Launch of Museum Data Service ‘a major milestone’ for culture sector

A digital platform that will bring together more than 100 million object records from 1,750 accredited museums and other collections across the UK has launched today (13 September).

Created through a collaboration between Art UK, Collections Trust and the University of Leicester and funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Museum Data Service (MDS) is a single, unified resource for researchers, educators, curators and content developers.

Allowing organisations to upload and securely manage their object records easily, MDS has been designed to be accessible for all museums, regardless of size, while making it easy for users to search and retrieve records across multiple collections and diverse databases.

The platform will also be a backup resource, especially for smaller collections lacking robust digital infrastructures.

MDS is primarily designed for institutional use and does not include images, but it allows onward users to incorporate visual content.

Its initial collection will comprise 3,129,798 records from 21 museums, with another nearly two million records in the pipeline. Art UK, the first major user of MDS, aims to double the number of artworks on the platform from 300,000 to 600,000 by the end of the year.

"The launch of the Museum Data Service is a landmark achievement for the cultural and academic sectors, offering a powerful new tool for researchers and curators," said Professor Nishan Canagarajah, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester. 

"By centralising millions of museum records in one accessible platform, we are not just preserving history, we are making it easier to explore, study and innovate."

Kevin Gosling, MDS Managing Director, added: “The website view of the data is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more going on in the back end, with innovative features that allow museums to manage their data securely and share it in a controlled way. Building trust across the sector is key, and the MDS is designed with that in mind.”

Professor Christopher Smith, Chair of the AHRC, said: “This major milestone in the full integration of modern technology and our rich cultural heritage will create a place where anyone can access the immense resources held by our museums.

“Not only will this open these resources up to the public in ways that would have been unimaginable even twenty years ago, but it will also enable museums to manage and share their data securely and sustainably."