museumsandtheweb.com - Web 2.0

The Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum

dylan_k — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:54:43 +0000

MW2012

Keywords:

Collections database

Keywords:

public access

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Abstract:

In 2011, the Walters Art Museum launched a major revision of its online collection. Alongside that launch, the museum removed copyright from the images of more than 10,000 artworks and provided those images for free download on the internet. The endeavor, sponsored by a grant from the NEA, is part of a larger rebranding effort to make all of the museum’s materials as widely accessible as possible, and friendlier.

The new website enables users to sort the collection in a variety of ways—by date, medium, place of origin and even the objects’ location within the museum. The search engine has been overhauled. Users can more easily add tags, or keywords, to the artworks. They can also curate their own collections of artworks on the website.

The new website included enhanced information about the artworks, such as conservation treatments and exhibition histories. This information will give visitors a better sense of the surprisingly active life of a museum object. This, and all information about the collection is dynamically published to the website, from the museum’s internal collections database, to ensure that the information remains as up-to-date as possible. This is of particular use to visitors curious about the current, physical location of an art object.

As always, we want to bring art and people together for enjoyment, discovery and learning. On the internet, we want to project the Walters’ artworks out into the world so that they are better known and can be shared with national and international audiences. We also want to facilitate study of the Walters’ artworks and encourage their use in educational activities.

Please take a look at our new website, http://art.thewalters.org and try the new features. We hope it will help you make some new discoveries.

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

MW2012 Demonstrations III

Site:

http://art.thewalters.org

Authors:

Dylan Kinnett

MisterDarwin.eu: A Web Exhibition Based On 2.0 Interactivity

fuco — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:24:12 +0000

MW2011

Francisco Doménech, Museos Científicos Coruñeses, Spain

http://www.casaciencias.org

Abstract

Overwhelmed by the task of bringing the science center's experience to the Web, we focused on a single exhibition. At Science Museums of Coruña, Spain, we created a new microsite to complement an exhibition on Darwin. The main goal was taking to the Web the idea behind our physical exhibits: to explore, play, spark curiosity, ask questions and start to look for the answers. So we made use of Web 2.0 services to create interactive online experiences that connect people with ideas. These 2.0 exhibits are the core of the exhibition's microsite, which is a multimedia-content viewer with quick and simple navigation. More than a website, we developed a webapp that can be easily adapted to produce new exhibition websites. And our content developers were provided with the tools to do most of that work: creating and updating online exhibits.

Keywords: science centers, Web 2.0, exhibit, Darwin, creation

Program Item Reference:

MisterDarwin.eu: A web exhibition based on 2.0 interactivity

Reprogramming The Museum

luke.dearnley — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:32:16 +0000

MW2011

Luke Dearnley, Powerhouse Museum, Australia

Abstract

This paper looks at how the Powerhouse Museum's collection data API launched in 2010 quantitatively and qualitatively improves upon the access provided by the download dataset previously offered, as well as how the tracking methods were built into the API to ensure that the project is best able to adapt to the user needs of API developers. It provides details on the lessons learned and suggests best practices for API development in the cultural sector.

Keywords: Web 2.0, API, collection access, Flickr, semantic web, Creative Commons

Program Item Reference:

Reprogamming the Museum

Multimedia guide, visitor interaction omnidirectional

Christina Costabile — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:29:48 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

digitization

Keywords:

usability

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

cross media

Keywords:

iPhone application

Keywords:

blog

Keywords:

Multimedia Tour

Keywords:

multimedia tour

Keywords:

visitor involvement

Keywords:

exhibition

Keywords:

mobile interpretation tool

Keywords:

communication with exhibits

Keywords:

state-of-the-art

Keywords:

interact with the exhibition

Abstract:

NOUS will demonstrate a state-of-the-art visitor engagement and involvement concept with a show case of real interactions from the European Parliament in Brussels/Belgium.

Mobile interpretation tools are often seen as a singular entity with no connection and communication to e.g. room installations, archives, social networks and the exhibit and exhibition room itself.

Audio- and multimedia guide concepts with their communication these days work one way only. A mobile multimedia handheld with location based technology can communicate bi- and omnidirectional with exhibits, other visitors, etc.

The visitor with a mobile handheld can now communicate with exhibits, the exhibition itself, archives and leave comments (written, voice comments), vote or even trigger actions in the exhibition hall.

NOUS invented concepts for:

"be my key", "recognize me", "give me deeper information", "tell me a story", "translate me" and "let me control"

and combined staged media with a personal handheld device in exhibitions.

Type:

Exhibitor Briefing - discuss your product. Confirmed Exhibitors only

Omnidirectional visitor interaction

Site:

http://www.nousguide.com/en/explore.html

Authors:

Christina Costabile

The CollectionWeb Digital Ecosystems: A Semantic Web and Web 2.0 Framework for generating Museum Web sites

biblio — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:34:50 +0000

Eklund, P., Lawson A., Goodall P., Hijazi F., & Wray T. (2010). The CollectionWeb Digital Ecosystems: A Semantic Web and Web 2.0 Framework for generating Museum Web sites. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2010. Proceedings.

MisterDarwin.eu: A web exhibition based on 2.0 interactivity

fuco — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:44:56 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

MisterDarwin.eu: A Web Exhibition Based On 2.0 Interactivity

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

exhibit interactive

Keywords:

exhibition

Keywords:

science museum

Keywords:

evolution

Keywords:

Darwin

Abstract:

We have been trying to bring the science center's experience to the Web, at Science Museums of Coruña (Spain). After some years of trying many little things, we have no magic formula and we only know something for sure: the whole institution website is a tough place to start (and tougher in our case, considering that we are three different museums under the same brand: mc2).

So, instead of trying to bring the whole museum to the web, we thought of bringing just an exhibition. Instead of redesigning our whole website, we started creating a new microsite to complement the exhibition: "To the astonishment of Mr. Darwin".

Our approach to an exhibition website tries to go beyond the concept of "electronic brochure". Rather than translating the exhibition's brochure to a web page we tried to develop a multimedia-content viewer, with quick and simple navigation.

More than creating and intuitive multimedia experience, our main goal was taking to the Web the idea of an exhibit, which is the core of our museums' experience: an interactive element to explore, play, wake up curiosity, make questions and start to look for the answers.

So we decided to go and hunt visitors where they are wandering around in the Internet: in places like YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. The point was using social networks and Web 2.0 services to create interactive online experiences, that connect people with ideas.

These 2.0 exhibits are the core of the microsite we would like to demonstrate at this conference. The web of the exhibition"To the astonishment of Mr. Darwin" has a launch date set on February 12th, 2011, to celebrate Darwin's 202 birthday. MisterDarwin.eu is a multilingual web (English, Spanish and Galician), born to complement the physical exhibition but with its own value, to curiosity u Darwin and evolution. We hope to get people want to visit the exhibition but we also try to reach bigger audiences.

We plan to create a platform based on this microsite, to easily develop websites for our other flagship exhibitions. We are building the tools to get the museum's staff (our content developers) doing most of that work: creating and updating the online exhibits. We also want this platform to be open to other institutions' participation, in a near future. But, first of all, we would like to share our work, doubts, accomplishments, frustrations, needs... with other colleagues and learn of other different approaches of bringing the museum to the Web.

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

Demonstrations III

Site:

http://misterdarwin.eu/

Authors:

Francisco Doménech

For Kids

dina.helal — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 20:01:39 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

kids

Keywords:

social networking

Keywords:

user-generated content

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

art

Keywords:

artists

Abstract:

For Kids is a new section of the Whitney's web site (whitney.org) that has features for engaging a young, web-savvy audience—kids ages 8-12—with art and artists. This new section of the site will launch in early 2011. A beta version of the web pages is available for viewing at whitney.org/ForKids.

Centered upon the Museum’s collection and exhibitions, the goals of this project are to offer kids in-depth content about art and artists and build a safe, carefully moderated online community for interaction between peer groups. “For Kids” offers a unique window into Whitney artists’ work and ideas, and draws direct parallels between the artists’ and the kids’ creative processes. It also provides opportunities for tagging, commenting, voting, polling, contributed responses, and user-generated content. Children can tag works of art in the Whitney’s collection, create their own collections, and make a profile page where they can upload and share their own artwork and see the polls and quizzes that they have participated in. On the landing page, works by featured Whitney artists are literally paired with artwork uploaded by Whitney kids and works from the Whitney’s Collection sit side by side with kids’ collections. A special feature is a type of “graffiti wall”—a pattern maker based on a set of algorithms that kids can use to change the page design throughout the “For Kids” area.

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

Demonstrations I

Site:

http://whitney.org/ForKids

Authors:

dina helal

Reprogamming the Museum

luke.dearnley — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:54:19 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Reprogramming The Museum

Keywords:

API

Keywords:

collections

Keywords:

Semantic Web

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

Web applications

Keywords:

museum practice

Keywords:

collections online

Abstract:

Many museums have been busy building APIs since the Brookyln Museum set the example, and in 2009 the Powerhouse made the decision to offer a much of its collection data downloadable as a data dump. The decision was primarily a pragmatic one, as the Museum wanted to test the waters and examine how the data might be best used before dedicating resources to developing a full API. The release of data was timed to coincide with a number of 'government 2.0' activities occurring in Australia, and it was hoped that by providing downloadable data, it would be used in government 2.0 mashup contest. In the end, several individuals in the contests did make use of the data - the most notable being Flip Explorer, a dynamic catalogue created for in-gallery use by two developers who were not known to the Powerhouse. However the best usage was by the Digital NZ project that incorporated it into their search - thus providing access across many New Zealand websites.

Drawing on the in-sector work of Bernstein (2008), Ellis (2008, 2009), and Morgan (2009) as well as that of Digital NZ; as well as similar APIs provided by Flickr, Open Library, OCLC Worldcat and others, the Powerhouse has reconsidered the appropriate functionality of a museum API.

As the Powerhouse had already deployed several techniques to add value and meaning to the collection data - 'folksonomic' tags drawn both from the Powerhouse site and the Flickr Commons, as well as Flickr comments and geolocation data (and more) about objects, as well as semantic information mined using Thompson Reuters' Calais Tagging API; and an extensive log of the relationships between search terms and objects - it was decided that this structured data should also be made available.

This is in stark contrast to the original data dump that simply contained a subset of descriptive fields about collection objects. Thus the enhanced API allows access into our collection from the starting point of themes, collections, categories, subjects and object popularity rather than just objects.

Drawing on the work of Chan (2010) the API use and its resulting output is able to be tracked in some detail, allowing the Museum to monitor the return on investment of the the provision of the API service.

This paper looks at how the API launched in 2010 quantitatively and qualitatively improves upon the access provided by the data dump, as well as how the tracking methods were built into the API to ensure that the project is best able to adapt to the user needs of API developers. It provides details on the lessons learned and suggests best practices for API development in the cultural sector.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Collections Online

Authors:

Luke Dearnley

Audience+: A holistic approach to developing social media guidelines for Swiss Museums.

Axel Vogelsang — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:22:06 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Audience+: A Holistic Approach to Developing Social Media Guidelines for Swiss Museums

Keywords:

Web 2.0

Keywords:

social media

Keywords:

strategy

Keywords:

audience

Keywords:

participation

Keywords:

Switzerland

Abstract:

The project ‘Audience+, Museums and the Participative Web’ investigates the challenges and opportunities for museums in the German-speaking part of Switzerland with regards to the use of digital social media. It is supported by the Organisation of Swiss museums and aims at developing best practice guidelines for Swiss museums. The guideline not only seeks to give hands-on guidance for the first steps but it also explains how social media can work beyond the role of mere marketing tool, opening up opportunities for a broader user experience. The data, information and insights supporting the research were generated through a diversity of methods, including a survey amongst Swiss museums, a series of workshops, and an extensive use of social media as part of the research process.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Social Media and Beyond

Authors:

Axel Vogelsang

Bettina Minder

Van Gogh's Letters. Or how to make the results of 15 years of research widely accessible for various audiences and how to involve them?

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:58 +0000

de Vet, M., Schreurs E., & Peereboom M. (2010). Van Gogh's Letters. Or how to make the results of 15 years of research widely accessible for various audiences and how to involve them?. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

The impact of blogs and other social media on the life of a curator

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:56 +0000

Dicker, E. (2010). The impact of blogs and other social media on the life of a curator. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Small Towns and Big Cities: How Museums Foster Community Online

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:55 +0000

MacArthur, M., & Allen-Greil D. (2010). Small Towns and Big Cities: How Museums Foster Community Online. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Putting Mallala on the map: Creating a wiki community with Now and Then

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:53 +0000

Peacock, D. (2010). Putting Mallala on the map: Creating a wiki community with Now and Then. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Developing Web Applications for Museum Professionals: A CollectionSpace Case Study and Status Report

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:46 +0000

Goodman, C., Schmitz P., Clark C., & Sheppard D. (2010). Developing Web Applications for Museum Professionals: A CollectionSpace Case Study and Status Report. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Can Twitter Save Bletchley Park?

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:43 +0000

Black, S., Bowen J., & Griffin K. (2010). Can Twitter Save Bletchley Park?. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

Annotators and Agents in a Web-based Collaboratory around Cartographical Collections in Cultural Heritage Institutions

biblio — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:10:38 +0000

Breure, L., Spruit S., Voorbij H., & van den Heuvel C. (2010). Annotators and Agents in a Web-based Collaboratory around Cartographical Collections in Cultural Heritage Institutions. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web.

After the Web Page: The World as Matrix for Meaning

jtrant — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:03:08 +0000

Bearman, D., & Trant J. (2007). After the Web Page: The World as Matrix for Meaning. Museums and the Web 2007.

Where Do We Go From Here?: Continuing with Web 2.0

jtrant — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:01:03 +0000

Bernstein, S. (2008). Where Do We Go From Here?: Continuing with Web 2.0. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2008. Proceedings.

From Boring and Non-Offensive to Dancing Unicorns and Glitter Text: How a Create a Teen Web Site with Teenagers

jtrant — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:01:03 +0000

Heideman, J., & Siasoco W. (2008). From Boring and Non-Offensive to Dancing Unicorns and Glitter Text: How a Create a Teen Web Site with Teenagers. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2008. Proceedings.

Building an On-line Community: Web 2.0 and interpretive materials at the Brooklyn Museum

jtrant — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:56:06 +0000

Bernstein, S., & Caruth N. (2007). Building an On-line Community: Web 2.0 and interpretive materials at the Brooklyn Museum. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2007. Proceedings.

Facilitating Access: Empowering small museums

jtrant — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:56:06 +0000

Suliman, J. (2007). Facilitating Access: Empowering small museums. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2007. Proceedings.