Digital challenges, digital opportunities

Mia Ridge, ChairMuseums Computer Group

@mia_out @ukmcg#MCGPlay

The MCG’s mission

‘Connecting, supporting, inspiring museum technology professionals’...

The MCG’s mission

‘Connecting, supporting, inspiring museum technology professionals’...

...platforms for sharing best practice and discussion between museum, gallery, archive and higher education professionals who work with museum technology and digital heritage.

MCG Community

• Active discussion list – retro format, great place to ask questions

• Annual UK Museums on the Web conference

• Regional ‘Spring’ meetings• Experimenting with new meet-up

formats: #drinkingaboutmuseums

Projects from the MCG Community

Photo copyright jon pratty http://www.flickr.com/photos/pratty/311046596/

• Semantic Web Think Tank (2006-2007)• Mashed Museum hack days (2007, 2008)• LIVE!Museum (2009-2010)• Culture24’s Let’s Get Real analytics project

(2010-2011, 2012-2013)

MCG Events

• 15-16 October 1982, Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge• ...• 1 May 1994, Ulster Museum, Belfast• ...• 30 November 2012: UK Museums on the Web 2012:

Strategically digital• 30 May 2013: Engaging Visitors Through Play, The Centre

for Media Research, Belfast• 15 November 2013: UK Museums on the Web, Tate Modern

MCG Events• 15-16 October 1982, Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge• ...• 1 May 1994, Ulster Museum, Belfast• ...• 30 November 2012: UK Museums on the Web 2012:

Strategically digital• 30 May 2013: Engaging Visitors Through Play, The Centre for

Media Research, Belfast• 15 November 2013: UK Museums on the Web, Tate Modern

• Also: Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Leicester, Duxford, Kew, Bristol, Liverpool, Oxford, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Wiltshire, Winchester/Trowbridge, Cardiff, York, Swindon, Hendon, Hove, Norwich, Stoke-on-Trent, Brighton, Birmingham, Swansea, Bath...

MCG’s Museums on the Web

• Be inspired by new ideas from other sectors, learn best practice from your peers

• Tate Modern, 15 November 2013• Theme: ‘meaningful visitor engagement’

(AKA ‘people power’)?

Digital challenges...

• Finding good web design/SEO/evaluation/etc agencies, finding good staff

• The emergence of ‘head of digital’ roles

• Online collections, managing digital assets; integration with Collections Management Systems and other systems

• Integrating Collections Management Systems and 3rd party platforms like WordPress

• Storytelling to engage the public• Museum informatics: CIDOC-CRM

and other linked open data topics• ‘Create once, publish everywhere’

– can re-usable content really work?

• Online analytics

• Digital 3D objects – scanning, printing

• Measuring the impact of social media

• MOOCs (online courses)• Google Cultural Institute, Google

Art Project, Artsy, etc• 3rd party tools - PayPal, Google

Apps• Mobile - apps, well-designed

experiences• Digital collections in physical

exhibitions spaces• Touch tables/large-scale

interactives• The user experience of user-

generated content / co-produced exhibitions

Themes from (an entirely unscientific review of) MCG discussion list headings in 2013

Themes in museum conversations

• ‘Strategically digital’• Mobile• Immersive, challenging experiences• High-quality services integrated

across the whole museum• Audience participation and

engagement

More challenges for museums

• New models of authority and expertise

• Constantly changing audience expectations

• ‘Doing more with less’ (and then less again)

• Figuring out where to ask for help• Training and personal development

The more things change...

• Find supportive peers to learn with

The more things change...

• Find supportive peers to learn with: discussions over lunch, pub meet-ups, do a course together...

• Ask 1000 friendly, smart people on the MCG list for help

• Job swaps, mentoring?• Past papers at http://museumsandtheweb.com/

and museum blogs• Try Twitter: #musetech #musesocial #museed

Challenges and opportunities...

...engage museums in play!

Thank you!

http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/

@ukmcg