UAlberta

Over Half-a-Million Museums Records Now Online

For the first time, 16 of the University of Alberta Museums collections and their associated data are available under one digital roof. The UAM Search Site creates a 650,000 museum-object online portal for interdisciplinary discovery. Starting with a keyword search, users can explore results from across museum collections, or limit results to one collection.

  • 30 September 2020

Access to museum collections across the University of Alberta campus continues to be essential for students, staff, faculty, and researchers for teaching, research, and community engagement activities. It has been made all the more relevant with continued remote learning and research practices in place due to the pandemic. Now, accessing the UAlberta Museums collections remotely is much easier with the launch of the University of Alberta Museums (UAM) Search Site (search.museums.ualberta.ca). 

16 Museum Collections - All Under One (Digital) Roof

For the first time,16 of the University of Alberta Museums collections and their associated data are available under one digital roof. While this list will continue to grow, the museum collections currently available on the UAM Search Site are:

  • Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection
  • Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives
  • Bryan/Gruhn Archaeology Collection
  • Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology
  • E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum
  • Freshwater Invertebrate Collection
  • Laboratory for Vertebrate Paleontology
  • Mactaggart Art Collection
  • Meteorite Collection
  • Museum of Zoology - Amphibians and Reptile Collection
  • Museum of Zoology - Ichthyology Collection
  • Museum of Zoology - Mammalogy Collection
  • Museum of Zoology - Ornithology Collection
  • Paleobotanical Collection
  • UAlberta Museums Art Collection
  • Vascular Plant Herbarium

This search site replaces nine individual museum collection search sites that have been in operation since the early 2000s. The new search site includes previously searchable collections, as well, additional museum collections, now accessible online for the first time. This increases the number of museum collections available online and brings them together to allow cross-collection and interdisciplinary searching.  

Over 650,000 Object Records - One Search Site

The UAM Search Site creates a 650,000 museum-object online portal for interdisciplinary discovery. Starting with a keyword search, users can explore results from across museum collections, or limit results to one collection.

In addition to searching records from multiple museum collections, the site features images of over 40,000 museum objects; maps; taxonomic hierarchies; species pages; and filter options to refine searches by collection, date, location, material, and other criteria. 

The site pulls data from the UAlberta Museums collections management database, Mimsy XG, which has been used by the UAlberta Museum collections since 1994. 

Next Phase of Development Ahead

Development of the UAM Search Site started in 2018 with the expertise of Sherwood Park company Box Clever and was soft-launched in December 2019. The site was created with all users and audiences in mind. It meets W3C (World Wide Consortium) accessibility standards and is fully responsive and mobile friendly.

The UAM Search Site will evolve as development work continues to include new features to allow for greater discovery and interdisciplinary research. Feedback about the site can be submitted using the link in the footer on every page, and upcoming opportunities for participating in user group testing will be announced shortly. 

Start your search of the UAlberta Museums collections today by visiting search.museums.ualberta.ca. Help videos and updates can be found at: https://www.ualberta.ca/museums/museum-collections/search-online-collection-databases.html

About the University of Alberta Museums

Distributed across campus in a vibrant network are the 29 registered museum collections that comprise the University of Alberta Museums. Totaling millions of objects covering subjects from art to zoology, these collections are managed by a central unit of museum professionals who support the daily use of these invaluable resources for teaching, research, and community engagement. This unique museum model helps to distinguish the University of Alberta as one of the world’s great public universities.