LONDON.- The Science Museum Group today unveiled a new way for audiences to explore its vast, internationally significant collection and announced a review of the collection.

Offering a fascinating glimpse of the Science Museum Group collection, the Random Object Generator (collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/random) displays a different item every 10 seconds, enabling the public to more easily explore thousands of items in the collection. Each item includes a link to more detailed information and the Random Object Generator can also be enjoyed as a screensaver.

Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum Group said, ‘Spending just a few minutes with the Random Object Generator will reveal ordinary, surprising and wondrous items from across the Science Museum Group collection. It’s a hugely enjoyable experience and the first in a series of tools the Group will publish to encourage more audiences across the world to engage with our astonishing collection.’

For over 150 years the Science Museum Group has collected objects, photographs and archive materials that illustrate the impact of science, technology, engineering, medicine and media on our world. The review will re-examine the significance of these items and together with new curatorial research will provide a greater understanding of the collection. New insights into the collection will be published online, while the review will also identify priorities for future collecting and programming in our museums.

Each year Science Museum Group curators identify, research and collect hundreds of significant items – recent acquisitions include Tim Peake’s spacesuit, the studio equipment of one of the largest YouTube channels and the first paramedic bicycle in the world – to ensure the collection continues to engage and challenge audiences. With 7.3 million items now in our care, the review also gives the opportunity to ensure the national collection is sustainable and can be enjoyed by future generations.

Like all major museums, the Group frequently adds to and occasionally removes items from its collection. As well as focusing on future collecting, the review may identify a small number of items, such as those that are duplicates or better suited to display or research elsewhere, that could be transferred to other public collections to maximise access to those objects. The review may also identify objects, those that are particularly hazardous or significantly damaged for example, that need to be removed from the collection.

Ian Blatchford added, ‘Our goal is to sustain and grow the Science Museum Group’s world-class collection so it can be enjoyed, explored and used for many years to come. This review enables us to reach that goal, ultimately creating a global resource for research and exhibitions while increasing public access to the incredible collection we care for.

The review will inform the Group’s ambitious project to transform how we care for, manage and deliver increased access to our world-leading collection. This once-in-a-generation project includes investing in a new collections management facility at the National Collections Centre in Wiltshire. In 2023 the facility will become home to over 80% of the Science Museum Group collection, providing increased public access (both physically and digitally) and stable conditions for its long-term management and care.

Moving 320,000 collection items to the National Collections Centre provides the opportunity to digitise this major part of our collection – research and photography of these items has already begun - creating one of the most extensive online scientific collections in the world. New insights into the collection resulting from the review will also be published, joining thousands of existing items from collection which can already be explored online.