Picture taken on April 29, 2010 of treasure hunter Ruben Collado speaks at the "Shipwrecked and Treasures" museum, in front of a model of the British 64-cannon ship Lord Clive, sunk in 1763 under fire of the Spanish batteries, in Colonia del Sacramento, 188 km west of Montevideo. PHOTO: AFP
The deal with the Google Cultural Institute, which has 800 partners from over 60 countries, also allows objects to be scrutinised by researchers around the world thanks to high-definition Gigapixel technology.
Among artefacts viewable online is the famous Rosetta Stone, which helped unlock the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphs, and sculpture from the Parthenon in Athens.
London is the most googled city in the world
"The world today has changed, the way we access information has been revolutionised by digital technology," British Museum director Neil MacGregor said in a statement.
"It is now possible to make our collection accessible, explorable and enjoyable not just for those who physically visit, but to everybody with a computer or a mobile device," he said.
There will also be a "Museum of the World" accessible through the site -- a way of viewing the artefacts mapped to a timeline to allow users to make connections between cultures around the world.
Indian bid to reclaim jewel in British crown
Google and British Museum said in a statement that the collections would be "the largest space to be captured on indoor Street View".
Highlights from the museum's temporary exhibitions will also be available online, including two currently running on the Celts and ancient Egyptian religions.
Google announced a similar initiative last month that will allow users to view 500,000 works in French museum collections.
5,000+ objects can now be fully explored in Google's Cultural Institute #MuseumOfTheWorld https://t.co/FQ4kcK9eLO pic.twitter.com/LUZrnE98Qp
— British Museum (@britishmuseum) November 12, 2015
Wow this is fantastic! Well done @britishmuseum #MuseumOfTheWorld https://t.co/56oxlWPh5r
— Mar Dixon ☕️🎭🗿🏛❤️ (@MarDixon) November 12, 2015
Love your contribution @Beket_Aten to the #MuseumOfTheWorld project. Well done! https://t.co/5wJ6c48IJU
— Josefine Frank (@FrankJosefine) November 12, 2015
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ