technology for small museums

Technology for the Small Museum

Kaia Landonkaia@mesahistoricalmuseum.org

Assistant Director and Curator of CollectionsMesa Historical Museum

Museum Association of Arizona Annual ConferenceMay 14, 2009

First, a quote from the American Association for History Computing 2009 Conference: “Turns out that not too many jobs ask you to write a 7- to 10-page research paper.” --- Jeff McClurken @jmcclurken on Twitter

Framework for Choosing Technologies

• Start from problems, work toward solutions• What are your goals?• Does it fit with your strategic plan?• What’s the hoped-for ROI for the project?

More tech is not necessarily better

Issues to Consider

• Cost• Necessity• Demand• Scope• Complexity• Maintenance• Image

• Availability• Maturity• Transition• Opportunity

Lin Nelson-Mayson, AAM 2006, as in The Digital Museum: A Think Guide

Top Ten Technologies

1 Word processing Software2 Website/email3 Credit Card Capabilities*4 Collections Software*5 CRM*6 Digitization Tools7 Social Media*8 Scheduling Software (facilities, people, events)9 Network/Intranet/Shared files10 Event Planning/Ticketing

Credit Card Capabilities

If you accept money, you need to accept credit cards.

In Person

• Talk to your bank, do web search• May have to buy terminal ($50-$500+)– What features do you need?– Will it work with your phone lines?– Can it integrate with other software (i.e.,

Quickbooks)?• Discount fees (usually <3%)• Monthly fees ($10-$30)• Set-up fees (free to ???)

On the Web

• Google Checkout• Paypal

• Custom through bank

Abbreviations to Know

SAS = Software as a Service

FOSS = Free and Open Source Software

Collections Software

PastPerfect/TMS/Embark/Re:Discovery

FOSS Alternatives:– Collective Access www.collectiveaccess.org– Archivist’s Toolkit www.archiviststoolkit.org

Archivist’s Toolkit

Online Exhibits

Option A = Code your own in HTML/XML/Flash= can be VERY time consuming, requires high

degree of knowledge of technology, can be a lot of work to change

Option B = Find software to do it for you!

HTML/PHP Web Design Software

• Dreamweaver ($$$, steep discount through TechSoup (cost is $35))

• Kompozer (free!)• CMS options (free, but +tech expertise)– Wordpress– Drupal– Joomla– Plone

Drupal Example

Flash

Requires Adobe Flash ($$$) + lots of tech knowledge

Or there are numerous online tools to help you build flash presentations – many are free, but may include branding/ads you can’t get rid of, and are not easy

Museum Alternatives

• Omeka• Open Museum• Arizona Memory Project• ContentDM• Pachyderm• Open Exhibits (planned – doesn’t yet exist)

Omeka

Pachyderm

Digital Asset Management (DAM)Some FOSS options:

• Gallery• Razuna• Montala• OpenEdit

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• PastPerfect• CiviCRM• eTapestry• Blackbaud/Raiser’s Edge• Many options

Low Cost Donor Management Report (NTEN) http://nten.org/research/download_idealware_dms?sid=20089

SOCIAL MEDIA

Listen First!

If you’re going to use Social Media, it’s a good idea to start by listening– Learn what people are saying about you– Learn how the platform works

Google Alerts

MYSPACE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

All the Rest

• YouTube• Flickr• ArtBabble

• Ning• SecondLife• Steve.museum

• Wikis• Widgets

QUESTIONS?