School Museums and Collections

The BBF | Research Library for the History of Education of the DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education has published its first open-access volume "Significance, Diversity, and Future(s) of Collections on Educational History. 19th International Symposium on School Museums and Collections of Educational History" (SMCEH19) at the end of June 2026.

What is the significance of school history collections for research, memory culture, and the practice of educational history? This question lies at the heart of the first open-access volume published by the BBF of DIPF Berlin, released at the end of June 2026. Edited by Stefanie Kollmann, Maria-Annabel Hanke, and Josefine Wähler, the volume brings together a wide range of international contributions originating from the "19th Symposium on School Museums and Collections on Educational History" (SMCEH19). Across disciplinary and national perspectives, the authors explore the significance, diversity, and future of school history collections and school museums.

The volume marks the launch of a new digital publication series by the BBF. It forms part of a long-term initiative to pilot, establish, and further develop a variety of digital formats and publication pathways in scholar-led open access, tailored to the needs of the educational history research community. A key component of this initiative is the ongoing development of a digital publication platform that integrates and interconnects the various infrastructure services provided by the BBF.

The SMCEH19 volume is available free of charge via the via the BBF's new publication platform.