Tag: British Library

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case study

Case Study: Unearthed – The Power of Gardening

The British Library, in collaboration with the Living Knowledge Network—a partnership of public and national libraries across the UK—launched Unearthed: The Power of Gardening in May 2025. This exhibition explores gardening as a transformative force for creativity, resilience, and community connection. Over 30 library services participated, bringing the exhibition to diverse audiences nationwide.

Project Goals

The Unearthed project aimed to:

  • Celebrate the cultural and social significance of gardening.
  • Engage communities through personal and global narratives related to horticulture.
  • Utilize innovative technologies to create interactive and accessible experiences in library settings.

Implementation

To enhance the exhibition’s interactivity, the British Library integrated Museum in a Box devices into the Unearthed displays. These devices allowed visitors to engage with 3D-printed objects and accompanying audio narratives, providing a tactile and auditory exploration of gardening’s impact.

Key features included:

  • 3D-Printed Objects: Replicas of botanical illustrations and gardening tools.
  • Audio Narratives: Stories and poems related to gardening, including works by Inua Ellams and oral histories from figures like Judy Ling Wong and Jyoti Fernandes.

Libraries across the UK, such as Newcastle City Library and Mansfield Central Library, hosted the exhibition, tailoring the experience to their local communities.

Outcomes

The integration of Museum in a Box technology achieved several positive outcomes:

  • Enhanced Engagement: Visitors experienced a multi-sensory journey, deepening their connection to the exhibition’s themes.
  • Community Involvement: Local adaptations of the exhibition encouraged community participation and storytelling.
  • Educational Impact: The interactive elements facilitated learning across age groups, making complex histories accessible and engaging.

Lessons Learned

The Unearthed project demonstrated the effectiveness of combining traditional exhibition content with interactive technology:

  • Scalability: The portable nature of Museum in a Box allowed for easy distribution and setup across various library settings.
  • Accessibility: The tactile and auditory components made the exhibition more inclusive, catering to diverse learning styles and abilities.
  • Community Relevance: Allowing local libraries to adapt the exhibition content fostered a sense of ownership and relevance within communities.

Conclusion

Unearthed: The Power of Gardening exemplifies how cultural institutions can leverage technology to enrich public engagement. By integrating Museum in a Box into the exhibition, the British Library and the Living Knowledge Network created a dynamic and accessible experience that resonated with audiences nationwide.

For more information on the Unearthed exhibition and its components, visit the Living Knowledge Network’s official page and explore the Museum in a Box collection.

Every project tells a story. When one chapter closes, Museum in a Box helps you transform it into the foundation of the next — keeping ideas alive, evolving, and ready to inspire new audiences.

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sludge

2024 and counting

Museum in a Box Connect to Wifi card and Check for Updates card

It’s just past Christmas and right now it is all about numbers, as we countdown to the new year.

On the theme of counting we have been doing some analysis of the Boops that appear on the Heart Network – a Boop occurs when an object is placed on your Museum in a Box and if your Box is connected, even occasionally to the network then these totalised Boops are uploaded and added to your total for that object.

We ran some reports on the number of recorded Boops across all the collections private and public, throughout 2024 and the results are in. There have been a massive 20,218 Boops this year. With our top Five collections belonging to The Hunt Museum, The Royal Mint Museum, Museum in a Box HQ (these are the cards and objects we send out with the boxes), next up is the fabulous project from the British Library – Beyond the Bassline: 500 years of Black British Music and finally the Big objects in the British Museum’s collection.

But storming away in the charts for 2024 were The Hunt Museum who have the top three objects in the top 5 Boops. With a wooden Mether, the god Thoth as a baboon and Ceramic hand as their top 3 items. At Number 4 in our object chart is the Apollo 11 launch try me card, from our own collection as it goes out with every box. And at No. 5 is a herpetologist’s delight, the Gray Tree Frog from the Smithsonian Museum.

If you have a Box, then you can update the statistics (the number of Boops) you have gathered on your collection by using the update card. You will need to connect your Box to the internet to do this. Both the Update and Connect to Wifi cards will have been sent to you with your Box. You can see the cards at the top of this post.

Then the next time someone asks you what kind of interactions your box has been receiving then you can simple get them to visit your collection on Heart.

Hope you have a great New Year. Boop!

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case study

Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music

Graphic image from the Beyond the Bassline 500 years of Black British Music

British Library, Living Knowledge Network

The British Library is one of the world’s largest libraries, holding a vast collection of books, manuscripts, and cultural artifacts. The Living Knowledge Network aims to democratize access to this vast heritage, allowing local communities to experience national treasures and cultural stories through libraries across the UK.

The goal of using Museum in a Box within the Living Knowledge Network was to make cultural and historical artifacts more accessible to local communities, particularly through hands-on learning. The British Library wanted to provide a tangible, interactive experience to engage people of all ages with their collections.

As part of the Living Knowledge Network, Museum in a Box was circulated to various libraries around the UK. Each library received a set of 3D-printed objects with accompanying audio descriptions, allowing visitors to engage with artifacts in new and exciting ways. The audio included context about the artifacts, with storytelling elements that brought history to life.

For example, Suffolk Libraries used Museum in a Box as part of their “Beyond the Bassline” exhibition, celebrating Black British music and culture. This initiative, running in 2022, allowed visitors to explore the evolution of Black British music through 3D objects and audio, fostering a deeper understanding of this cultural movement.

To supplement “Beyond the Bassline”, Coventry Libraries had recordings of poetry and spoken word supplied by Coventry Poet Laureate John Bernard. These sound and audio samples were taken from their collections and available to loan. You can visit the Coventry Libraries collection on our Heart Platform.

The use of Museum in a Box successfully engaged visitors with artifacts and cultural heritage in an immersive, multi-sensory way. Libraries like Suffolk highlighted Black British music through interactive exhibits that combined storytelling with physical objects. Feedback from both librarians and participants was positive, with visitors praising the hands-on and auditory elements that made the exhibits more accessible and engaging.

The British Library’s use of Museum in a Box demonstrated the power of combining tactile engagement with digital storytelling to enrich cultural education. Libraries found that the technology was effective in reaching audiences who might not traditionally engage with museum exhibits or library collections. It also fostered community involvement and inspired other libraries to think creatively about how to present cultural content.

The British Library’s Living Knowledge Network successfully used Museum in a Box to democratize access to cultural artifacts. The initiative exemplifies how libraries can serve as cultural hubs, making national collections accessible at a local level while also encouraging community engagement with underrepresented cultural stories.

For further details about the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network and how Suffolk Libraries implemented Museum in a Box as part of their “Beyond the Bassline” exhibition, visit their respective pages​.

Living Knowledge Network

Suffolk Libraries

A late addendum to this post from June 2025 where we just heard that Beyond the Bassline won the Museums & Heritage award 2025 for this show. More detail here