Adopting technology session

Adopting Technology:Challenges and Predictions

Adopting Technology: Challenges and Predictions

Presenters• Mike Frohlich, Web Manager, State Historical

Society of North Dakota• Tim Grove, Chief of Education, National Air and

Space Museum• Matt MacArthur, Director of New Media,

National Museum of American History• Chad Wollerton, Web director, Thomas

Jefferson Foundation, Monticello

Topics we plan to cover• Introduce Horizon Report• Factors that affect

technology decisions• Key trends• Significant challenges• Technologies to watch• Suggestions for how to

prioritize for best impact• Resource list

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report-Museum.pdf

Factors that affect technology decisions:

Key Trends

• “rich” media – images, videos, audio, augmented reality, animations

• Ongoing digitization and cataloguing projects will require a significant share of resources

• Increasing expectations from staff and visitors of access to social networks

• The role of educator is being redefined

Significant Challenges• Lack of a comprehensive technology strategy

at most museums• Funding for technology is too often done

outside of operational budgets• Lack of understanding or priority placed on

online resources• Documentation or evaluation of technology

efforts• Advances in workflow and content production

techniques in business/industry absent in museums

• Too many museum educators lack the training and resources to address technological opportunities

Content Management SystemsCome in a variety of flavors and can be very complex.

At Monticello, we have at least three different kinds: 1. A Digital asset management (DAM) in which we

keep and provide access to our digital images, primarily, but also have plans to store video, audio, pdfs, and other rich media files. Examples: Luna (commercial) and Fedora (open source).

2. A document management system (DMS) which we use to store, track, and electronic text and images of historic documents. Example: DataFormat

3. And a Web Content Management System…

Web Content Management Systems (WCMS)

Allows authoring and collaboration by staff (and online visitors!) most of whom have little knowledge of HTML markup.

Examples: Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, mediaWiki.

Technologies to WatchNEXT 12 months – widespread

adoption• Mobile technology – fast adoption,

blurring the boundary between cellular and Internet

• Social media – new opportunities to engage audiences and “dialog with” them

Examples from Monticello

Testing QR Codes in the garden

Encouraging an online community through our website

North Dakota Heritage Center Expansion Project

FlickrFacebook

National Museum of American History

NMAH Twitter feed via mobile

- NMAH Star-Spangled Banner singing contest

NASM & NMNH Examples

Leafsnap mobile app (NMNH)NASM mobile museum home page

Technologies to Watch

2-3 years in the future – widespread adoption• Augmented reality• Location-based

services

Examples from Monticello

And making them available online and via a mobile app

Developing 3D models of vanished buildings

Augmented reality:

Museum of London Street Museum app: Superimposes historic photos on landscapes around London.

Technologies to Watch4-5 years in the future – widespread adoption• Gesture-based

computing• The semantic web

Gesture-based Computing

Multi-touch Table

Gesture-based devices

Gesture-based Computing

SUN - Interactive Video Mapping Installation: http://vimeo.com/22543837

MS Kinect

2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2010-horizon-museum-report

Priority List• Do you have a technology plan at your

institution

• What is the intended goal of your technology implementation (sharing collections, bringing traffic in the door, etc.)?

• Who is your audience, and what are their expectations?

• How much staff and time do you have?

• How much expertise does your staff have?

• What is your budget, if any?

ResourcesStudies/Reports• Horizon Report: Museum Edition (2010)

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2010-horizon-museum-report• Pew Internet and American Life Project

http://www.pewinternet.org/• IMLS study: Status of Technology and Digitization in the Nation's Museums and Libraries (2006)

http://www.imls.gov/resources/TechDig05/index.htm• IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums and the Internet (2008)

http://interconnectionsreport.org/ Books/Articles• The Digital Museum: A Think Guide (2007)

http://iweb.aam-us.org/Purchase/ProductDetail.aspx?Product_code=I252• Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience: Handheld Guides and Other Media (2008)

http://www.altamirapress.com/Catalog/Flyer2.shtml?SKU=0759111197 • Museum Informatics: People, Information, and Technology in Museums (2008)

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415802185/ • Letting Go? Sharing Historical Authority in a User-Generated World (2011)

http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=352• Museums and the Web conference papers

http://www.archimuse.com/conferences/mw.html Blogs• Fresh+New - http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/• Musematic - http://musematic.net/• Museum 2.0 - http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/

Professional networks• Museum Computer Network - http://www.mcn.edu/• AAM Media & Technology Committee - http://www.mediaandtechnology.org/• Archives & Museum Informatics - http://archimuse.com/

Best of the Web, Museums and the Web• http://conference.archimuse.com/tags/winners

Poll 1

What is your primary responsibility?• Curatorial/Historian• Collections• Archives• Education/Interpretation• Exhibition Design/Publications• Management/Administration• Development/Communications• Other

Poll 2

Who makes key decisions about technology at your institution?

• I do• My supervisor• A technology committee• Our board• other

Poll 3

My institution has a comprehensive technology strategy that it follows

• Y• N

Poll 4

Funding for technology projects is part of my institution’s operational budget.

YN

Question 1

What factor affect technology decisions?

Question 2

Are there any other trends you would add to the list?

Question 3

What additional challenges would you add to the list?