Museum Techmuse

ACM Conference: Boston Stories

The Boston Stories website is now live. The website is provides a "collection of frank and revealing tales" about the way the Boston Children's Museum became a "laboratory for the profession" back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

I've been working with Mike Spock and many of the early staff members over the last few months on the Website. One of our major goals: to gather feedback that shapes the development of a book on the topic. During one of the sessions at ACM, people talked about the power of video -- hearing from these early staff members what struggles they faced in defining new genres of visitor-centered exhibits.

Do the videos on the Website work? We'd like feedback. Do they energize discussion, which we hope to capture on the project blog?  It's a work in progress...

Macromedia Boston User Group Presentation

I'll be presenting tomorrow night at the Macromedia Boston User Group meeting, focusing on "Director, Flash, and Museum Learning." Here's a quick description:

Abstract:
How does a Director/Flash/Web developer adapt new technologies for use in 3-dimensional learning environments such as museum exhibits? Brad Larson (www.bradlarson.com) has been a long-time Lingo (and more recently Actionscript) developer focusing on uses of media that encourage social interaction and learning. Brad worked as "Technology Developer" in the Boston Children's Museum from 1988 to 1998, and has since then formed a collaborative business serving museums across the country, from the Smithsonian's National Zoo to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and the Denver Art Museum. Awards for this work include the Macromedia People's Choice Award, Parent's Choice Gold Award, and "Best Museum Website" at the international MW2004 conference.

Topics to be covered will include:
--Connecting technology and current learning theory
--Example projects that encourage museum learning
--Using websites to change users' real-world behaviors

MW2006: Blogs and Museums

Another thought from the MW2006 conference: museum blogs and "social software" were the buzz of the conference, and in particular two examples of this stand out. One presentation was by Daniel Mosquin at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden. Daniel has developed the "Botany  Photo of the Day" photo blog that has developed an enormous international following. As you browse the site, you'll notice all the ways it's been made compelling, with attractive photos that are updated daily, inclusion of linked content, and the ability to easily subscribe.

The other eye-opening presentation was by Bryan Kennedy from the Science Museum of Minnesota, who spoke about their Science Buzz website/blogsite. The site was named "Best Museum Website" at the awards ceremony (an award which we were happy to receive two years ago for Conservation Central). The site generates community through a variety of formats, from blogs to polls and connections between the visit experience and the Web.

This is the next generation of interactive media for museums. And it's driven by passionate inhouse staff members who use blogs to communicate beyond exhibits.