Indian Museum To Have QR Codes To Provide Detailed Information About Artefacts

Visitors and researchers coming to Indian Museum will have to simply scan the QR code beside an artefact to know a detailed information about it, including its history. Currently, only its name and place of collection are mentioned on the display boards.

Kolkata:Indian Museum is set to introduce QR codes, scanning which one will get to know about a detailed history of the artefacts.

This technology will act as a boon for both visitors and researchers. One just needs to scan the QR code beside an artefact with his/her smartphone to know the details.

Currently, the Indian Museum has 24 galleries of which, 15 galleries will introduce QR code-based technology. QR codes for art, anthropology and archeology related items will be introduced at the primary level. A Delhi-based firm has been bestowed with the responsibility of developing the QR code system. The company has set a target of completing the work within a year.

Presently, only a short introduction about an artefact, including its name and where it was collected from, is given on the display boards exhibited in the museum. However, there is no information about its history or any other related data. All artefacts have a rich historical importance but for those who do not have knowledge about history, these are of not much use.

The proposed QR code technology will not only provide written information but also an audio guide and voiceover. This facility will be particularly useful for people pursuing research.

Sometimes students from schools or other educational institution visit the museum in groups and authorities send their staff along with them as tour guides. From now onwards, students will be able to learn themselves by scanning QR codes.

Museum director Arijit Dutt Chowdhury said, "It will be too early to say anything about the QR codes. We will inform after the work is completed."

The Indian Museum, Kolkata so far has a total of 1.08 lakh artefacts and only five to six percent are kept for display on rotational basis.

The museum has separate galleries of Zoological Survey of India, Geological Survey of India and Botanical Survey of India. Each gallery houses thousands of items. It is of great help to researchers from ecology to fauna but, QR codes will not be enabled in these galleries.

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