Museums and the Web 2015 / Chicago, IL
Got Tech? How Small-town museums and historical sites can go digital
Friday, April 10, 2015
Brad Baer / [email protected] / @bluecadet
Carol Harsh / [email protected] / @museumonmainst.
J. Mark Souther / [email protected] / @cphdh
Jennifer Synder / [email protected] / @callicolone
#SmallMuseumsBigIdeas
Consultants for local museums have commented that small museums “lack
all of the new technology platforms” and as a result these museums within
3-5 years most small museums will “likely fall further behind the industry
and become less relevant to the intended audience.”
C A R O L H A R S H / S M I T H S O N I A N I N S T I T I O N
Local as National
J . M A R K S O U T H E R / C S U
Local as Global
J E N N I F E R S N Y D E R / F H C
Local as State
Museum on Main Street (MoMS) is an exhibition based humanities project that is national in scope, but at the heart, celebrates local history and culture. Partnering with state humanities councils, SITES develops
exhibitions custom designed for small town museums, libraries, and other cultural organizations.
• Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front • Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon • Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future • Key Ingredients: America By Food • Between Fences • New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music • Journey Stories • The Way We Worked • Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America
20 Years of MoMS
Exhibitions
Museum on Main Street • Celebrates, explores, and deepens understanding of our
shared American experience • Engages community in local history and public
humanities • Inspires local stories, shared memories, and celebration
of local heritage • Illuminates indomitable innovative spirit of Main Street
America
Stories From Main StreetA story collecting initiative about life in small town America (app and website) Use technology to engage students in their own history and culture in under-resourced rural communities hosting MoMS exhibitions. Student “curators” develop digital interpretive projects that localize the content of the MoMS exhibitions.
• Students gain deeper understanding about local history and culture • Improve student 21st century skills (creativity, critical thinking, civic and
media literacy, technology and research skills) • Bridge gap between students and local cultural organizations • Create connections between generations and across diverse local
communities
• 1 in 4 Americans live in small towns
• Rural communities may have limited access to cultural resources
• Small town museums comprise half of all museums in the United States
Since 1994, over 1300 community-based cultural organizations in 48 states have welcomed the Smithsonian to town!
Museums in Small-town American
Profile of Small Museums
Community-based museums connect people to the place they call home
• Typically less than 4 full time staff and lots of active volunteers • Most staff are between 50 – 65 years old • Without dedicated gallery for changing exhibits – can accommodate exhibitions that are 600-800 square feet • No loading docks; few have elevators • Crates must fit in a single door and weigh less than 300 pounds
Local history can be deeply meaningful to a community
MoMS Technology Survey
Survey sent to 580 small museums that have hosted MoMS exhibitions in past 6 years (31% response rate)
Use of Technology in Exhibitions • 92% have internet access at the facility • 72% have Wi-Fi capability in their exhibition gallery • Comfort level high with use of technology in exhibitions: video monitors (86%), audio listening
stations (84%), tablets (70%), touch tables (65%), and computers (61%) • With an easy upload of video and audio files, 68% likely to contribute local content to a
Smithsonian exhibition • 78% willing to help us pilot a new technology initiative that uses web-based content in digital
interactive components with in a traveling exhibition
Social Media • 97% participate in social media • 56% report moderate activity at least once each week • 99% use Facebook
Water Matters technology initiatives: • Story collecting - MoMS new My Water app (video, audio, text, photos) • Educational – Digital Badging Project • Local content contribution – Florida Humanities Council • Project website – gateway for Smithsonian water resources as well as a repository for original content
generated by students and the general public
Cleveland Historical website and apps • Collaboratively curated • Low cost, high impact • Clear, standards-based sourcing • Cross promotion • Extensible to standalone projects
http://clevelandhistorical.org
Curating Kisumu: Adapting Mobile Humanities Interpretation in East Africa
• Working with Maseno University in Kisumu, Kenya to build, adapt, study, and sustain a humanities-based mobile app initiative in East Africa • Challenges: Technology, Sources, Buy-in, Audience, Sustainability
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Initial States
2 prototypes - Bartow, St. Petersburg, Fl March 5 - soft launch/user testing
• 93 “active sessions” • Average of 7 clicks • 2:44 average time per “session”
1. Urgent need for tech in small museums.
2. Small museums have the capacity and the desire for digital interactives.
3. Local content matters!
4. Small engaging interactives drive attendance.
5. Existing, well-used, open-source tools are usually the best.
6. Tailor your project to your audience and your constraints as an institution.
7. Don’t expect a one-time investment of money and time. Sustainability is a must. Also content sustainability.
8. Nontraditional partnerships.
9. Share digital assets and resources with other small museums for a larger impact.
10. Karaoke is key.
G O T T E C H ?
Top 10 Takeaways
Museums and the Web 2015 / Chicago, IL
Thanks for attending.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Brad Baer / [email protected] / @bluecadet
Carol Harsh / [email protected] / @museumsonmainst.
J. Mark Souther / [email protected] / @cphdh
Jennifer Synder / [email protected] / @callicolone
#SmallMuseumsBigIdeas