Smithsonian joins ultra-fast network for colleges

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Smithsonian Institution is joining an ultra-fast broadband network built for U.S. universities to connect the world’s largest museum and research complex with hundreds of colleges and reach more people online.

On Tuesday, officials announced the Smithsonian is partnering with the university-backed Internet2 network to help open its vast museum collections to students and researchers at more than 400 research universities and 66,000 other U.S. research and education partners. The Smithsonian has been working to digitize its 137 million objects but has said it will take years to make all of them available online.