An innovative digital platform has opened Manchester’s historic collections to a global audience.

The Manchester Digital Collections image viewer helps people explore high-quality images of cultural collections and is the result of a cutting-edge partnership between the universities of Manchester Cambridge.  

The first collection, on Peterloo, was launched in October 2019, followed by collections of Petrarch, maps and Latin, Hebrew and Persian manuscripts.

“It will transform the way researchers, students, and audiences worldwide can engage with the spectacular collections of the University,” says Dr Guyda Armstrong, Faculty Lead for Digital Humanities.

“This is the first formal external partnership with our colleagues at Cambridge University Library and represents an important strategic collaboration for both institutions, which will lead to further growth in research.”

The project was led by Dr Guyda Armstrong in collaboration with University colleagues from Creative Manchester, the University of Manchester Library, the John Rylands Research Institute, Research IT and the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.