New handheld guides at the British Museum
- Image via Wikipedia
The British Museum has introduced a set of handheld guides that are designed to teach many of its six million annual visitors about its collections.
The Multimedia Guide is available in 11 different languages including British Sign Language. It features in-depth audio-visual descriptions of more than 220 objects. Also included are three guided tours with directions for Highlights of Ancient Egypt, the Parthenon Marbles and the Korean Gallery as well as an interactive map. The British Sign Language Multimedia Guide is presently loaded with 120 signed videos. The remainder of the explanations will appear in mid-January 2010.
There are also a Children’s Multimedia Guide and an Audio Description Guide designed for visually impaired people.
Upcoming exhibition: The British Museum is the exclusive European venue for Journey Through the Afterlife: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. This unprecedented international loan exhibition, scheduled to appear in London from November 4, 2010 to March 6, 2011, will be installed in the BM’s Round Reading Room.
Featured objects will include the complete 37-meter Papyrus of Hunefer (ca. 1285 B.C.), the longest Book of the Dead in existence. Painted sarcophagi (coffins), masks, statuary, religious amulets and jewelry elucidate the Egyptians’ religious beliefs associated with mummification.
