Technology is at once
ubiquitous and elusive. While we all
have the feeling we are surrounded by smartphones, iPads, and laptops, not all
of us understand the full power of these technological advances, nor do we have
the budget to integrate these tools in the museum gallery. I know as a curator I salivate over hearing
how the Museum of Jewish Heritage in
New York City has an innovative cellphone app complete with walking tour
narrated by Meryl Streep. Or what about The Smithsonian’s new crowdsourcing app
called LeafSnap? Users take pictures of
tree leaves on their smartphones and upload it to a site that will tag it with
GPS coordinates. Users get instant
identification and tree info and researchers get more data on the distribution
of specific species in a region, (Sherman, 2011). The budgets and staff
capacities of most museums are not allowing this type of grand scale innovation
to occur. So what types of technology
innovations can be accomplished for the small museum? The recent survey of
museums by the American Association of Museums (AAM.com) found that: “There
were also some significant differences in small and large museums’ capacities
to develop computer-based interactive exhibits. Most small museums rated their
ability to produce computer-based interactive exhibits at either “no ability”
(30%) or just one notch up the scale (30%). No representatives from small
museums responded with a 6 or 7 (“very capable”). Those representing large
museums, however, had more varied responses,” (ideum.com, 2008).
But interactive doesn’t
have to be complicated simulations or maintenance of apps. Museum professionals can start where they
are. Social media is a great way to
involve the public and get them excited about your exhibitions and programming.
A visit to a museum can now become a dialogue (Fox, 2011). Thanks to blogs and twitter. Museum Nerd is a great person to follow and
find inspiration from. Through his use
of social media he has pushed museums to become more responsive even having
real time communication with museum staff. Recently he tweeted this
conversation. Fun times on a shoestring
budget are available for any intrepid and wily museum curator or educator!
Calm yourself @museumnerd. Some social media folks also
have three other jobs at their museum. @Tate
will answer you.
@MuseumMogul @Tate has a whole team. The fact that they
don't respond is ridiculous.
References
American Association of Museums, 2012. Trends Watch. Retrieved on October 5,
2013 from http://www.aam-us.org/docs/center-for-the-future-of-museums/2012_trends_watch_final.pdf
Museumnerd, 2013. Retrieved on October 5, 2013. https://twitter.com/museumnerd
Ideum.com, 2008. Technology and Small Museums. Retrieved
October 5, 2013 from http://ideum.com/blog/2008/04/technology-and-small-museums/
No comments:
Post a Comment