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A new Heritage Centre website

Search 1.3m+ historic maritime records

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After a year of work behind the scenes, we’re excited to share the launch of the new Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage Centre website. 

The upgrade has transformed how visitors can explore and engage with our collection of maritime records and stories – an unparalleled reserve of knowledge on the evolution of maritime safety. It is the exciting next step in our mission to help others learn from the past for a safer and more sustainable ocean economy in the present. 

What has changed, and why? 

The Heritage Centre has a fully redesigned website, with an advanced search system covering the 1.3 million+ historic maritime records – an unparalleled reserve of knowledge on the evolution of maritime safety. The navigation has also been upgraded, with users now able to move from broad themes to specific items quickly, explore improved content pages, and access new research guides that offer context, tips, and links to digitised material.

Whether you’re arriving with a specific question or simply curious to browse, the new Heritage Centre website is designed to help you get to the material that matters – quickly. 

A screengrab of the homepage of the Heritage Centre website, showing the new collection search bar, designed to offer quick, clear routes to the digitised collections, register book e-readers, and research and information guides.

Lloyd's Register Heritage Centre website homepage showcasing maritime archive collections and search functionality.

From homepage to record in a few clicks

The collection search can now be reached directly from the new homepage, with major collections pinned for quick access. This delivers quicker, clearer routes to digitised collections, register book e-readers, and research and information guides.  

Other features include highlighting popular pages so new visitors can see what others are reading, and a place to showcase the latest updates from our partner work with the collections and our funding.  

Navigation built around real user journeys

Thanks to consultation with users, we have clarified the menu and sub-sections so visitors can move more quickly through the site, as well as introducing an optional light/dark mode for improved accessibility.  

Powerful search across 1.3 million+ records

The new collections page brings together full search functionality and clear routes into digitised collections. Key features include:

  • Smarter results: records display key information depending on what you’re looking at (for example, vessel build year and vessel ID for vessel records).
  • Archive hierarchy you can navigate: grouped records make it easier to understand where an item sits within a collection.
  • Readable library entries: long titles are handled cleanly, and pages highlight useful, related subjects and authors.
  • Better document viewing: for plans and digitised items, you can zoom, go full screen and download. 

New research guides to support every kind of researcher

The context of a record is a vital part of modern research, as it is the signposting that helps make sense of a single source.  To support this, we have created new research guides, each of which offer new visitors and experienced researchers clear navigational tools in a consistent, easy-to-scan format.  

They include:

  • Clear overviews of the topic and where to start.
  • Key relevant collections (including reference codes where helpful).
  • Links to digitised material and related resources.
  • Practical research tips to support your next steps. 

Stories: a visual hub for outreach, programmes and projects

Stories is a new content hub that draws together all our outreach content: flagship programme news, the latest blogs, and routes into exhibitions and major projects.  

One highlight is Rewriting Women into Maritime History. You can explore the partner showcases, project updates and digital exhibitions by clicking here.

Collection record relating to the historical background the Mauretania (LR-FAF-SA25-0319-L)

Aged handwritten manuscript document with dense text, relating to the historical background of Mauretania.

Explore the new site

With clearer navigation, a more prominent starting point on the homepage, and an advanced search across 1.3 million+ records, it’s now easier to move from broad themes to the details. This upgraded site is an important milestone in our mission to make our growing collection accessible and engaging for all.

Explore the new Heritage Centre website today: start from the homepage, run a quick search in Collections, or dive into the latest Stories and research guides to see what’s new. 

Explore the Heritage Centre website

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