LINE
Communications and BT create The Connected Earth Museum
LINE Communications, has helped BT create one of the
largest online museums opening up access to the world's
most significant collection of telecommunications
heritage
The
Connected Earth Museum on the Internet ( http://www.connected-earth.com/
) which launches this summer, tells the remarkable
story of the evolution of telecommunications over
the past 150 years, and the impact it has had on everyday
life.
The
web-based museum integrates and supports 'live' exhibitions
of telecommunications equipment on display at a number
of partner museums around the UK, including the National
Museums of Scotland, The Museum of Science and Industry
in Manchester, Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings,
Amberley Working Museum, Porthcurno Museum of Submarine
Telegraphy, the Museum of London, the Science Museum
in London, and BT's own Goonhilly Satellite Earth
Station.
The
exhibitions will display, and put into context, many
thousands of items from BT's outstanding heritage
collection, amassed since the birth of modern telecommunications
in the mid-nineteenth century. Whilst the physical
collections on display at partner museums will provide
access to a comprehensive history of telecommunications
technology and culture, LINE's web solution will be
a core component of the experience, including more
than 1000 pictures, audio clips and video, animations,
with many artefacts rendered in QuickTime VR, allowing
visitors the opportunity to view them in 3D.
The
Connected Earth online museum will not only provide
a reference tool of exhibits, but will include anecdotes,
interactive games, scientific support material and
historical data to engage visitors of all ages and
level of interest.
The site will have a substantial educational content
with material developed specifically for primary and
secondary stages of national curricula. In conjunction
with Educational Communications, LINE and BT have
developed an education centre within the site providing
specific information for students and teachers. Resources
include a set of downloadable projects in .PDF and
MS Word formats, with supporting teacher's notes,
information on areas of curriculum relevance, quizzes
and interactive demonstrations.
Working
closely on Connected Earth with exhibition designers
Cobalt, BT Computing Partners and Asset House Technology,
the end result is a globally significant collection
of many of the key inventions that have shaped the
modern world. The Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport, the Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP, officially
launched BT's Connected Earth project on April 11th,
with the virtual collection going live on June 10th.
BT's Connected Earth Project Director, Richard Lloyd
says, 'Since the BT Museum at Blackfriars closed in
1997, we have been looking for the ideal solution
which ensures the future of the collection is secure
and that the maximum number of people can enjoy it
in new and more exciting ways. We believe that investing
in existing museums is a far better way to share our
telecommunications heritage than creating more museums.
Through the web, millions of people will be able to
enjoy and learn from the dynamic history of telecommunications
which has transformed our world.'
June
25th, 2002
 
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