The Digital Agenda in Museums
June 2013
Further info hereFurther
info here
www.collectionslink.org.uk/sustaining-digital
Current ideas and trends
1. Changing demand for museum services2. Digital Strategy3. Digital Benchmarking4. SPECTRUM is your friend!5. Create Once, Publish Everywhere6. Digital promiscuity(!)7. Metrics and evaluation8. The UK funding picture9. Mobile, social & responsive10. Cloud11. Public-access wifi
Changing demand
BBC Research into participation in digital media, May 2012
Changing demand
91% of teachers use technology in the classroom60% increase in mobile devices in the classroom/on campus in 201386% of students believe they study better with tablet devices….
Who are you doing it for?
(Digital) Strategy
• The majority of museums are moving away from Digital strategy towards embedding digital into broader organisational strategy including:
– Strategic Planning– Marketing & audience development– Learning & outreach– Collections development/management– Fundraising/income generation– Content publishing
• The key principle is integration – digital is neither different nor separate and is only sustainable in the context of your museum’s broader strategic development
From ‘access’ to ‘engagement’
http://www.digitalengagementframework.com/
Digital Benchmarking = understanding where you are and planning strategically for where you want to go
Going on a journey (sorry)
Get startedGet started Find where you are
Find where you are Quick WinsQuick Wins Promote
yourself onlinePromote
yourself online
Open up collections
online
Open up collections
online
Create great content
Create great content
Think about Systems
Think about Systems
Generate income
Generate income
Go socialGo socialEmbrace
Participation & Engagement
Embrace Participation &
Engagement
Manage Digital Assets
Manage Digital Assets
Sort out Digital Copyright
Sort out Digital Copyright
Measure Success
Measure Success
Create Sustainable
Digital Content
Create Sustainable
Digital Content
Grapple with the Technical
Stuff
Grapple with the Technical
Stuff
Plan for the Future!
Plan for the Future!
Digital Benchmarks
• A simple diagnostic tool
• Mapping progress
• Celebrating success
• Planning development
• An integrated approach
Digital Benchmark “Range Statements”StrategyLevel Description0 The organisation has no strategic plan or statement of mission or purpose *1 The organisation has a strategic plan or mission which does not reference engagement
through technology2 The organisation has a strategic plan, which includes projects and programmes, some of
which make use of technology. Digital is not fully integrated into the strategy, which is not regularly reviewed.
3 The organisation has a strategic plan, which includes projects and programmes, some of which make use of technology.
Digital is integrated into the strategy, which is regularly reviewed. 4 The organisation has a strategic plan/mission in place which references the use of digital
technologies to support core delivery, or it has a separate (but connected) digital strategy in place.
There is at least one digital champion within the senior management of the organisation. The strategic plan is regularly reviewed and updated.
5 The organisation has a strategic plan/mission in place which integrates the use of digital technologies to support core delivery.
The digital elements of the plan are owned and championed at a senior (Board & management) level and supported by appropriate budgets.
Digital technologies are embedded across all teams/departments of the organisation. Digital delivery and engagement through technology are embedded within the
organisation’s performance framework. The strategic plan is regularly reviewed and updated.
Mid-sized regional museum
Smaller museum
Showing progress
What do people want from your collections online?
What people want from online collections…
18
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
19
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
What people want from online collections…
20
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
RESEARCH
What people want from online collections…
21
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
RESEARCH
LEARNINGOUTREACH
What people want from online collections…
22
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
RESEARCH
LEARNING
DATA MININGCOLLECTIONS
MANAGEMENT
AGGREGATION
OUTREACH
What people want from online collections…
23
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
RESEARCH
LEARNING
DATA MININGCOLLECTIONS
MANAGEMENT
AGGREGATION
OUTREACH
Digitize relatively few things & invest in depth, description & promotion
What people want from online collections…
24
CONTENT
METADATA
A BIT A LOT
FUN
RESEARCH
LEARNING
DATA MININGCOLLECTIONS
MANAGEMENT
AGGREGATION
OUTREACH
Digitize relatively few things & invest in depth, description & promotion
Digitize lots of things and put relatively little effort into description & promotion
What people want from online collections…
The good news is that browsing collections online accounts for 25-30% of museum web traffic, can improve your search engine find-ability and tends to have a significant impact on dwell times on your website.
What does the average museum content/collections publishing setup look like?
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
CMS DAMSCollMS
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
BBC GoogleWMUK Euro Culture Grid
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
BBC GoogleWMUK Euro Culture Grid
LOTS OF HAPPY USERS
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
BBC GoogleWMUK Euro Culture Grid
LOTS OF HAPPY USERS
The whole rest of the world…
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
BBC GoogleWMUK Euro Culture Grid
LOTS OF HAPPY USERSPeople will generate
and share new knowledge about your collections
The good news is that all of this stuff is a lot easier if your practice is already based on SPECTRUM – there’s a clear line of progression from SPECTRUM-based documentation to digital engagement
BSI PAS 197 BSI PAS 198
ACCREDITATION BENCHMARKS
WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY (7,600)
COMPLIANCE(23,000)
GUIDANCEPDF/XML/PRINT+ SCHEMA
NEW IDEAS
SPECTRUM Digital Asset Management
• Integrating the creation, management, use and improvement of Digital Assets alongside your physical collections management
• Out now (free) on Collections Link
SPECTRUM Digital Asset Management
Most museum management systems are evolving away from silos and towards providing integrated or modular systems for managing the flow of information and
resources across the whole museum…
We have to stop doing things differently for each new project or partnership, and start to develop digital content and services that are scalable and futureproof. The strategic approach to this is called ‘COPE’ (Create Once, Publish Everywhere)
How to COPE
• Try to break the cycle of lurching from one project to the next, making ad-hoc decisions & hacking systems to get them ready in time for launch(!)
• Work with your curator(s) to create content (stories and pictures) that can travel across different platforms and websites
• Make content that other people can incorporate into their own websites and online experiences
Creation/ curation layer
Integration layer
Presentation layer
Aggregation/ distribution layer
Integration tools
CMS DAMSCollMS
API
Web SocialMobile Gallery
BBC GoogleWMUK Euro Culture Grid
LOTS OF HAPPY USERS
It’s not a question of ‘which digital platform/community should I work with?’ – be digitally promiscuous, exploit all of them to drive more people to your museum, your collections and your shop
How
Get out there…
How
http://g-cultural-institute.appspot.com/signup and this
Without some kind of structure for metrics and evaluation in place, it can be very hard to see when you’re making progress.
How
Set up analytics…
http://weareculture24.org.uk/lets-get-real-resources/
There are very few easily-accessible digital funding streams in the UK. The main options are (a) to embed digital natively into your funding proposals or (b) convince your museums to spend core funds on digital…
UK Funding Programmes
• The new HLF funding framework (announced last year) permits projects which focus on engagement/participation and which use technology to support these outcomes
• The JISC and AHRC Digitisation funds are now closed
• Some small grantmaking trusts and foundations are still supporting digitisation, but other than this most museums (87% according to the ENUMERATE survey) are now funding digitisation from core funds
Making money from digital
• Most people don’t pay for most pictures
• Where they do pay, it is for very specific iconic images for commercial re-use
• Nobody makes money from running a picture library
• The 90/8/2 rule works (make 90% of the collection freely available for people to share, look after the 8% you think might have commercial potential and focus your licensing and distribution on the 2% you know will generate revenue…)
The vast majority of your audience will be habitual mobile/handheld users. All of your web publishing has to be responsive (which means that it displays/works on mobile platforms and gives the user an experience which responds to their actions, including the ability to share with their social community)…
Going on a journey (sorry again!)
Get startedGet started Find where you are
Find where you are Quick WinsQuick Wins Promote
yourself onlinePromote
yourself online
Open up collections
online
Open up collections
online
Create great content
Create great content
Think about Systems
Think about Systems
Generate income
Generate income
Go socialGo socialEmbrace
Participation & Engagement
Embrace Participation &
Engagement
Manage Digital Assets
Manage Digital Assets
Sort out Digital Copyright
Sort out Digital Copyright
Measure Success
Measure Success
Create Sustainable
Digital Content
Create Sustainable
Digital Content
Grapple with the Technical
Stuff
Grapple with the Technical
Stuff
Plan for the Future!
Plan for the Future!
An ever-increasing number of UK museums are ‘outsourcing’ their collections management IT & infrastructure by moving to browser-based versions of their Collections Management, Web Content and Digital Asset Management systems.
Collections Management Software as a Service and collections data in the cloud provides secure, scalable and cost-effective infrastructure for managing the growing body of museum information & collections-related assets.
http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/is-now-the-time-for-collections-in-the-cloud/
Collections in the Cloud
The provision of Internet-connected terminals and public-access wifi has had a transformative effect in Public Libraries, but has had a difficult time in UK museums.
There are challenges to do with the nature of the buildings museums are in, as well as establishing (and paying for) free public wifi infrastructure.
Beyond this, there seems to be a sense that public access wifi is a distraction from rather than an addition to the core museum experience.
There is very little published research into this field currently available.
Public access wifi
We’re hoping to turn this into a regularly-updated digest of current trends, and we’re sure that there’s lots of stuff we have missed.
What challenges are you working on in your museum that we should know about?
Email us at [email protected] to let us know!
What did we miss?