Natural History Museum

Natural History Museum – https://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Natural History Museum Library and Archives – https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/library-and-archives.html

After visiting the Royal Geographical Society, a few of us decided to tour the Natural History Museum.  As a museum studies student, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven when I entered this museum.  They had everything!  All of the exhibitions were fantastic.  I loved going through and analyzing the set-ups, panels, and how different specimens were held in place.  I was incredibly fascinated with how the blue whale was suspended from the ceiling of Hintze Hall.  Initially, the bones had to be examined, cleaned, and some bones needed repairs before the skeleton could be put on display.  Unlike many remains on display, the whale bones are the real deal and are thus more fragile and cannot be replaced.  One major project they are undertaking is fully scanning specimens so scanning the whale bones became part of that project.  This will aid researchers and curators in the future.1

1:   https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37979436

While touring a museum is not the same as archival research, it can still be a way to conduct research.  Museums are institutions of learning for all ages.  Not only is it fun and educational for adults, but it is also a way to get children interested in history and science and could even inspire them to enter the field of information someday.  However, they do also have a library and archive.  Through their online catalogue, researchers can find books, journals, and archival documents relating to a number of natural history topics.  “The Library and Archives currently uploads about 25,000 of digitised content to the BHL [Biodiversity Heritage Library] each month, allowing scholars worldwide to access our legacy literature quickly, easily and free of charge”.2  This is yet another wonderful example of how museums and archives go hand-in-hand and can always benefit each other.

2: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/library-and-archives/about-us/history.html