Specimens on Glass: Lantern Slides at the Ulster Folk Museum

This thesis concerns two-thousand and fifty photographic lantern slides which were found in a cabinet at the Ulster Folk Museum in Northern Ireland. The project considers how improving accessibility to the collection through cataloguing, digitising and rehousing the slides will be of great benefit to the museum: uplifting their photographic collection by showcasing previously unseen works by well-known Irish photographers such as R. J. Welch, W. A. Green, and A. R. Hogg. Furthermore, it is argued that with increased accessibility, the value of lantern slides as important heritage resources will be revealed. The first half of this thesis looks to the history of lantern slides and their uses in natural history and science. The second half of the thesis is comprised of a hands-on report, featuring an outline of the work that was undertaken during my residency at the Ulster Folk Museum and the process through which I approached cataloguing, digitising and rehousing the collection in question.