Art museum puts collection online

Beginning this week, students, professors and the public gained access to Kresge Art Museum’s entire collection from their computers.

Mariah Cherem, a spokeswoman for the museum, said a new database, which will feature more than 7,000 pieces of artwork, will allow access to items not on display in the museum.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for a while,” Cherem said. “A lot of those are works on paper, and because of conservation, they can only be displayed for a limited amount of time.”

Cherem said the database also can be used as a teaching tool for professors to find objects to use for classes.

While the database contains information on the museum’s entire inventory, it includes images for about 1,000 items.

Cherem said more images will be added as funding becomes available.

The database can be found at collections.artmuseum.msu.edu.