Tanya Szrajber
Purpose and work procedures
The British Museum computerisation of records
began in 1976 with a pilot scheme in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities
operated by curatorial staff, and this was followed in 1979 by a feasibility
study for a computer system to produce indexes of the Ethnographic Collections.
The latter resulted in the formation of the Collections Data Management Section
(CDMS). The primary aim is to produce an inventory of all the objects in the
British Museum, with their location. In addition, the records can be used for
research purposes and to answer public enquiries.