Welcome to Operation Brum! Check out our project intro video here.
Our accession register records may contain offensive and outdated terms. For more information, please see the Content Note on our About Page.
If you would like to leave any thoughts on the project please check out our feedback form.
Transcribe Birmingham Museum's object accession registers to help us build an accessible collections database.
Learn moreSimply click the yellow folder below or “Classify” to jump to the transcribing page. Instructions can be found in the Tutorial and Field Guide. Then you can start underlining each bit of text and typing out what you see as it is written.
Check out our 'About' page for more project information including FAQs and content notes. Happy transcribing!
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Message from the researcher
“Birmingham Museums Trust is more than a collection of buildings and objects. Our role is not only that of a guardian of a world-class collection, but of an active contributor to social change; forging links between past, present and future in ways that inspire creativity, hope and trust.”
Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, Joint CEOs of Birmingham Museums Trust
Documentation Detectives: Operation BrumAbout Documentation Detectives: Operation Brum
Welcome and thank you for your interest in our project!
We are Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT), a charitable trust, and the largest civic museum service based in the West Midlands region of England. We care for and share the city’s collection of around 1 million objects and artworks across nine extraordinary museums and historic properties, on behalf of Birmingham City Council and the people of Birmingham, UK. We bring people’s stories to life and offer a glimpse into the past through our collections.
Since March 2024, our Documentation Detectives project has seen over 3000 Zooniverse users transcribe over 80,000 object records from our accession registers. Dating back to 1885, these records contain key information of objects added, or “accessioned”, into the museum’s permanent collections. They have spanned across topics including fine art, social history, and more.
We wanted to give local Brummies the opportunity to see and transcribe these records. That is why we’ve created this Zooniverse page codenamed ‘Operation Brum'. Here you will work with some of our older accession records dating between 1930 and 1944. They contain a mixture of object types including paintings, furniture, clothing and archaeology. It is a chance to gain transcription skills and see how our museum used to record objects.
Our Tutorial and Field Guides will guide you through the process. You can also learn more about our project and find FAQs in the About section.