Lambton County Museums and Archives has updated to a new online collections database.

There will be thousands of digital records of historical artifacts, photographs and archival documents from Lambton Heritage Museum, Oil Museum of Canada and Lambton County Archives. 

Museum, Gallery and Archives Manager Laurie Webb said this new database is more user friendly.

"It's a little more intuitive for people when they're searching and we've also been able to link various objects together through keyword hyperlinks," she said.   

Webb gave the example of music and by searching that keyword residents can see all of the records the museum has in connection to music.

She also said right now there are more than 8,000 records.

"We're continually adding new records into the database," said Webb. "So, every month there will be a new upload of information and people can see new items from the collections."

Lambton County Museums and Archives has been talking about upgrading the database for years.

Webb said updating the database began with a new online collections software.

"Through that process we knew that we had the ability to add on this module that is for online access," she said. "So, we've been working for the last two or three years inputting information into the database."

Webb added having this new database allows the community to understand what the museums do and the kind of things they collect.

She said this is just the start of the collections to be digitized.

"At Lambton Heritage Museum alone, we know we have more than 25,000 objects so there's a lot of work and a lot more to go in there but I think it's a great start for the community," said Webb. 

This launch also coincides with the 175th anniversary of Lambton County's corporation.

The Online Collection Database can be viewed on the Lambton museums website.

You can read more in an article by Lindsay Newman published in the sarnianewstoday.ca web site at: http://tinyurl.com/3u55p4nu.