Collection effects

examining the actual use ofon-line archival images

Brian DawsonMarc Ladouceur

Marcia Rak

The CN Collection

• Documents the development of CN and of Canada as an emerging nation

• 750,000+ images• Dating back as early as the 1850s• Broad subject range• Web site launched May 10, 2000• Founding member of Images Canada

consortium• 7,305 images currently on line

Three 6400-class steam locomotives posed for a photo1936Subject: 4-8-4 (Locomotive) / 6400 (Locomotive) / Steam locomotivesCN000519

Women assembling aircraft partsSubject: Airplanes -- Design and construction / Women in war / World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, FemaleCN001863

A fishing village between the cliffs and the seaFrançois, Newfoundland and Labrador, CanadaSubject: Mooring of ships / Cities and towns -- Canada / Landforms / Ships / Dwellings / OceanCN003678

A farmer inspects his crop of oatsLoon Lake/Loon River area, Saskatchewan, CanadaJuly 1951Photographer: Ken H. HandSubject: Oats / FarmersCN001746

Portrait of Blackfoot Chief High EagleCanadaca. 1926Subject: Blackfoot Indians / Indians -- Kings and rulers / Elders (Aboriginal peoples) / Indians of North America -- Alberta / Beadwork / Aboriginal artsCN000596

The Web site

The Web site

Web visits 2000-2008

What is really going on behind these numbers?

Key questions

• Who and why? (motivations)

• How? (use)

• So what? (outcomes / impacts)

Analytical framework

Situated identity and motivation (John Falk)

• Identity as a causative factor in behavior

• Situated identity as a transitory sense of self, appropriate for the current situation

• Different identities are expressed at different times, depending on need and situation

• People enact identities to fit the moment

Identity-based motivation in the museum

• Explorer: curiosity-driven, general interest in discovering more

• Facilitator: focused on someone else’s needs (e.g. children, family)

• Professional/hobbyist: possess strong knowledge; specific motivation

• Experience Seeker: following recommendations; fulfill expectations of others

• Spiritual Pilgrim: visit to reflect or contemplate; seek a spiritual or restorative experience

Falk (2006)

Motivations for online museum visits

• Planning a museum visit

• Casual browsing

• Self-motivated research

• Assigned research (e.g. school or job assignment)

Ellenbogen, Falk & Goldman (2008) / Goldman & Schaller (2004)

Motivation categorieswe are using

• Explorers• Facilitators• Professional• Hobbyists• Experience seekers• Spiritual pilgrims

• Planning a museum visit

• Casual browsing• Self-motivated

research• Assigned research

Other models

• Motivation theory: intrinsic vs. extrinsic

• Serendipity

• Genre / metaphor

• Visual culture

• Museum experiences(cognitive, introspective, object, social)

Sources of data

Sources of data

• Web log analysis (Web Trends)

• Google Analytics

• Google Webmaster Tools

• Photo requests

• Capturing search terms

• Web site survey

Who and Why

Who: visits by country

GA

CSTM Visits

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

3%

15%

22%

46%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

United Arab Emirates

Italy

Thailand

China

Spain

Singapore

Germany

Tunisia

Ireland

Switzerland

Algeria

Morocco

Philippines

India

Australia

Belgium

United Kingdom

France

United States

Canada

CN Visits

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

4%

16%

67%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Norway

Ireland

Sweden

Morocco

Philippines

China

Italy

Switzerland

Brazil

Japan

Belgium

Netherlands

Australia

Germany

Spain

India

United Kingdom

France

United States

Canada

Who: visits within CanadaCSTM Visits

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

2%

2%

4%

5%

32%

53%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Nunavut

Northwest Territories

Yukon Territory

(not set)

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Alberta

British Columbia

Quebec

Ontario

GA

CN Visits

0%

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

2%

2%

3%

5%

8%

10%

24%

45%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Nunavut

Yukon Territory

Northwest Territories

(not set)

Prince Edward Island

Saskatchewan

Newfoundland

New Brunswick

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

Alberta

British Columbia

Quebec

Ontario

Who: identity & motivation

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Assigned Research

Self-Motivated Research

Casual Browsing

Visit planner

Spiritual Pilgrim

Exp.Seeker

Hobbyist

Professional

Facilitator

Explorer

Photo requests and survey; n=50

How

How: engagement

CN CSTM

Pages / Visit 15.67 2.87

Average Duration 4:18 1:50

GA

How: browsing vs. searching

Survey

How: advanced search

Survey

How: search strategies

Survey

How: search engine keywordscanada science and technology museum 43

museum of science and technology 31

science and technology museum 30

cn images of canada 22

canadian technology 17

musée des sciences et de la technologie du canada 16

mv ambrose shea 14

ojibwa 13

turcot roundhouse 13

history of technology in canada 12

canadian railway history 11

canada science and technology museum gallery 10

canadian technology history 10

cn ""science and technology"" 10

history of canadian technology 10

musée des sciences et technologies 10

mv bonavista 10

mv william carson 10

canadian museum of science and technology 9

musée des sciences et de la technologie 9

museum science and technology 8

science and tech museum 8

canada images 7

moose mountain mine 7

museum of science and tech 7

railways in canada 7

www.imagescn.technomuses 7

'1927 and canada' 6

canadian museum of science and technology archive cn collection 6

canadian science and technology 6

canadian science and technology museum 6

images of canada 6

m.v. marine nautica 6

scenic views 6

science & technology museum 6

canada science & technology museum 5

champlain and st. lawrence railroad 5

great western railway+ontario+locomotive 5

m.v. ambrose shea 5

m.v. william carson 5

How: searching on-siteMode Language Keyword Category Location Decade ImageNoadvanced EN Dock Industry Nova Scotiaadvanced EN Dock Nova Scotiasimple EN Railwayssimple EN Natural Resourcessimple EN Turbo Train Under Testingsimple EN CN002380advanced EN CN002380advanced EN CN002380advanced EN cn005678simple FR Railwayssimple EN Communication & Computersadvanced EN cn00906advanced EN cn000906simple EN chathamsimple EN marysvillesimple EN hockeysimple EN hockey night in canadasimple EN radio hockeysimple EN radiosimple EN radiosimple EN radiosimple EN radiosimple EN radiosimple EN radiosimple EN S.S Samson Marine Services

Categorizing search termsCategory Definition Examples

Ambiguous Nonsense, garbled, cannot determine

Catalogue No The number assigned by CSTM when cataloguing the image

CN005007

Company Names of companies, often manufacturers or operating companies

Canadian National, Kodak, CBC

Date Dates or periods of time, including events that definitively mark a given period

1930’s, 50’s, 1939, Pioneer days, The Great Depression, World War Two

Media The type of resource being sought photo, drawing, painting, video, jpg, tiff, image, essay

Museum Name Variations on “Canada Science and Technology Museum”

National Science and Technology Museum, Canadian Museum of Science and Technology

Object Tangible things, articles that could be museum collection artifacts (may be a proper name)

locomotive, canoe, streetcars, MV Bluenose

People A person, a people, a nation, a race, demographic categories, profession

women, youth, Ojibwa, Canadian, firefighters, Churchill, Bing Crosby

Place City, province, landmark, fort, park, or proper name of a geographic feature

Calgary, Fort Garry, St. Lawrence River

Question / info A search string that was phrased as a question or expression of specific information sought

list of trains at the science and tech museum, article on the technological development in Canada in the 1850s

Subject Curatorial area, activities, phenomenon, geographic features, materials, events, etc.

industry, agriculture, fishing, lightning, mountain, steel, The Great Depression, World War Two

Web site name Variations on "CN Images of Canada Gallery" CN Gallery, CN Image Gallery, imagescn

Types of searches

Off-site searches On-site searches

Place

Interest in user contributed content

Impacts

Impact: Facilitators

“My husband and I are from the MS Gulf Coast and work with youth in our city. We are hosting a retreat in a few months and have been looking for images to utilize as illustrations in our teaching. I ran across this picture in the gallery and it really caught my attention.”

Farmer sowing seedsPrince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canadaca. 1920CN003942

Impact: Explorers“Found good pictures and history. Discovered that there is a lot on line that I must make time to explore."

View of a Cape Breton fishing fleetGlace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada1926Subject: Fishers / Fishing boatsCN000602

Impact: Professionals

University of Toronto, buildingToronto, Ontario, CanadaSubject: University of Toronto (Toronto, Ont.) / Toronto (Ont.) / Trees / College buildingsCN005890

“Our intent is to frame them and hang them

inside a Starbucks that I am renovating on

College Street. We are trying to incorporate

more locally relevant art into our stores. I think

these prints would look fantastic.“

Impact: Hobbyists“I am interested in learning more about photo number CN002614 in your CN Collection on your website. I was wondering if you had any information regarding the actual train in the photo... Any information would be greatly appreciated, as I am attempting to build a prototypical CNR passenger train for my model railroad.”

A Canadian National Railways passenger train crosses the Cove Bridge

London, Ontario, CanadaSubject: Canadian National Railways / Steam locomotives / Railroad bridges /

Railroads -- Passenger-cars / Coal / London (Ont.)

CN002614

Impact: Spiritual Pilgrims

“My grandfather was a CNSS Capt of Canadian Cruiser in 1937, the ships Official Number: 150463 This ship was Sunk by German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer 21 Feb 1941 06-36S 47-18E Indian Ocean All of the 36 crew were taken prisoner. One man later escaped from the POW camp to Spain.The date your photo was taken says 1947, but ship was sunk 1941.Any info on this would be appreciated.”

Cargo ship MV Canadian Cruiser unloading molasses

Montréal, Québec, Canada1947

Subject: Cargo ships / Molasses / Canadian National Steamship

Company, LimitedCN001563

What next?

Online collection experiencesObject experiences

Outside the visitor;The “real thing”

e.g. Object aesthetics; Functional needs

Cognitive experiences

Gaining information;Interpretive/intellectual

e.g. Information resource;Learning resource

Introspective experiences

Imagining, reflecting, connecting;

Inward, private feelings

e.g. Personal memories;

Spiritual Pilgrims

Social experiences

Interaction is most satisfying

e.g. Sharing an object;

Stories of an object;

“Social Objects”

Thank You

Brian Dawson

bdawson@technomuses.ca