Presentation at J Boye 11 in Aarhus, Nov 9 2011, in the session "Digital Strategy and Governance - Dealing with New Challenges in Old Organisations" - moderated by Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy at the Smithsonian Institution
Unveiling the Intricacies of Leishmania donovani: Structure, Life Cycle, Path...
Set it free to create more value 09112011
1. Merete Sanderhoff Project manager Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen [email_address] @MSanderhoff Set it free to create more value
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Vision SMK digital develops digital museum practice that stimulates user interest in art. Mission SMK digital makes art accessible, relevant and inspiring for users by creating a synergy between the museum’s physical and digital faces.
7. First experiments with mobile apps Music Made by Art App for special exhibit Toulouse Lautrec
Thanks: to Janus Boye and Sara Redin for putting me on the speakers list to Michael Edson for moderating this session about new challenges in old organisations to the audience for joining the discussion I speak as a part of SMK, but I do not represent the official institutional policy I’ve just returned from a month long professional study visit to Washington DC, New York City and Chicago, Michael Edson being one of my gracious hosts. One of my main objectives with the trip was to test the notion, championed by pioneer cultural heritage institutions in the US, that free and open access to their resources create more value – both for users and on the bottom line.
A bit of background about the institution I come from: This is SMK…
No, this is SMK…
SMK consists of two buildings merged together – the original building by J. Vilhelm Dahlerup from 1896, and the new addition by Anna Maria Indrio from 1998. The meeting and merging of the old and new parts of the building is, in my point of view, a striking image of the challenge the institution is facing today. We need to bridge the gap between traditional museum practice (research, exhibitions, preservation etc.) and new practices (web 2.0, new media platforms, outreach, user generated content) Digital natives will have new expectations to museums – to offer the services that are common and they have come to love in social media and Wikipedia Instant and free access and findability Interaction with content, allowing users to express their own personalities
In 2008, SMK received 22 mill. DKK (approx. 4 mill. USD) to develop digital museum practise from Nordea Foundation. This enabled us to move to the forefront of digital museum practice in Denmark.
SMK Digital 1. Vision SMK digital develops digital museum practice that stimulates user interest in art. 2. Mission SMK digital makes art accessible, relevant and inspiring for users by creating a synergy between the museum’s physical and digital faces. Thanks to the funding, we have been able to develop Projects: new website, digital productions, new database, Art Stories
A recent newcomer: Mobile platforms Music made by art (iPhone) Toulouse Lautrec (iPhone) New display of modern collections (iPad) Special exhibitions: Hammershøi, Matisse Art Stories mobile
Concept: Relations between collections – sending users on to relevant related content -- Show the website -- Challenges that will be better solved on mobile A real networked ressource Better outreach to users (traffic generates from mobile to website sources Simpler interaction with complex content (”simplexity”)
Preconditions for Art Stories mobile: Free hi res image sharing: Decline charges for images in public domain Linked Open Data Let go of control: Creative Commons license CC-BY
Experiments = experience: Our international advisory board visited SMK in 2009 and the advice was: Make mistakes Great UX is key: Beautiful and content rich websites and productions might be valued by ourselves and our peers, but if they don’t pass the usability test, they fail Be where the users are: Our beautiful and content rich websites and productions might be fabulous, but if they are only accessible via smk.dk they don’t reach potentially interested users where they are Change takes time: Radical vs. incremental change? We have made a lot of progress through incremental change but now it is time to make some long term decisions in order to integrate and secure the sustainability of the initiatives we have started
New challenges in old organisations: At SMK, we need strategies because we are taking steps toward a brand new approach to managing our resources and contact with our users Some institutions have the strategy in their DNA, others need to formulate a fundamentally new approach (SI vs. MoMA)
On a broader basis, SMK is participating in pushing for a general change towards open access in the Danish LAM world : Pilot project – a direct consequence of developing Art Stories: Sharing hi res image files and data for non-commercial online purposes Increase online exposure and traffic – send users on to each other’s content – Linked Open Data Lighten administration and expenses Cultural heritage accessible and easy to use Networked collections – synergies – Art Stories mobile
Points of reference are multiple large international CH institutions that are now paving the way for more free and open access to their resources, for users to share, sample, remix etc. Cost-benefit analyses from a number of large museums (British Museum, National Gallery DC, The Metropolitan) show that they don’t loose revenue when providing free and open access to their digitized resources – on the contrary
Smithsonian Commons is a role model for SMK when we discuss making the transfer from traditional photo sales to free access. The National Gallery in Copenhagen has the same obligation as The Smithsonian to disseminate our common cultural heritage to all citizens
SI is inspired by the Creative Commons movement whose vision it is to utilize the potential of the internet to its fullest – research, sharing of knowledge and democratisation, because it is based on open access and all users have access to the sources
Others institutions providing free and open acces to their hires images are: National Gallery DC, Yale University, V&A, Walters Art Museum Baltimore, LACMA
The Metropolitan Museum in New York has just recently provided free download of their hires images in the public domain
Free and open access does create more value in terms of Exposure Traffic Accessibility Democratisation of knowledge Matching the 21st century globalised society and media reality we live in
SMK is in the process of discussing and exploring the preconditions for free and open sharing of our digitised collections and resources In the meantime, we are a group of museum professionals who are working to influence the Danish LAM world to discuss and embrace open access: Seminar Nov. 11 arranged by SMK, DR and ODM – Michael Edson keynote Our hope is to set the agenda and spur change within the Scandinavian LAM community Questions How do museums become relevant to new generations of users? How do museums best cope with the organisational changes that are necessary when we incorporate new media - for instance mobile platforms - in our programs? What alternative business models can museums develop in the future if we provide basic resources - images, data, research - for free?