museumsandtheweb.com - management

Mixing It Up: Developing and Implementing a Tagging System for a Content-Rich Website Which Uses Aggregated Content from Multiple Sources

alewis — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:47:49 +0000

MW2011

Andrew Lewis, Victoria and Albert Museum, United Kingdom

http://beta.vam.ac.uk

Abstract

In 2009, the Victoria and Albert Museum website had a very large amount of in-depth content including museum content and user-generated features. This presented a challenge in connecting users with site content that they may not have been aware of. In January 2011, the Museum made live a beta version of its redesigned website which aimed to address this issue. The new site moved away from a hierarchical navigation model to a dynamic concept-driven one. This aimed to collect and present content relevant to the user's subject of interest. A central method in achieving this was the development of a tagging system to classify Web content so that it would aggregate as required. This paper looks at the reality of developing and implementing a bespoke tagging system that could be effective for users yet simple enough to use for staff who are not specialist classifiers. The human issues for staff in developing the system are discussed, with some early results and feedback from the early beta-testing period. It is hoped the paper will offer insight into what happens in practice when using tagging for real on a live website.

Keywords: tagging, content, staff, classification, management

Program Item Reference:

Mixing it up: Experiences of managing and displaying aggregated content from multiple sources, combining editorial selection, subject classification using tagging and automated retrieval.

Social Media and Organizational Change

JackLudden — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 03:35:59 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Social Media and Organizational Change

Keywords:

social media

Keywords:

leadership

Keywords:

management

Keywords:

strategy

Keywords:

audience engagement

Keywords:

social media policies

Keywords:

organizational change

Keywords:

organizational structure

Keywords:

social media coordination

Keywords:

managing social media

Abstract:

There has been great attention placed on how to work in the social media space. This includes how to work with social media in order to improve brand recognition, build a fan base, engage visitors, and expand programming. But you cannot accomplish any of this without staff members who understand how social media can be useful to their work and their institution.

There are critical questions concerning how to sustain, organize, and implement social media within an institution. How do we manage the "brand" with so many people creating content, while also being flexible and bringing out the many voices in an institution?

How to manage social media is a question asked by museums of all sizes and types. We will identify trends in the field as well as available resources that can help facilitate best practices for using social media. We will compare different approaches at different types of institutions (large vs. small, history vs. art museums, local vs. international)

The authors of this paper are from various parts of the country, from different type of museums and ranging in size. With our multiple perspectives, we will address:

Internal social media policies and guidelines and how best to introduce and maintain them
How social media can be coordinated. Should you distribute management of social media content across an organization, or should there be one point of contact?
Tactics for educating and training staff about what social media is and how it can further the mission
The new expectations for current staffing positions held within the museum

Promoting a cultural shift that embraces collaborative, agile ways of interacting with our peers and our audiences is critical to our success. We know that different museums have very different attitudes and comfort levels with social media. While risk-taking may not be for every institution, all museums must face the ever-changing world of online engagement. Social media is already altering how museums interact with the public and how museum professionals approach their jobs. This change is fast-paced. It is important that we address it and embrace it as a community.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Organizational Change

Authors:

Dana Allen-Greil

Susan Edwards

Jack Ludden

Eric Johnson

Electronic Records Management Program Strategies

ngamble — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:48:29 +0000

Hedstrom, M. (1993). Electronic Records Management Program Strategies. Archives and Museum Informatics Technical Reports. 98 pp.