Museums that encourage digital DIY

More and more museums are lining up to digitally catalog their collections and, abobe all, begin offering them up to the general public. The first application is virtual reality tours that can be accessed online, but what is more interesting (for us, anyway) is the DiDIY ("Digital DIY") part! Growing numbers of museums are also offering high-quality 3D printable digital models of many of the more popular pieces in their collections, which may then be used by everybody, everywhere, either for DiDIY-based Education and Research, or just as DiDIY home decor. Why? Because...

"It makes perfect sense for such a large library to re-examine its traditional approach to the delivery of information and to keep seeking novel means of public and scholarly engagement – especially in light of the huge variety of items it holds. Aside from the more predictable formats (books, newspapers, documents, maps), the Library’s physical collection spans from inscribed bones, seals, scrolls, wooden cases, fine textiles, and folding books with covers embellished with gold and jewels, to wooden cabinets, chests, ship models and even rifles! Some collection items such as manuscript chests cannot be called up by readers from the Library’s basement – they are too heavy and too fragile. And as most of the Library’s collection items are not on display in one of its galleries, 3D digitisation affords the opportunity to bring these items into the virtual light."

Full story at British Library blog and  3Dprint.com.