Museum Techmuse

MW2010 Notes: Websites with Real-world Impact

One of the key topics I'm interested in: what impact do museum websites have? Do users/visitors do anything as a result of their interactions that has an observable effect in the world? If we were to check in with them a month or two later, would we notice any difference for their interactions?

A small group of us broke out for one of the "unconference sessions" to explore the issue. An interesting topic that came up: options for "micro-participation" -- from quick payments for relief efforts in Haiti via texting, to pothole reporting systems facilitated by mobile phone in Boston.  Ease of participation is key.

A couple websites on the "Best of the Web" list, for which I was one of the judges, come to mind as well: Solar Stormwatch, by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, which trains volunteers to make observations within visual data too subjective for individual users to make. Space weather forecasts are generated, and solar storms identified before they reach earth.  Another site that caught my attention: Meet Me, the MoMA Alzheimer's project, which is inspiring for the way rises to the occasion to be of service to a specific need in its community.

MW2010 Notes: Children/Family programs in the U.K.

I was struck this year at Museums and the Web by the quality (and quantity) of technology-facilitated programs for family audiences at museums in the U.K. Having grown as a staffer in the children's museum community here in the U.S., I've often wondered what we can learn from examples over the ocean. Now we have some nice models.

Shelley Mannion and Lorna O'Brien presented work they are doing at the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum respectively. I didn't have a chance to explore the V&A's programming, but saw some of the extraordinary work Shelley and team are doing at the British Museum. Family workshops in the new Samsung Digital Discovery Centre mix images of objects in their collection with digital creativity tools. (I enjoyed seeing, for example, how the McKelvie family inserted themselves into Egyptian hieroglyphics. Bonus: families have an enjoyable experience building connections to other cultures).

I didn't catch Coula Charitonos' presentation on her research on the Tate Kids website, but did enjoy browsing the site. And also was interested to see the work that Culture24 has been doing aggregating museum content for children at www.show.me.uk and in their new prototype moderated community site for kids, Caboodle. An abundance of models to learn from...

MW2010 Notes: Gail Durbin, Victoria and Albert Museum

Enjoyed listening to Gail Durbin's presentation at the recent Museums and the Web conference. The work they've been doing at the Victoria and Albert Museum over the years has been remarkable for the ways they've elicited visitor participation on the web. The World Beach Project, Gail noted for example, has drawn entries from every continent, including Antarctica.

Gail made the point that participation in these types of user-contribution projects (and other postings sites such as Instructables.com) can be a positive thing, but does not necessarily lead to "community."  The site she brought up as a model: the knitting site Ravelry. That site creates community through a variety of means: users share patterns, trade or sell yarn ("stashes" I believe is the term), participate in forums ("needlework on the net"), groups ("British Breed Yarns")...Quite extensive.

Great to aspire to this type of community. But I wonder: is it realistic to think a museum may develop such an extensive community?  Opportunities (and funding and staffing) for this are probably few and far between. But aspects of the community -- such as sharing goods and services -- may be widely applicable. And museums may find unique ways to participate in tight-knit (oh, a pun!) communities that already exist. Great food for thought...

Boston Stories meeting

Just got out of the Boston Stories luncheon meeting -- culmination of years of work by Mike Spock and team distilling the essence of how they managed to change the nature of museum exhibits in the 1960s and beyond at Boston's Children's Museum.

I was fortunate to tap into this work while I was Technology Developer at the Museum from 1988 to 1998. Great to reconnect with friends and colleagues whose work has deeply changed the experience of visitors.

The project site is at: http://bcmstories.com. Special thanks to Nina Simon and Gabriella Marks for taking the site to the next level. And it's still evolving. To my friends in the museum community: how might this site be made even more relevant to you? What features would you like to see?

New iPhone 3GS

I couldn't resist, and got my new iPhone 3GS on the first day available, a few hours ago.  Drove in to the Apple Store -- it was busy but not crazy. Because I had pre-ordered mine, they had me stand in a special roped-off line. (But, in fact, I was the only person in that line and felt a bit foolish as other people were walking around freely).

It feels a lot like my old (original) iPhone.  In fact, I might have been a bit disappointed except for a few showy new apps that made me realize this is a new phone altogether.  The compass is beautifully designed and makes me want to go look for buried treasure. And the Voice Recorder brings up a classic microphone and VU meter, although I can't get the meter to move as dramatically as I'd like.

But the really big feature I think is the ability to encode photos and video with GPS location data, something with huge potential for museums. Plus the ability to easily, seamlessly upload video to YouTube. I'll be exploring these in more detail...

AAM and ACM: A view from the exhibit hall

Just wrapping a week in Philly for the AAM and ACM conferences, and though the numbers were smaller -- AAM reportedly had about half the usual attendees this year because of financial conditions in museums -- the conversations were good. Definitely worthwhile.

Several exhibitors reported that they were as busy as ever on projects, an assessment I concur with.  But maybe there's a dynamic here -- that we may be riding a wave of funding committed before the crash, and that it will catch up with us in the next 6 months.  Museums may lag behind the economy, offset a bit by funding cycles.  Hard to say.

Still musing...

Things have been pretty busy the last several months with installations at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, ECHO Lake Science Center, Levine Museum of the New South, Illinois Holocaust Museum, and others in the works. A blessing in this economy. But I've let a lot of thoughts slip by that I wanted to share. Here are a few thoughts -- more detail sometime soon:

• Post visit audience: it may be more effective to design for specific groups (after school groups, moms clubs, etc) than generalized visitors. Need to tap into pre-motivated learners.
• What's after Web 2.0?  Now that social media has arrived, what's next?  We need to provide visitors a big picture mission (solving some local community issue) that raises the level of communication.
• iPhone: the power of place.  If we're looking to change visitor behavior, we need to be in the right place at the right time. iPhone apps have potential to do that.
• YouTube stories: the emerging trend of including visitor voices on museum YouTube channels

Text messaging for museums: lessons from Obama

I've long been interested in how museums can use technology to encourage new behaviors among visitors after their visit. One of the remarkable things from this past election here in the U.S. is the way the Obama team used text messaging (and other technologies) to motivate supporters with the right message at the right time. Here are a few principles that can be translated to museum projects:

• Heighten interest (and opt-in participation) by releasing specific intriguing information first via text messaging. (Say, for example, a VP pick, or the answer to a mystery posed in an exhibit).
• Scaffold resources into the message: a phone number or URL to get more info about a program the visitor has already expressed interest in.
• Be clear about the specific action step the visitor should take: vote, or attend tomorrows' harvest festival with a friend.
• Provide the message at just the right time: the day before elections, or two days before festival registration deadlines.
• Be judicious about the number of messages sent: just when they are needed, no more, no less...

NPR Series: Museums and the 21st Century

NPR is doing a series over the next month or so on museums in the 21st century. I had the pleasure of participating yesterday in an interview that will probably air sometime around Dec 22nd. The focus was on childrens' museums and technology, and we talked about topics like parent/child interaction with technologies (what role do parents have in an interactive?), and the special focus on visitors that childrens museums have. This focus on visitor experience is something that shapes everything childrens' musems do, including the use of interactive technologies.

The first part of the series aired a few days ago, you can find it here (thanks to Jenifer Trant for scouting this out).

Children's Museums and Technology talking points

Going in to NPR tomorrow to talk about children's museums and technology. Here are some of the things I'm thinking about:

1. Children’s museums are visitor-centered. This is the starting point for design. Not collections, but who is walking in the door, and what are their needs. “How can we help our visitors?” – a simple question that is powerful when you look at it more closely.
2. Children’s museums in general are wary of technology. Kids have fewer options for physical experiences, and technology is seen a potential diversion from physical experience. (On the flip side, technologies for communication and personal expression are valued).
3. “Interactivity” is most often between people rather than with a particular exhibit or technology. The museum experience is a social experience.
4. An emerging trend: using technology to encourage real-world activity. (includes websites such as Good to Grow and others with specific resources for local activity).
5. Another trend: using technology to value visitors’ own experience. Ask them to share their experience with other visitors.