
339).
4. Egyptians resent foreign museums having their cultural history, therefore they won’t
welcome this initiative and will use it as a demand to have the objects returned
There is little doubt that some believe all artefacts should remain in the country of
origin, as proven by the restitution debate, however Egypt itself has given away
antiquities which has lessened its case for a return in general of artefacts in other
countries (Nicholas 2013: 31). The loudest arguments coming from Egypt are for the
return of particular items, or those that are in dispute as having been stolen.
5. The website is available in English which, being the international business language,
should suffice
Widespread use of English is encouraged in the business world, but it is not
appropriate to assume populations from lesser-developed countries have the ability to
read a foreign language at all, and certainly not to the level that would allow them to
understand the terminology applied in archaeology and museology. Such an
assumption increases the feeling of alienation and loss of their heritage.
6. If website visitors really want a translation, they can use facilities like Google Translate
to do it easily for them
Google Translate is a useful tool in certain situations, and the quality is better in some
languages than others, but its main scope is as a dictionary and not as a complete
translation tool. It often fails to accurately apply grammar or select the correct option
when various interpretations are available. It is not recommended to use Google
Translate when imparting historic information requires clear understanding.
Concern has been expressed that an improvement in online facilities could result in less
physical visits to the building, therefore it would not be in the museums' interest to offer full
online access to their collections. A question in Survey 1 asked about people’s preferences
over visiting a museum in person (travel permitting) to fully appreciate the artefacts, or
through the comfort of browsing online. The result was 70% stating they prefer to visit the
museum in person, with a further 29% stating they like both forms. No-one selected the option
of online browsing as a replacement for physically attending the museum.
These results shouldn’t be misinterpreted as a reason to not improve websites in order to
capture a wider audience. The preferences were only offered on the basis that travel would
not be an issue to physically visit museums, whereas in reality this constraint is a big
consideration.
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Do survey participants prefer to visit museums in person, or via online methods?
Base = 240
Nicholas 2014: unpublished research
Answers from the six Arabic-speaking respondents were evenly split between ‘Visiting
museums in person’ and ‘Both’.
Conclusions
Museums need to adapt to new expectations of them. In the United Kingdom, the Museums
Association has itemised areas that their members should aim to meet by the year 2020, which
include making a greater difference to individuals, communities, society and the environment
(Museums Association Discussion Paper 2012: 22). Recognising the fact that a modern-day
population from a country with a widely-dispersed ancient heritage can be easily reunited via a
thoughtful application enabling online access to relevant items in their own language is one
way of achieving this.
Plans should allow for translations to be effected within five years.
Reuniting civilisations with their heritage also fulfils an ethical challenge of museums that
currently falls disturbingly short of being met. Egyptians have a right to know about their
history and to be included amongst the audiences that museums aim to educate and please. It
is not acceptable to assume that offering the information on their websites in English is
sufficient; whilst many Egyptians might be able to speak enough words to persuade the
tourists to buy their wares, they would not be able read it.
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Note about the author
Claire Nicholas is a postgraduate student at University of Exeter,
aiming to get a PhD in Archaeology. Her studies concentrate on
reuniting Egyptian Nubians with their heritage and, in order to convey
summary research results to the Nubians ahead of completing her
degree, she has created a website: http://www.whithernubia.co.uk.
She is the author of ‘Moving monuments: can heritage be exported
and still be appreciated?’
REFERENCES
Black, G. 2012. Transforming museums in the twenty-first century.London, New York:
Routledge
Cameron. F and Kenderdine, S. (eds.) 2010. Theorizing digital cultural heritage. Cambridge MA,
London: The MIT Press
Euronews, accessed 8 April 2014 http://www.euronews.com/2013/08/26/egypt-tourismindustry-in-deep-decline/
Hooper-Greenhill, E. (ed.) 1999.The educational role of the museum (2nd edition). London, New
York: Routledge
Janes, R.R. 2013. Museums and the paradox of change (3rd edition). London, New York:
Routledge
Kalay, Y.E., T.Kvan and J. Affleck (eds.) 2008.New heritage: new media and cultural heritage.
London, New York: Routledge
Kotler, N.G, Kotler, P. & Kotler, W.I. 2008.Museum marketing and strategy (2nd edition). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Layton, R. (ed.) 1994. Who needs the past? Indigenous values and archaeology. London, New
York: Routledge
Lord, G.D, and Lord, B. 1999. The manual of museum planning (2nd edition). London: The
Stationery Office
Madan, R. 2011. Sustainable museums: strategies for the 21st century. Edinburgh: Museumsetc
Merriman, N. 2000.Beyond the glass case: the past, the heritage and the public. London:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London
Museums Association, accessed 14 April 2014
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http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums2020/23072012museums2020-consultation
Nations Encyclopedia, accessed 8 April 2014
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Egypt.html
Nicholas, C. 2013. Moving monuments: can heritage be exported and still be appreciated?
Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing
Simon, N. 2010. The participatory museum. Santa Cruz: Museum
Suleiman, Y. 2003. The Arabic language and national identity: a study in ideology. Washington
DC: Georgetown University Press
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APPENDIX 1
Free-text comments about museum websites, made in Survey 1.
N.B. None of the following comments were made by any of the Arabic or Nubian speakers.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
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Open-Ended Response
I enjoy museums that offer virtual tours if special exhibits to give a real sense of
objects in context and how they are displayed.
Museums need to invest heavily into the on-line option to capture a ever increasing
mobile consumer. it is believed that in the next 10 years the majority of all
purchasing and browsing will be conducted on the smart phone
I like the interactive museum exhibitions, so in terms of Visual museum I also prefer
it better to be interactive but they rarely are.
I'm really interested in the issue of "far access" by Internet and I'm frequently in
front of the computer. Answering to your questionnaire, I was asking me why I'm
not a user of museum's websites ... I've not an answer yet but ... thanks to your
work, I have a new interesting answer to look for !
I prefer to look with my critical eye at the real objects, rather than images of objects.
You have chosen to include a strangely elitist list of Museums and few "site"
museums. Oddly it is often the smaller museums that seem to have the most object
centred and well described websites.
I wish museum websites in general were easier to navigate to get at collateral
information, offered more contextual information, allowed more complete and faster
browsing for pre-visit preparation, and gave more information about artifacts in
storage.
Would be most helpful if museums generally simply added a nations flag to offer
language translation at the top of the page as opposed to text.
Access to a small selection of objects rather than a full selection of curated cultural
material is the norm. There is a vast amount of material in storage and access to
information / photos of this would make background research more fruitful. The
database of objects is not even accessible in many cases, and surprisingly this
goes for online library catalogues too.
The ability to have access to collections on-line are very important for study.
1. Most of the museums I visit online have to do with Indigenous Peoples. I am
appalled at the lack of respect shown with public posting of collections of secret
and sacred objects of Indigenous Peoples on the web in both western and Asian
museums. 2. While some understand the ICOM Code of Ethics and the
implications for the online collections, most don't respect the local/regional Codes.
For example - the Canadian Turning the Page and the PIMA Code of Ethics in the
Pacific. 3. Online collections are meant to enhance access. However, because
they are not interactive in most cases, they remain in the elite domain of
researchers and curators. 4. Most museums professionals do not understand the
Principle No. 10 in the ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter. They rarely understand the
difference between digitization and digital access and born Digital Heritage.
Not sure if you have confused online collections with museum websites that
support your visit - they are very different. Smaller museums often use collection
databases to drive online collections this is not necessarily the same as a
catalogue but does reflect Nick Poole's COPE strategy. We hold a small collection
of Egyptian artifacts as do many small museums that have been established for
some time and were often dominated by private collections initially. Where you are
funded through local government funding - the decision anout how a website works
and the audience you are trying to reach are not the same as a large institution.
I hope museums can exist as they are. I absolutely hate newer museology. The
past can never reach those who are unreceptive, so there's no museology in the
world that can activate the uninterested majority
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14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
I wasn't aware that on line museums existed. I am IT literate and a keen visitor to
art galleries and museums.
online photos are not as good as walking around all 4 sides of an artifact
I look at the websites for opening times, to see what special activities or exhibitions
are coming up to help plan a visit. As a lay person I rarely use the websites to look
at their collections online and had not thought to do this
I use on line collections for research
The only reason I would visit an online museum site would be to look for something
specific. The internet is a useful tool but at this point in time I prefer to look at actual
artifacts. I recently read an article in National Geographic about the digital
preservationists who are on a mission to capture the world's threatened
masterworks in virtual 3-D. Now that would be worth looking at and I'm sure that it
will be a thing of the future.
some of the bigger museums have too much on their website. In a way it is good
but it is so easy to get lost.
Whilst I believe that museums are best enjoyed in person, I think having an online
presence opens up possibilities for people who are unable to attend in person for
reasons such as disabilities, geographic limitation or simply they cannot afford to
attend. However, the more people that view collections online free of charge, the
less income the museum will have and may cause financial difficulties. Incidentally,
the one area I have particularly enjoyed online is ancient documents and
manuscripts, they suit the online environment and I have time to study them in
detail.
I would like to be engaged in various aspects of museum activities and also
engaging local people to the concerned museum for awareness among the
masses. It will cater the need and purpose of museum through educative,
interactive and informative system.
the fact that text was not available in my native language, dutch, was not a problem
as most adults speak english. A online-collection should however have some
language options, for instance french [...] and French [this has auto-corrected
because I typed a space in!] is an important African second language. I think that
languages of former colonisators like portugese, italian, can be helpful to repair the
cultural bond to the former colonies and the land where a lot of artifacts where
brought to. Besides at museums a lot of obects of art from africa are in private
hands and often people don't have the faintest notion of what they have
inherited.Appeals could be made to send in pictures and stories relating to objects
people have sitting at home and so enhance the knowledge of the subject. Most
objects are in a kind of diaspora as ethnic artifacts have at times been more seen
as a curiosity than as important artwork. A good overview might restore african
peoples feeling of history and give identity to a developing nation. For such a goal
it is not important if the object is in a private Californian household and its
counterpart in a Leningrad museum, virtually it can be shown together and in
context.
web based collections allow students to visit many collections they otherwise woud
not be able to view due to geographic limitations. For reserach and education these
web sites are invaluable.
Some museums have wonderful online resources which I have made great use of,
others seem to have nothing. With so much in the vaults it would be good if
everything was online for both amateurs and professionals
I have been an online student living in a small Middle Eastern Emirate for many
years, and am often frustrated by the poor quality of online museum resources.
Using graduate/post grad volunteers to update online collections would be an
obvious solution (after training and with supervision this could be affordable, with
credits given to student volunteers). Digital Egypt is a perfect example, and
although Manchester's Egyptology programmes (online) are wonderful, this isn't
supported by their online collections at Bolton, Liverpool and at Manchester
Museum itself. I'm now doing an MRes Archaeology at Winchester and able to
visit more museums in person - but really online catalogues are really poor in the
UK compared to some European and US online collections.
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26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
I visited many museums in my teens and early twenties, partly for self-education
and, subsequently, to provide my children with stimulation. In later years I have
found museums to be crowded and noisy, especially in London. I can no longer
bear to visit places like the British Museum, with its jostling crowds.
I go to Museums for pleasure and interest, usually when on holiday (although I pop
into the British Museum whenever have spare time in London) and the experience
is holistic - the museum itself is part of it. So it wouldn't occur to me to go online. I
guess it's my age - 56 ! I might go to a live-link at a cinema if I couldn't travel to, or
get tickets for, a big exhibition (e.g. did this for the Bowie one last year).
To my mind, one of the key things that is lost by looking at online collections is a
sense of an object's/artefact's physical scale. Whilst this may seem a relatively
trivial issue, I often find that getting a sense of an object's size, big or small, forms
an important part of my understanding - such as how it might have been made,
what purpose(s) it may have fulfilled (if this isn't discernibly practical in nature), and
what impact it may have had on those who employed it in their lives. Regarding this
latter point, and I find this is particularly the case with large, naturally occuring
objects, there is an enhanced sense of wonder that is imparted when being able to
see them at full size, firsthand - perhaps it is a sense of the sublime, on my part, but
getting a sense of an object's scale certainly helps me to gain a sense that I've
seen and 'experienced' it, as opposed to simply observing it from afar.
When you are researching the particular history of an object, being unable to
access certain records or images is an obstacle. As is the often limited information
provided. Searches by object and more specific date, as well as by collection,
country of origin, and very broad period, would be very helpful.
It never even occurred to me to browse museums' collections online...
the digitisation projects of many institutions (especially for text and manuscripts)
are worthy and a great resource for sharing and disseminating information.
However, more work needs to be done to uncover both the capabilities and the
limitations of digitisation/online presentation. [The Walters Museum, Baltimore
USA and the Library of Johns Hopkins are both doing interesting work in this area.]
Personally, given that most of my museum visits are for research, I can't see
digitisation being a replacement for seeing things in person, but it's a great asset for
planning research, sharing outcomes and comparing objects/texts in different
institutions.
I rarely use the museum's website for anything other than to identify collections
before I visit in person.
I think the biggest challenge is the information - provenance and so on. It's also
sad that the back sides of artifacts are so seldom shown. But it is a great treat to
be able to access a Museum's collections from the other side of the world.
I am studying Egyptology because I have and fascination for the subject sometimes I can completely immersed in on-line access that I forget the tine,. I find
for me to visit a museum I need to ration the areas I look at because I can spend a
lot of time with specifics - I get tired if standing a long time and am VERY grateful
for moveable seating. Sometimes I take a book with me to study the objects
thoroughly - for example, I have dome this with the paintings of Nebamun in the
British Museum.
Some museums' online catalogues Search criteria require exact keywords to find
objects, which can make it very difficult to track down what I want to see.
13
APPENDIX 2
Museum websites involved in Survey 2.
University of Aberdeen
Allard Pierson Museum
National Archaeological Museum
Michael C Carlos, Emory University
Ulster Museum
Phoebe A Hearst Museum
Egyptian Museum & Papyrus Collection
Neues Museum
Birmingham Museum
Blackburn Museum
Central Museum and Art Gallery
Museum of Fine Arts
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
Museum and Art Gallery
Cinquantenaire Museum
Museum of Fine Arts
Fitzwilliam Museum
Field Museum
Oriental Institute
Cleveland Museum of Art
University of Missouri's Museum of Art & Archaeology
Carsten Niebuhr Institute
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
MuzeumArcheologiczne
Detroit Institute of Arts Museum
National Museum of Ireland
Durham University Oriental Museum
National Museum of Scotland
Egyptian Museum
Burrell Collection
Hunterian Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Musee de Grenoble
Kestner Museum
Roemer-und Pelizaeus Museum
Nelson-Atkins Museum
Bagshaw Museum, Yorkshire
McClung Museum
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Egyptian Museum
Musee des Beaux-arts de Lille
Garstang Museum
Liverpool Museum
14
Aberdeen
Amsterdam
Athens
Atlanta
Belfast
Berkeley
Berlin
Berlin
Birmingham
Blackburn
Bolton
Boston
Brighton
Bristol
Brussels
Budapest
Cambridge
Chicago
Chicago
Cleveland
Columbia
Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Cracow
Detroit
Dublin
Durham
Edinburgh
Florence
Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow
Grenoble
Hanover
Hildesheim
Kansas
Kirklees
Knoxville
Leiden
Leipzig
Lille
Liverpool
Liverpool
University of Liverpool
British Museum
Harrow School
Petrie Museum
Musee des Beaux-arts de Lyon
Manchester University Museum
Art Museum at the University of Memphis
Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dorman Memorial Museum
Musee royal de Mariemont
National Pushkin Museum
Staatliche Sammlung fur AgyptischeKunst
Brooklyn Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Peabody Museum
Ashmolean Museum
Pitt Rivers
Louvre
Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Poznan Archaeological Museum
Reading Museum
MuseoGregorianoEgiziano
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Sheffield City Museum
State Hermitage Museum
Medelhavsmuseet
Egypt Centre
Nicholson Museum
Toledo Museum of Art
Royal Ontario Museum
Museum SchlossHohentubingen
Egyptian Museum
Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities
Kunsthistoriches Museum
National Museum
Eton College (Myers Museum)
Worcester Art Museum
15
Liverpool
London
London
London
Lyon
Manchester
Memphis
Michigan
Middlesborough
Morlanwelz
Moscow
Munich
New York
New York
Newhaven
Oxford
Oxford
Paris
Philadelphia
Plymouth
Poznan
Reading
Rome
San Jose
Sheffield
St Petersburg
Stockholm
Swansea
Sydney
Toledo
Toronto
Tubingen
Turin
Uppsala
Vienna
Warsaw
Windsor
Worcester
APPENDIX 3
Museums from list in Survey 1 that have been visited by survey participants.
N.B. Figures denote number of answers, not number of times museum has been visited
In person
52
151
9
35
4
31
88
43
15
9
4
21
2
15
7
29
13
16
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
British Museum, London
Cinquantenaire Museum, Brussels
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Egyptian Museum, Leipzig
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Louvre, Paris
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
National Museum, Warsaw
Neues Museum, Berlin
Nicholson Museum, Sydney
Nubian Museum, Aswan
Oriental Institute, Chicago
Petrie Museum, London
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
16
Online
36
92
8
21
8
15
47
47
18
4
8
21
5
8
17
24
11
17