How to move a museum

The Grant Museum, part of University College London's zoology department, used to be one of my favourite museums in the city.

Part of its charm, apart from the skeleton quagga that used to be a zebra (the museum's other zebra turned out to be a donkey), and the various things in jars, was that in order to get to it you had to go down into a rather dingy basement, past lecturers' office doors.

But charm aside, that arrangement wasn't conducive to increasing visitor numbers, so the Grant has moved. It took them nearly nine months but some of the staff have documented the process online.

Image copyright UCL, Grant Museum/Matt Clayton. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The Grant was closed in July 2010 and reopened in March 2011. The in-between time was captured on video and neatly documented in this clip:

There's more in this fascinating blog post by the museum's Jack Ashby. It's quite a feat.

As well as the new home, the Grant has been investing in new technology: a set of iPads will allow visitors to get more information and get more involved than they previously could.

Another of the staff, Claire Ross, has posted a neat timelapse video of the iPads being installed:

Other museums are also starting to use technology in innovative ways: we recently reported on how the Victoria and Albert Museum has redesigned its website to emphasise its collections and how its exhibits relate to one another.

You can visit the V&A online or if you're in London you can visit the Grant Museum in the Rockefeller Building, 21 University Street, WC1E 6DE.