British Museum

===The British Museum today===
[[File:The British Museum today.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Wide view of the Great Court]]
Today the museum no longer houses collections of [[natural history]], and the books and manuscripts it once held now form part of the independent [[British Library]]. The museum nevertheless preserves its universality in its collections of artefacts representing the cultures of the world, ancient and modern. The original 1753 collection has grown to over 13&nbsp;million objects at the British Museum, 70&nbsp;million at the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] and 150&nbsp;million at the British Library.

The [[British Museum Reading Room|Round Reading Room]], which was designed by the architect [[Sydney Smirke]], opened in 1857. For almost 150 years researchers came here to consult the museum's vast library. The Reading Room closed in 1997 when the national library (the British Library) moved to a new building at [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]]. Today it has been transformed into the Walter and Leonore [[Annenberg Foundation|Annenberg]] Centre.

With the bookstacks in the central courtyard of the museum empty, the demolition for [[Lord Foster]]'s glass-roofed [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court|Great Court]] could begin. The Great Court, opened in 2000, while undoubtedly improving circulation around the museum, was criticised for having a lack of exhibition space at a time when the museum was in serious financial difficulties and many galleries were closed to the public. At the same time the African collections that had been temporarily housed in 6 Burlington Gardens were given a new gallery in the North Wing funded by the [[David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville|Sainsbury]] family – with the donation valued at £25&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/africa/room_25_africa.aspx |title=Room 25: Africa |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=30 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330130709/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/africa/room_25_africa.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

As part of its very large website, the museum has the largest [[online database]] of objects in the collection of any museum in the world, with nearly 4,500,000 individual object entries in 2,000,000 records, many of them illustrated, online at the start of 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Explore the collection |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection |website=British Museum |access-date=9 September 2023}}</ref> There is also a "Highlights" database with longer entries on over 4,000 objects, and several specialised online research catalogues and online journals (all free to access).<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights.aspx Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031120039/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights.aspx |date=31 October 2015 }} British Museum, [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_research_catalogues.aspx online research catalogues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417215225/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_research_catalogues.aspx |date=17 April 2012 }} British Museum and [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_journals.aspx online journals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412155728/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/online_journals.aspx |date=12 April 2012 }} British Museum</ref> In 2013 the museum's website received 19.5&nbsp;millions visits, an increase of 47% from the previous year.<ref name="BBC_museum#" />

In 2013 the museum received a record 6.7&nbsp;million visitors, an increase of 20% from the previous year.<ref name="BBC_museum#">{{Cite news| title=British Museum gets record 6.7m visitors for 2013| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25729616| newspaper=BBC News| access-date=20 March 2014| date=14 January 2014| archive-date=30 March 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330134230/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25729616| url-status=live}}</ref> Popular exhibitions including "Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" and "Ice Age Art" are credited with helping fuel the increase in visitors.<ref name=Smithers_tourists>{{Cite news| last=Smithers| first=Rebecca| title=Sunny weather drew record numbers to UK's outdoor tourist hotspots in 2013| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/05/sunny-weather-record-uk-tourists-2013| newspaper=The Guardian| date=5 March 2014| access-date=11 December 2016| archive-date=5 March 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305010451/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/05/sunny-weather-record-uk-tourists-2013| url-status=live}}</ref> Plans were announced in September 2014 to recreate the entire building along with all exhibits in the video game ''[[Minecraft]]'' in conjunction with members of the public.<ref>{{Cite news| title=British Museum to be digitally recreated in Minecraft| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29281051| last1=Miller| first1=Joe| newspaper=BBC News| date=22 September 2014| access-date=22 September 2014| archive-date=21 September 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921232006/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29281051| url-status=live}}</ref> A number of [[List of films shot at the British Museum|films have been shot at the British Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Filming Locations |url=https://findthatlocation.com/film-title/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness%20/location/951 |access-date=17 May 2022 |website=Find that Location |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625144626/https://findthatlocation.com/film-title/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness%20/location/951 |url-status=live }}</ref>