British Museum Will Digitize Entire Collection Due to Theft Incidents

The British Museum announced its plans to digitize its entire permanent collection following the consecutive theft incidents that happened.

British Museum Faces Theft Concerns

In August, the museum reported that around 2,000 items had been stolen by a former staff member. This includes over 1,500 historical artifacts with only 350 have been recovered so far. Last month, the museum called for a public appeal to help them recover the remaining pieces.

"Following the discovery that objects have been stolen from the collection, we have taken steps to improve security and are now confident that a theft of this kind can never happen again," interim director Mark Jones stated. He also added that the best response to the theft is to increase access as "the better a collection is known - and the more it is used - the sooner any absences are noticed."

The UK Parliament's Culture, Media, and Sports Committee has been given oral evidence, an explanation of the thefts, and the policy changes that will be made following the incidents. The museum also detailed how it will handle whistleblower complaints as they move forward.

British Museum Digitization Costs $12.1 Million

The entire collection is estimated to cost $12.1 million (£10 million). British Museum's board chairman George Osborne stated that they hope to raise the money privately and clearly implied that they are not asking for the taxpayers or the government to shoulder the digitization.

The museum has already digitized half of its collection in 2020 as part of a project that was initiated back then. Other museums also work on their digitization efforts especially when the pandemic struck the world.

For now, the museum sees digitization as a way to extend access to the museum even if the visitors cannot go to the site. Osborne also boasted that the British Museum has a good website that they can use to improve and make it more accessible.