Watch Support Search What's on Education Christmas Lectures Our history About Blog About → Organisation → Team → Heritage and Collections → Jane Harrison → Jane Harrison Documentation Manager Jane Harrison Role As Documentation Manager Jane is responsible for co-ordinating the cataloguing of the Ri’s historic apparatus, archive and image collections alongside managing the Archives Reading Room. She is currently working at the Ri part-time while studying for a Masters in Digital Heritage supported by a Freer Educational Trust scholarship. About Jane completed a BA in Archaeology at the University of Bristol and an MA in the Archaeology of Human Origins at Southampton University before coming to work at the Royal Institution, which has a grand total of one archaeological artefact in its historic collections. Scientific inspiration I have fond memories of playing with chemistry kits in my friend’s garden shed as a child but I was just as interested in how the Bunsen burner worked as what colour the sample turned. I think my main interest was always in puzzling out how things were put together. Working at the Ri I’m always amazed that the major scientific breakthroughs made here, such as Faraday’s generator and Tyndall’s work on germs, have been using simple everyday materials. Favourite object/archive item It might be a bit of a stretch but my favourite object has to be the Ri building itself. There are so many unique and wonderful things in the historic collections but what makes the Ri special is that the apparatus we hold here were mostly made and used right on this site. There’s so much history here: Ri has been based at No.21 Albemarle street for practically its entire existence and, while its changed over time, there are traces of its past all around if you know where to look. Best thing about the Ri It’s probably not a surprise that it’s the history of the Ri that’s my favourite thing. I love working somewhere where people have been setting off explosions in the name of science communication for over 200 years. Related content Heritage and Collections Find out more The archive collections Find out more Iconic objects Find out more Ri timeline Find out more Learn Masterclasses L'Oréal Young Scientist Centre Events for the whole family Science shows Interactive games Christmas Lectures Visit News What's On Food & Drink The Faraday Museum Heritage tours Find us Support Donate to the Ri Join the Ri Renew your Membership Corporate Partnerships 14-10 Club Events Jobs Keep in touch Keep up to date with regular emails from the Ri © Royal Institution 2013 Facebook Twitter Youtube Venue Hire Press T&Cs Privacy Policy Accessibility Contact Us