Hostname: page-component-6d856f89d9-5pczc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T03:37:03.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

South Asian collection development at the British Museum: a commentary on the inclusion of audio-visual and digital content

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2019

Tavian Hunter
Tavian Hunter*
Affiliation:
Library and Archive Manager, Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts), 16 John Islip Street, London SW1P 4JU, UK Email: thunter@iniva.org (Formerly Senior Administrator and Librarian, Department of Asia, The British Museum)
Get access

Abstract

The British Museum's collection represents the history of British collecting taste since its founding in 1753. Over this time span, many important collectors have played a pivotal role in the development of the British Museum's South Asian collection. Through various acquisition methods, a number of illustrated manuscripts, albums, and photographical archives have been acquired for the museum's permanent collection. This development has coincides with the growing reference collection in the Department of Asia Library. With changes in collection practices, there is a growing question about the appropriateness of audio-visual and multimedia acquisitions for both the museum and the Department of Asia Library. A select history of the South Asian collection is presented alongside the development of the research collections and exploration into digital repositories.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 23 - 30
Copyright
© ARLIS, 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This article has been adapted from a longer paper given at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Asia Conference, New Delhi, India, 2018.

References

1. Blurton, Richard T., “A short history of the South and Southeast Asian collection at the British Museum.” in Daiei Hakubutsukan shozō Indo no butsuzō to Hindū no kamigami = Masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu Sculpture from the British Museum, 29–32. Tokyo: Asahi Shimbunsha, 1994Google Scholar.

2. Ibid.

3. Esdaile, Arundell, The British Museum Library: a short history and survey. 2nd impression. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1948Google Scholar.

4. Franklin, Michael J., “Europe Falls in Love with Sakuntala.” in Orientalist Jones, 251–286. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011Google Scholar.

5. Cowtan, Robert, Memories of the British Museum. London: Richard Bentley, 1872Google Scholar.

6. Blurton, 29–32.

7. Goodacre, H. J. and Pritchard, A. P., eds. Guide to the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books. London: British Museum Publications Ltd., 1977Google Scholar.

8. Esdaile, 314.

9. Goodacre, 41.

10. University of Chicago. British Museum catalogs in PDF form. Last modified February 18, 2013. http://dsal.uchicago.edu/bibliographic/bmcatalogs/index.html (accessed June 25, 2018).

11. Britannia. British Museum. 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/British-Museum (accessed June 25, 2018).

12. The British Museum. Oriental Manuscripts: an exhibition of oriental manuscripts in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts in the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1973.

13. T. Szrajber, “The British Museum Collection Database: How to Create and Manage over 2,000,000 records.” Slideshare. 2012. https://www.slideshare.net/burgess1822/tanya-szrajber-the-british-museum-collection-database?next_slideshow=1 (accessed May 30, 2018).

14. Singer, Loren and Brewer, Diana, “Audio-visual Material in the Art Library.” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 2, no. 5 (1983): 131–135Google Scholar. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27947173

15. The British Museum. “Press Release: The British Museum announces the South Asia Season.” Last modified March 30, 2017. http://www.britishmuseum.org/docs/Press%20release%20for%20South%20Asia%20season%20FINAL.docx (accessed June 30, 2018).

16. Singer and Brewer, 131.

17. The British Museum. “Virtual Pilgrimage: reimaging India's Great Shrine of Amaravati.” Accessed May 30, 2018. http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/virtual_pilgrimage_reimaginin.aspx

18. Grant Crowell, “Who owns your YouTube video? You, YouTube or something entirely?”, 3 February 2011. http://tubularinsights.com/youtube-copyright-ownership/ (accessed June 30, 2018).

19. Wong, Amelia S., “Ethical issues of social media in museums: a case study.” Museum Management and Curatorship 26, no. 2 (2011): 97–112CrossRefGoogle Scholar. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2011.566710

20. Gaur, Ramesh C., “Development of the Digital Repository of Indian Cultural Heritage Initiatives at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 30, no. 2 (2011): 56–62Google Scholar. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41244066