Groups and Locations

history, archive, museum, experiment, media, visual, database, publish, experimentation, science, art, technology, encyclopedia, essay

The Virtual Laboratory (VL) is a digitalization project at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. It 'collects and presents texts and images concerning various aspects of the experimentalization of life'. These include 'instruments, experiments, sites and people', with the main focus being the interaction between the life sciences, arts and architecture, media and technology. It also offers a platform for researchers at all levels to publish and discuss their work. The site is divided into the Laboratory and the Library. The Laboratory has an Encyclopedia which provides information on significant material in the VL collection, to enable cross-referencing between researchers, ideas and publications. It also has an Essays section focused on the history of experimental physiology and psychology in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The essays are presented in an innovative format 'somewhere between abstracts and articles and make intense use of images'. They seek to place the research within its cultural context and full submission guidelines are included. The Library has scans of books, journals, laboratory notes and catalogues, with bibliographic information. The collection can be searched by author, title, year or keyword. The site also has material under the headings Technology, Experiments, Objects, Sites, People and Concepts, with a news feature and regular updates. Also planned is a 'myLab' section, to enable researchers to customise a personal area of the site for their own work. This site is complex, with a large amount of information, but it is highly sophisticated and well designed. It offers a valuable virtual resource for researchers at all levels, with the promise of further development.

Related tools from Demoscience