Evaluation of Hypermedia Systems in Museums

The number of multimedia and hypermedia applications in museums is rapidly increasing. Most applications are point-of-information systems presenting additional information on artefacts which are shown in the museum or offering background knowledge on subjects covered by the museum. Publications dealing with such applications are mostly bare descriptions of contents, technical realisations or user interfaces. There are very few studies dealing with use and acceptance of such systems by visitors. In order to decide whether hypermedia applications should be installed museums have to regard costs and benefits: does the rather expensive development of a special application pay in the sense of making the museum more attractive to visitors? Attractivness, in turn, is the question of usability and acceptance of the application. Therefore evaluation studies which have to deal with ergonomical, didactical, and psychological questions are necessary.