Go to content
three people climbing the stares
  1. Our Work
  2. The British Library

The British Library

The British Library welcomes 1.6 million visitors each year in its London and Yorkshire locations. With a collection of more than 170 million items, it's one of the world’s largest libraries.

THE CHALLENGE

The British Library had been running on the Sitecore CMS platform for a few years, however, there was a wide perception that the platform wasn’t performing highly and that expectations weren’t being met. Put simply, Sitecore had quickly become a system of obligation for them.

THE COLLABORATION

Optimal web solution

The British Library engaged Novicell to conduct an audit of their current web architecture and Sitecore platform. We identified the areas they were most challenged and what could be done to realise the full potential of their web solution. With us as their digital partner, the British Library established a strong foundation on which to optimise their platform and collaboration across the entire organisation, as well as digital transformation progression.

What we did

a pen and a message icon

Promote Sitecore

The British Library had a perception that the only way forward was to migrate from Sitecore to another platform. However, based on our audit and extensive knowledge of the Sitecore platform, we recommended that the British Library recommit to Sitecore and the idea of a centralised content management system.

Scale icon

Take ownership of Sitecore

The British Library needed to own the Sitecore architecture through a set of architectural guidelines. This would enable them to champion their own team’s success, whilst still allowing third parties to develop parts of the web platform. We also recommended that the British Library start working with a User Journey concept spanning their entire domain.

persentage icon

Headless approach

The British Library would still have core library sites created in Sitecore, but by going headless, both internal and external development would be able to build web experiences on top of the content managed in Sitecore. Furthermore, Headless makes it possible to embrace new technologies, expanding what the British Library has to offer their customers.