The Dana Library and Research Centre (formerly the Dana Centre) on
Queen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.
The street ...
,
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
is part of the
Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Nat ...
.
Designed by
Sir Richard MacCormac of
MJP Architects,
the building opened in 2003 as a public event venue in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
for contemporary
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
debate, run largely by the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
. The building itself houses offices used by the Science Museum and the
British Science Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
(formerly known as British Association for the Advancement of Science). The Dana Centre is not directly accessible from the main museum, and is situated on the nearby
Queen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.
The street ...
street.
Previously an events space and café, the building re-opened in late 2015 as the Dana Library and Research Centre, aiming to "provide a world-class environment for academic research, bringing together the museum’s thriving Research and Public History Department and access to its library and archive collections".
Opening times
The centre is currently open to researchers and visitors alike by appointment only, Thursdays and Fridays from 11.00 to 17.00. It is closed on Bank Holidays during Christmas and New Years holiday periods.
Access to the collection
Visitors to the Dana Centre can access almost 7,000 volumes on the history and biography of science, technology and medicine and their philosophical and social aspects. Journals are also available in physical and digital formats, with core titles being mainly available electronically.
As 99% of the Science Museum Group's library and archives are held at th
Library and Archivesat the
National Collection Centre, in Whiltshire, some of the archival material will need to be ordered in advance.
References
External links
Official website of replacement Dana Research Centre
{{Authority control
Event venues established in 2003
Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Science Museum, London
Museum education
Libraries in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Richard MacCormac buildings