July 16 Museum of London

Jon Cotton, a curator at the Museum of London, provided a very interesting tour. He told us that the museum was established in 1976, and that it was an amalgamation of the Guildhall Museum and the London Museum. I believe he told us that the archaeological staff alone numbers 300, and that they work from two sites.

The Museum of London is organized in three strands, the London Wall, the Archaeological Archive and Museum Documents. He mentioned a publicity campaign that the Museum of London had done in recent years whose theme had been, "London only has one museum-The Museum of London" that did not get rave reviews from other museums located in London. He also told us that the Museum of London has a unique selling point, it's the largest urban history museum in the world. Another point he made was about archeology. He said that archeology is about digging up people, not things. Mr. Cotton also told us that the museum had gone through some changes and updates from 1994 to 2000, and that it is now a "people-centered" museum and that intellectual and physical access are key.

The museum really is user friendly and accessible. One of the things that I appreciated was that there were folding camp stools that visitors could use as they viewed the interactive displays. I left most of the museums and libraries feeling worn out from all the standing, but the Museum of London was a refreshing change.