Mansfield Museum collections have moved online to make them accessible anywhere in the world.

The museum is using cloud-based eHive to catalogue its artefacts at https://ehive.com/collections/205049/mansfield-museum

The organisation currently has more than 16,000 items recorded, but before they can be made public, museum staff have to check the records of each item and add photographs of the objects.

Current artefacts that can be viewed include a Mansfield Inns necktie, Roman coins, oil paintings of the Major Oak, fossils, a Mansfield women’s suffrage banner, and a Brunts School magazine from 1969.

eHive is used by museums across the world and users can browse or search all the records that museums have made public. So, for example, if someone searched for Metal Box Company they would currently find eight objects from Mansfield Museum, plus one from The Food Museum in Suffolk, and four from the Thames Museum in New Zealand.

In addition to making the collections accessible digitally, the museum is also creating a blog, Collection Stories, to talk about different historical items and bring them to life, at www.mansfield.gov.uk/museum/homepage/1052/collection-stories

Sian Booth, Cultural Services manager at Mansfield District Council, which runs the museum, said: “Digitising our collections will make it easier for museum staff to manage them, with the added benefit that we can make them more accessible to the public.

“We have so many interesting items in our collection and we simply don’t have space to exhibit them all, so this is a way to bring them out of the cupboard, into public view, and tell the world some of the fascinating stories of the history of Mansfield.

“Whenever we have found another object of interest in our stores, we will be telling people on social media and hopefully they will go to the blog to find out more.

“We hope that there will also be blog posts from people outside the museum who may be researching collections, such as students, volunteers, or members of community groups.

“The project is one of the museum’s objectives as an Art Council England funded National Portfolio Organisation. These objectives include making the collections more relevant, and promoting feelings of curiosity, ownership and belonging in our communities, as well as improving the professional standards by which we look after and use the items in our care.

“Plus it’s just really good to be able to share the fun things we’re finding out!”

Coun Stuart Richardson, portfolio holder for Regeneration and Growth at the council, added: “This is a another great use of the money we have received as a National Portfolio Holder.

“It makes complete sense to digitise the collections at the museum and make as many items as we can available for people to look at online.

“This could be helpful to researchers or academics as well as sharing some of the fascinating stories about Mansfield’s history.”

Find out more about the museum on its website at https://www.mansfield.gov.uk/museum