Slides for aDigital Heritage guest lecture on 4 April 2013.

1. Digital Media in Museums
How to get it right?
Merel van der Vaart
4 April 2013

2. About me:
I enjoy working on the crossroads of online & off-line, on-site & off-site. So
far my experiences have varied from making exhibitions to running
workshops, from giving tours of a physical space to setting up social media
projects. I have worked in research environments & have done ‘front line’
heritage jobs (as in actually speaking to visitors).

3. This is how I see ‘the museum’
A place where people, objects &
information come together.
people
information objects

4. And this is the bit I’m most
interested in.
people
information objects

5. off-site
online offline
on-site
Ross Parry & Nadia Arbach
In: Cameron & Kenderine (eds.) ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’ (MIT Press: 2007)

6. off-site
web sites 'outreach'
online offline
in-gallery internet traditional
connections / live labels museum visit
on-site
Ross Parry & Nadia Arbach
In: Cameron & Kenderine (eds.) ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’ (MIT Press: 2007)

7. These days it’s a bit more like this:
off-site
'outreach'
web sites
apps
online social media offline
in-gallery internet traditional
connections / live labels museum visit
on-site

8. This is the bit we’ll be looking at.
off-site
'outreach'
web sites
apps
online social media offline
in-gallery internet traditional
connections / live labels museum visit
on-site

9. Who do you want to reach?
Where will they be?

10. Where will they be?
Family playing Beestenbende game at the University Museum, Utrecht

11. Where will they be?
Me halfway up Mt. Snowdon (Wales)
Family playing Beestenbende game at the University Museum, Utrecht

12. What do you want to achieve?
Wat does your audience want?

13. What do you want to achieve?
marketing
basic information
engaging with collection

14. Does it have to be digital?
Are you sure?
Why?

15. Who do you want to reach?
Where will they be?
What do you want to achieve?
Think about your audience.
Does it have to be digital?
Why?

16. Websites
Social Media
Online catalogues
Here’s a list of the websites we’ve looked at:
https://www.diigo.com/list/merelvaart/4-aril-2013

17. Websites
Social Media
Online catalogues
Here’s a list of the social media we’ve looked at:
https://www.diigo.com/list/merelvaart/4-april-2013-social-m

22. Websites
Social Media
Online catalogues
Here’s a list of the catalogues we’ve looked at:
https://www.diigo.com/list/merelvaart/4-april-2013-online-c

23. “While many museum websites now support
online access to their collection databases,
the speed of the digitization process
has not generally been reciprocated
by a review of data quality.”
Fiona Cameron & Helena Robinson
In: Cameron & Kenderine (eds.) ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’ (MIT Press: 2007)

24. “In the past, collection databases functioned as
internal museum tools for the almost exclusive use
of collection managers and curators.”
Fiona Cameron & Helena Robinson
In: Cameron & Kenderine (eds.) ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’ (MIT Press: 2007)

25. Who do you want to reach?
Where will they be?
What do you want to achieve?
Does it have to be digital?
Why?

26. You don’t have to know everything.
Ask questions.
Make mistakes.

27. m.j.vandervaart@uva.nl