YouTube to Muse Tube: Now we have Web 2.0 tools, how do we use them?

 

This interaction will provide a forum to examine how Web 2.0 technologies can be and are used by curators, educators and other museum professionals to expand a museum's role by promoting new methods of collaboration within itself and with other museums and institutions. These technologies can also be used to enhance a visitor's experience by transforming it from a passive role to that of an active participant in an exhibition.

 

Despite the relative ease of implementing Web 2.0 technologies, a wide range of issues need to be addressed at the start of a project, such as security, in-house or out-of-house software application management, whether or not to monitor user-generated content (and if so, how) and assessment. Interaction participants will be encouraged to share their experiences regarding the development of different kinds of social networks (professional, educational, visitor participatory, etc) and the specific tools and processes chosen. By identifying different initiatives, tools and processes, we will learn together how to improve our best practices as well as to create new forms of museum content that enhance visitors experiences.

 

Discussion ideas will include strategies on the integration of user generated audio, video and text into both practical and virtual exhibitions, multi-institutional collaborations for education and research.

David Greenfield

 

 

Survey Questions

 

1. Are you or your colleagues using any Web 2.0 tools?

 

2. If so, which ones and how are they being used and to what degree of success?

 

3. What are you using these tools for (to engage visitors, promote learning or collaboration)?

 

4. Are you receiving any support and is so, what kind?

 

5. How long have you been using these tools?

 

6. What has the response been (institutional, user, visitor)?

 

7. What would you like to do?

 

Thank you for your responses!

 

RESPONSES

 

1. Are you or your colleagues using any Web 2.0 tools?

yes

2. If so, which ones and how are they being used and to what degree of success?

The marketing department is using Facebook and bloging to stay in touch with visitors and museum members. They do not get many response to the blog but they have about 120 Facebook friends.

I am working on the Living Museum http://living-museum.org/ a website and curriculum design for students and teachers in Jewish schools to create exhibitions of their own artifacts. We currently have 6 school exhibitions with 3 that will be posted pending our review and about 9 more in development.

3. What are you using these tools for (to engage visitors, promote learning or collaboration)?

Blogging and Facebook = engage visitors

Living Museum = promote learning and collaboration

4. Are you receiving any support and is so, what kind?

I receive support from my colleagues who work on the Living Museum with me and our Deputy Director is a supporter of the project. I cannot speak for the Marketing Department though I know many of our colleagues and interns have encouraged them to have a greater presence on Facebook.

5. How long have you been using these tools?

Blogging about 6 months

Facebook about 2 months

Living Museum about a year and a half

6. What has the response been (institutional, user, visitor)?

positive, slow, and steady

7. What would you like to do?

Greater presence on Facebook, webinars, more video learning materials on the website.

 

 

1. Are you or your colleagues using any Web 2.0 tools?

What would you define as Web 2.0 tools? We think we are, and we are planning more use over time.

2. If so, which ones and how are they being used and to what degree of success?

We have put photos up on flickr and video on YouTube. This has simplified getting those materials into others' hands, although it isn't yet clear that this is the best way to spend time. We have a page and a group on Facebook, to similar indeterminate effect. We offer tagging on our current online collecting project (along with geographic mashups), but it gets little use.

We are studying ways to incorporate more comments, more tags, more user-generated content, while also trying to understand what features increase the ways and frequency with people use our website.

3. What are you using these tools for (to engage visitors, promote learning or collaboration)?

We think the ability to interact with out information is an important part of engaging visitors. Collaboration is extremely important to us (we're currently focusing on wikis for this purpose). We think that the web 2.0 features we have implemented so far, and new ones were in the rpocess of thinking up now, will greatly enhance people's ability to use our materaisl for educational purposes.

4. Are you receiving any support and is so, what kind?

No, although I would assume that there are grants out there to be had, and that funding would help greatly.

5. How long have you been using these tools?

We started using Web 2.0-ish tools about 3 years ago

6. What has the response been (institutional, user, visitor)?

There is strong institutional buy-in. I don't know the difference between "user" and visitor", but it appears that there is also strong appreciatioon by site users--but not compulsive appreciation. It is not clear that these are driving usable or page views.

7. What would you like to do?

More and more. Most of our site should be wiki-like. There should be lots of ways to comment, tag, and add new comtnet. We're getting there.

 

1. Are you or your colleagues using any Web 2.0 tools?

Yes – lots.

 

2. If so, which ones and how are they being used and to what degree of

success?

We are actively using MySpace, blog(s), a discussion forum, and YouTube

and are experimenting with Tumblr, Pownce, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr,

Ning, Second Life and such. We also have a robust and growing IVC program

which provides interactive classroom experiences around North America, and

have done some experimentation with Skype’s video conferencing

capabilities to provide an alternative to the more expensive H.323 system

needed for the IVC.

 

3. What are you using these tools for (to engage visitors, promote

learning or collaboration)?

We are using the MySpace page, the Monitor blog and the Monitor

discussion forum to actively engage visitors, to promote learning and to

serve as a development tool. We are experimenting with Tumblr, Pownce,

Twitter and Ning to promote collaboration amongst colleagues. YouTube is

currently where we are hosting our fun videos and vodcasts – but we are

currently incognito (disguised as ‘Ye Olde Boat Museum’ rather than

The Mariners’ Museum)

 

4. Are you receiving any support and if so, what kind?

We have full institutional support of pursuing these initiatives and

retain the services of a web design firm/consulting group to assist via a

line item in our operations budget. We have received support for some of

our Web initiatives through Dollar Tree stores, IMLS and the Virginia

Foundation for the Humanities. Most importantly, technology has become

the principal priority for 2008 and beyond and is where the museum is

focusing much of its efforts over the next three years. That's not to say

that we are abandoning our physical space - but we are shifting some

resources to work on the virtual and fostering new collaborations with

local universities, museums, schools, homeschool groups and expanding our

current partnership with NOAA and their National Marine Sanctuary

Program.

 

5. How long have you been using these tools?

We’ve had the forum up since 2005 and the blog and MySpace since early

2006. The IVC program has been in various iterations since 2002. Pownce,

Ning, Twitter, etc. have been since the spring of 2007.

 

6. What has the response been (institutional, user, visitor)?

The institutional leadership (both staff and Board level) has always

been supportive of any technological initiatives and in that we have been

extremely fortunate. In terms of our visitors – we have found a slow

but steady increase in the use of our web forum (and it has generated

several significant donations to our capital campaign!) and are currently

upgrading the interactivity of the blog – which has been a very slow

mover because of the lack of interactivity to this point. But there is a

greater sense of user involvement because of these initiatives, and the

ability to engage teens as participants (internships primarily) has been a

wonderful outgrowth of all this.

 

7. What would you like to do? Besides sleep? But seriously – I am currently in the process of

reviewing all of the job descriptions within my division and revising them

to reflect the importance of technology within our museum’s mission. We

have become increasingly aware that our online presence is almost as

important as our actual galleries and thus the web has to be made a part

of everyone’s job, not merely an additive thing. That is my goal, and

so far that has worked extremely well and for the most part all of the

staff are excited about the prospect of participating. Those who are

apprehensive (and are self-proclaimed Luddites) are still game to give it

a try and are beginning to realize that the virtual museum is not a threat

to the actual one. Some of it is semantics – but we’re slowly getting

even the most apprehensive on board!

 

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