Latest update April 8th, 2025 7:13 AM
National Museum unveils Modernisation and Digitisation Project
With the intention of upgrading to match 21st Century technology, this past Monday,
Students trying out the 81-inch touch screen computers at the Guyana National Museum
the Guyana National Museum unveiled what it is calling, the “Modernisation and Digitisation Project”. This project was started with the aim of providing an electronic database of the museum’s artifacts which will be displayed via a website that provides information and an expanded history on the museum’s collection.
The highlight of the unveiling ceremony was the introduction of the museum’s first interactive touch screen computers, which will assist in providing visitors with a heightened experience of viewing not only what the museum but the country has to offer, in terms of history, geography and culture.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports commissioned the project which was awarded to contractor Global Technology.
The project includes three 21-inch and one 84-inch customized interactive screen computers, all equipped with the necessary wiring, servers and accessories for the project. The largest of the screens is especially geared towards younger visitors as it provides “edutainment options” which tests and informs children’s knowledge on natural history topics.
Nadia Madho, Administrator (Ag) of The National Museum of Guyana, said that information concerning the museum’s “School Loan Programme, Natural and Social History and Cartographic or Map Room collection,” is programmed into the interactive computers, which are accessible through the museum’s website.
Madho further elaborated that even though the computers are connected to a network, “we wanted to ensure that they are used for their intended purpose”. In order to achieve this, the administrator elaborated that internet access is limited to the museum’s website so as to restrict persons from using the devices for their own personal intention, which “is not the objective of the project”.
To assist visitors with the operations of the devices, Madho also clarified that museum personnel were trained by Global Technology to help anyone faced with difficulty in operating the devices. However, on the day this newspaper visited the museum there were none to be found.
The administrator acknowledged this, and reassured that should such an incident occur where “visitors cannot find assistance; they can ask the managerial staff for help.” She added that if visitors also notice mistakes in the computer system, or on the information displayed, they can contact the management team to make corrections.
Madho further demonstrated that the computers were also capable of playing video recordings. That demonstration displayed two videos which showed the consequences of museum theft and a visit from the Queen Elizabeth II to Guyana in 1966, both donated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the British Pathé Film Company respectively.
However, some of the operations have received criticism from museum observers that the sound quality from some of these devices does not deliver as expected. Madho said that they are considering how best to fix that problem.
In addition to digitizing the museum’s artifacts, the “Modernization and Digitization Project” also includes the rehabilitation of the National Museum Library, so that visitors can easily access the literature that the museum collects.
Officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport commented that citizens can expect further upgrades to the National Museum.
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