24 Hour Museum prepares to open

Ticking down to a May launch, the 24 Hour Museum site

By Internet Correspondent Chris Nuttall

A new museum Website will allow visitors to assemble their own private collection of favourite exhibits from Britain's 2,500 museums and galleries.

The 24 Hour Museum will link to the country's art and historical treasures but promises to be far more than just a directory site.

There will be a sophisticated search engine allowing users to find particular museums and exhibits, while items retrieved can be saved in online scrapbooks. A children's entrance takes visitors to puzzles and a colourful guide to Britain's museums.

Smith: Access to all

The creation of the site was announced by the Culture Secretary Chris Smith last April and it should go live in May. He was at the BETT education and technology show at Olympia on Wednesday to check on its progress.

The secretary of state told BBC News Online that the site was aimed at getting more museums online and more people into museums:

"That's the secret of all of this, it's getting people to learn, to know more about these things to have access to them, but also to encourage them to go into the museum itself and see the physical objects," he said.

Chris Smith asked the TV presenter Lloyd Grossman, who is also chairman of the Campaign for Museums, to co-ordinate the project.

"No-one else in the world is doing anything as comprehensive", he said. "We have resource packs, we have educational material, we have a very advanced news magazine, we have fun and games for children...this is the one-stop shop, this is where you come to first.

"Many people still find museums intimidating and elitist and I want to explode a lot of these myths and prove that they're fun and inclusive, and the best way to do that salesmanship is through the Web."