UK museums celebrate human ingenuity online
June 9th, 2004
Launching on Wednesday 9 June, www·ingenious·org·uk is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the three museums that together form the National Museum of Science & Industry (NMSI). The unparalleled breadth and variety of their combined collections has enabled NMSI to build an engaging and thought-provoking site that creates connections not only between objects but also people and innovations. The site has been backed with more than £1million in lottery good causes money from the New Opportunities Fund*.
Celebrating and exploring the many feats of human ingenuity that have shaped our lives - including stories, articles, opinion pieces, images and online debates - www·ingenious·org·uk is a fascinating and absorbing insight into science and culture for everybody interested in human invention.
The new website presents four different interlinked sections, each one practical and cerebral in equal measure. They are Read, Debate, See and Create.
- Read displays in-depth articles across a range of subjects from the environment and science culture to migration and health, ranging in time from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. Each subject is explored from a different angle with relevant quotes, images and alternative points of view. Consider topics ranging from The Nature And History Of Addiction to Is War The Mother Of Invention?
- Debate presents online discussions related to the subjects covered in the Read section. One of the first debates, led by Mat Fraser, comedian and actor from BBC Twos poignant drama Every Time You Look at Me, asks Should the state pay to make ugly people beautiful?
- See provides visitors to the site with access to 30,000 images sourced from the NMSI collections. An authoritative visual catalogue of scientific innovation and cultural perspective, See covers a broad range of images from flying helmets to satellites.
- Create works in tandem with the See section, enabling visitors to create their own e-cards from the huge range of images. Whether its the Cottingley Fairies or early electric refrigerators, visitors can collate pictures from the collection and email them to friends, family or colleagues.
Lindsay Sharp, Director of NMSI, comments: www·ingenious·org·uk gives visitors the chance to delve into the stories behind the innovations and ideas that have changed our lives. The site does not simply provide information, but is pioneering in the way in which it integrates stories with objects and images from the collections of three national museums - adding historical and cultural perspectives - in order to encourage personal opinion and deeper meaning.
Users will find and share issues that will have had a significance throughout their lives, and which will continue to have a personal impact on them in the future. Ultimately, the site is user-driven and will evolve with the input of its visitors.
Science Museum is developing a further web product, www·makingthemodernworld·org·uk, which is due to launch later this year. This marks the next phase in NMSIs strategy to widen access to its collections and expertise through using new media channels. This groundbreaking web-learning product will provide an unrivalled perspective on the impact of science and technology on peoples daily lives. Created as a result of a unique partnership between the Science Museum, an education digital publisher mwr and Peter Symonds sixth form college in Winchester, it has been made possible with funding from the Invest to Save Budget. A preview of www·makingthemodernworld,org·uk will be demonstrated on 9 June.
Notes to Editors:
1. www·ingenious·org·uk has been created with a £1million + award from the New Opportunities Fund, the biggest distributor of lottery good causes money which makes grants to education, health and environment projects throughout the UK. The grant for www·ingenious·org·uk was awarded through the nof-digitise programme, which supports projects to digitise learning materials for life-long learners. The projects are showcased at www·EnrichUK·net
2. www·ingenious·org·uk is the first of several projects to emerge from a web programme being developed by the National Museum of Science and Industry (NMSI). The Science Museum together with National Museum of Film, Photography & Television and National Railway Museum forms the NMSI family of museums.
3. NMSI aims to engage people in a dialogue to create meanings from the past, present and future of human ingenuity, including science, technology, medicine, transport and media. It aims to inspire, educate and involve visitors. NMSIs active programme to develop a strong and comprehensive online presence supports these objectives and serves to broaden access to the museums many wonderful objects.
4. www·ingenious·org·uk is a non-profitmaking project which will also appeal to commercial researchers and journalists. All the images featured are available for commercial reproduction through the Science & Society Picture Library who can be contacted through a link on the site.
5. www·ingenious·org·uk will go live online from Wednesday 9 June 2004 and its launch will be celebrated on that day at an event at the Science Museums Dana Centre in London.
6. www·makingthemodernworld·org·uk has been created with £1.4 million from the Cabinet Office and Treasurys ISB Fund.
* The New opportunities Fund has merged (1st June 2004) with the Community Fund to become the Big Lottery Fund, distributing half of all lottery good causes funding across the UK.
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