Technologies Submitted by Louise Smith, mda Introduction
Current Practice
Barriers to Change
Future Outcomes
Recommendations
Notes
Abbreviations
References Introduction "The internet is one of the most remarkable things human beings have ever made. In terms of its impact on society, it ranks with print, the railways, the telegraph, the automobile, electric power and television. Some would equate it with print and television, the two earlier technologies which most transformed the communications environment in which people live. Yet it is potentially more powerful than both because it harnesses the intellectual leverage which print gave to mankind without being hobbled by the one-to-many nature of broadcast television" (Naughton, 1999). Information and communications technology (ICT) is a vital agent for the change required of museums. Its use is transforming every facet of museum activity ranging from its day-to-day operations through to its core professional and outreach functions. Such change has not been confined however to simply doing traditional things in a new way. The transformation wrought by ICT extends to the very heart of the museum, challenging its fundamental purpose. Museums are being reinvented as physical and virtual spaces in which people engage and learn, interacting with objects and discovering their stories. Interweaving the real and the virtual creates a powerful brand, enabling museums to occupy centre stage in cultural cyberspace. The ?new museum? is a hot topic of debate. At the Oxford Union recently one speaker observed "a breaking down of traditional boundaries between the arts, sciences, technology and the humanities. We live in an increasingly visual culture and while we talk about the information explosion? it is the rate of creation of new concepts that defines our era? It is a work in progress, rather than a finished artefact?.. It changes from second to second" (Yapp, 2001). The use of technology enriches the visitor experience of a museum in a variety of ways. It can provide for people who cannot physically visit the museum but who can learn about its collections on-line. It can with ease join regionally dispersed physical collections in order to create national assets. It can enhance a school visit by providing pre-visit preparation and post-visit follow-up activities on-line. It can be the catalyst for on-line learning communities, supporting multiple channels of communication between learner and learner as well as the learner and the museum. The burgeoning potential of museums underpins a key government ICT initiative currently under development. Culture Online proposes making "the riches of museums, galleries and other cultural organisations available at the fingertips of anyone who want(s) to learn from them?.build(ing) a digital bridge between culture and learning, to allow learners, both children and adults, to travel into the vast assets and deep know-how of cultural organisations" (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2001).  top
Current Practice Technologies have already revolutionised our museums and galleries in ways which would have been unthinkable less than ten years ago. Examples include: Please note: footnotes 1,2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 have been changed to direct hyperlinks and are therefore not listed. The 1999 report A Netful of Jewels: New Museums in the Learning Age (National Museum Directors? Conference, 1999) reflected the aspirations of the whole sector when it proposed the museum as a centre for digital learning. It described how "the seeds for future development are already present in today's museums" by means of: - Relevant, participatory galleries and digital exhibits.
- Digital cameras and other media for use during a visit.
- Content created by visitors as well as by museum staff.
- Facilities for searching the collections in ways that are relevant to visitors.
- Trained staff to help visitors learn.
- Interactive web sites and online services.
- Online information to help in planning visits.
- Connections between the actual and virtual museum, and with other cultural resources locally and world-wide.
A Netful of Jewels also provided evidence of the popularity of technologically enabled museums reaching audiences far beyond their traditional constituencies. On-site information centres have also proved a draw with the National Gallery's MicroGallery, for example, being used by 34,000 people each year. In 2000 a follow-up implementation report, Building the Digital Museum: A National MLA for the Learning Age (Smith, 2000), recognised the need for investment throughout the museum domain in the areas of content and activities, training and infrastructure so as to ensure that best practice is sustainable throughout the regions. Content and activities Recently the Secretary of State for Education declared: "We want there to be online materials that teachers can use to support the teaching of every subject for every age group. We want these to be capable of being used with interactive whiteboards, PCs and over digital television, so that they can contribute to teachers? lesson planning as flexibly as possible, as well as supporting homework and family learning. And we want these materials to form a consistent whole." 8 Content is a resource which museums have in abundance and will be the driver of learning networks such as the National Grid for Learning 9 and Fathom 10 . Currently however little digitised learning content is available, although some museums do have authored websites on specific topics drawing on a range of relevant collections. If accepted that technology enables dissemination of knowledge via the learning networks, then of equal importance is the fact that technology adds value to the visitor experience by enabling communication amongst users and between users and the museum. As noted in a recently published report from MLA: "The provision of information by museums does not, in itself, provide a learning experience ? although access to information is certainly part of learning. The active manipulation, assimilation and application of information does lead to learning?" (MLA Guideline, 2001). On-line challenges include the collaborative creation of new resources with specialists and interest groups outside the museum and the integration of these into existing collections management systems. Within the museum visitors can benefit from a combination of online and onsite activities (accessing additional museum content via the internet to inform the physical visit, for example). Once at home the visitor can consolidate and extend their learning by further online activities. Similarly there is the same scope for a combination for online and onsite activities in museum outreach. Training "It?s particularly clear-cut in the independent sector; we have to develop and adapt to the world around us or else we just disappear." 11 Training and development is crucial if museums are to play their part in UK e-culture. Museums are inventive, building innovative and exciting projects often on the enthusiasm of a single self-trained member of staff. Yet creative projects cannot be sustained with limited resources. To enable the development of high quality and innovative projects, new skill-sets need to be developed which do more than focus exclusively upon generic software training. As those in museums develop new skills and evaluate the success of their projects, they will play a key role in raising standards throughout the sector. The development of these skills will engage volunteer as well as paid staff. The involvement of volunteers is one of the key ways in which museums play a vital role in their local communities. Working in museums, volunteers not only develop their skills, but discover new educational opportunities and prove their abilities in the workplace. Museums have demonstrated through programmes such as the New Deal 12 that they can help tackle social exclusion, promote the cultural potential of museums and contribute towards the skills base needed to boost the creative economy. Infrastructure The evolving digital environment is a complex one in which change is a constant. An infrastructure solution which solely addresses museums is not viable. Instead a distributed sector-wide model is required which builds on the existing resources and expertise that museums and other cultural and learning organisations offer. It is essential that established networking initiatives, including the People?s Network, are extended to provide the infrastructure necessary for making accessible museum content and activities. 13 Providing broadband networking for museums would usefully support the aggregation of public sector demand for broadband connectivity currently being investigated by the Office of the e-Envoy (2001). Indeed the joined-up imperative is beginning to be well-served by the provision of cross-sectoral standards, including the e-government interoperability framework (e-GIF) 14 and the nof-digitise technical standards. 15 top Barriers to Change "Many of our museums and galleries are pioneering work with websites. However, many are well behind the leaders. Without more concerted investment we are likely only to scratch the surface of the opportunity to make the assets of the cultural sector available for learning." So notes the vision report for Culture Online (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2001). Museums are keen to play their part. Currently, however, the museum ?experience? is inconsistent for users, both physical and virtual. As an indicator, approximately 350 museums have websites and, of these, only 15% are linked directly to the National Grid for Learning. 16 Lack of capacity Lack of capacity is the major issue. The sector needs now, more than ever, clear strategies and prioritisation of deliverables. This has been underlined by the requirement from government and funders for museums to develop a much closer relationship with users, potential users and non-users as expressed for example in the DCMS report Centres for Social Change 17 . In the bidding culture that currently prevails there is limited capacity for museums to pursue project-based funding initiatives and/or to sustain services beyond their initial project funding. Policy framework Museums have suffered from not operating within a coherent policy framework. This has manifested itself in a variety of ways including disparity in provision of infrastructure and training for information and communications technology across the library, museum and archive domains. Whilst there is a commitment to connect the 4,000 or so public libraries to the internet by the end of 2002, this does not as yet in practice extend to museums. In addition the ?20m made available for ICT training from the New Opportunities Fund was ring-fenced for library staff. The MLA ICT Strategic Plan, currently out for consultation, provides for the extension of the Peoples? Network to museums and archives (MLA, 2001a). Adequate funding will be needed for implementation. Levels of support Currently museums have access to vastly different levels of support depending upon local and regional circumstances. These include the levels of service provided by respective Area Museums Councils and the presence, or not, of networks of museum development officers and/or curatorial advisers. This has resulted in severe shortages in relevant skills and expertise and uneven access to quality assured information, advice and tools. To compound the situation, the Area Museums Councils are now being required to become strategic bodies, thereby marking a shift from their traditional operational functions. At a national level the provision of operational guidance underpinned by national standards and best practice is in decline since the demise of the Museums & Galleries Commission. Their successor body, MLA, is committed to being a solely strategic body and is currently assessing the viability of their inherited operational functions. As museums face the challenges of the digital age and the cross-domain agenda the need for comprehensive quality assured information and tools is increased. Easy access to such support is essential. At present this is not possible and is due in part to the physical distribution of relevant information and advice, some of which lies outside the immediate domain of museums. top Future Outcomes There is no doubt that the change experienced in the 20 th century due to the application of new technology is minimal in comparison to that promised by the 21 st . A Netful of Jewels described the concept of "a UK-wide digital museum in which sets of images, texts and activities from across the country, connected by subject and theme in an integrated learning environment, are linked together. Interactive services will enable participation and engagement with museums? communities. Museum content and interactive services will be made relevant and accessible to diverse audiences, enabling a rich new dialogue to develop between museums and the public" (National Museum Directors? Conference). New audiences will use museums in new ways which will mean the dissolution of traditional barriers between different kinds of organisation, placing the emphasis on the user rather than on the institution. Expressions of this new world are voiced in various official documents including Power of Place (English Heritage, 2000) 18 and Culture Online 19 . Outcomes will not be technologically driven but rather technologically enabled. The use of ICT will place museums centrally to the needs of current and new users, thereby addressing the learning and social inclusion agendas. Connections will be at heart of the ICT agenda, enabling the development of sustainable regional networks building on the specific nature and needs of diverse local communities. Local autonomy to innovate within a national/international framework of standards and best practice will result in an exchange of specialist expertise and the dissemination of new skills. Technologies will connect collections of local, regional, national and international significance. Technologies will act as the glue between the twin imperatives of museums: the care of their collections and engagement with their communities. 20 Choices will not be forced therefore between addressing ?the basics? and rising to the challenges of access. As an example, addressing so-called ?basic documentation? (both retrospectively and ongoing) is a pre-requisite for the accountability of collections. Having comprehensive electronic catalogues of museum collections will enable informed decisions regarding discrete and joint collecting policies and the potential rationalisation across regional collections. top Recommendations How should the digital museum be delivered? The implementation of the following recommendations will overcome the barriers identified and, as part of the overall recommendations of this report, will enable the consolidation and growth of current good practice, providing the mechanisms to deliver the future outcomes described above. - Provision of broadband connectivity to non-national museums via the People?s Network.
- Provision for practitioners at local level to lead the implementation of best practice within nationally endorsed standards via regional hubs.
- Provision of a national one-stop-shop of information and standards, e-learning and professional development upon which museums, their agencies and regional hubs can call. This service will be free at the point of access, quality assured and comprehensive. It will provide full navigation to all relevant resources and make available comprehensive registers of specialist skills.
- Provision of a dedicated funding programme for ICT learning and skills sharing for museum professionals at all levels, including those with volunteer and pre-entry status. This will focus on the current skills gap by addressing the creation, interpretation and communication of content and learning resources and on new strategic ways of working with a variety of partners, including user communities. The different skills needed have been categorised as follows:
- Scanning the horizon : Developing a comprehensive understanding of the potential offered by ICT to support and develop the learning opportunities offered by museums.
- Museums for learning : Developing new approaches to maximise the learning opportunities offered by museums through the use of new technology.
- Safe in our hands : Developing the technical skills to define and manage ICT projects.
- Ideas into action : Using specific software tools to implement a project.
- Learning skills in museums : Enabling customer care staff to support visitors in their use of ICT in the museum environment. (Smith, 2000).
- Provision of a national content strategy which satisfies local and regional needs. Following this a commissioning programme of digitised content to be undertaken via Culture Online.
- Support is given to the British Library Co-operation and Partnership Programme?s Full Disclosure initiative in order to prioritise and strategically address documentation backlogs on a regional basis.
top Notes Please note: Use the 'Back' button on your browser to return to the text. 4 The site receives about 100,000 individual virtual visits a year (about 1.5 million hits) compared with 35,000 actual visitors [figures quoted in (NMDC,1999)] 8 David Blunkett quoted in the foreword of DfEE (2001). 9 The National Grid for Learning (NGfL) is the UK focal point for on-line learning. http://www.ngfl.gov.uk 10 Set up by Columbia University in the U.S. together with 13 partners, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum Fathom offers online lifelong learning and professional development. http://www.fathom.com 11 A museum director quoted in Cultural Heritage NTO Guideline (2000). 12 A key part of the government's Welfare to Work strategy. http://www.newdeal.gov.uk 13 As recommended in MLA (2001a) 14 http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/publications/frameworks/egif/execsum.htm 15 NOF Technical Standards 16 Number of links to museums at http://www.ngfl.gov.uk/museum/ as of June 2001. 17 "Museums, galleries and archives should undertake outreach work within the community. Central aspects of outreach should be consultation and involvement with underrepresented groups and potential audiences" (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2000). 18 "No-one should be excluded from benefiting from the historic environment. It has the potential to be both inclusive and unifying. But people feel excluded from decisions affecting it. Involvement, far from creating opposition to change, enables views to be exchanged and radical options to be considered rationally" (English Heritage, 2000). 19 "Digital technologies have the potential to open up our artistic and cultural resources to new audiences in new ways. They communicate images and ideas with ease and speed; they allow individuals to make their own journeys an tailor experiences to their own interests; and they facilitate communication between individuals and communities with interests in common. In the cultural sphere they can provide access to places, collections, exhibitions and performances normally experienced by only a few; they can draw new audiences in by presenting things in exciting and engaging ways; they can provide direct contact with artists, directors and curators; they can turn users into creators; and they can bring communities of all kinds together to create their own art and document their own history" (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2001). 20 Illustrated in three MLA strategies on ICT (MLA, 2001a), learning (MLA, 2001b) and stewardship (forthcoming)
top Abbreviations DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport DfEE Department for Education and Employment NTO National Training Organisation WAP Wireless Application Protocol top References Clarke, P. (ed.) (2001), Museum Learning Online, London: MLA Cultural Heritage NTO Guideline (2000) How are we really managing?, Bradford: CHNTO, Internet http://www.chnto.co.uk/management2000/hawrm/ . Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2000), Centres for Social Change: Museums, Galleries and Archives for All, London: Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2001), Culture Online, London: Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Department for Education and Employment (2001), Curriculum Online, London: Department for Education and Employment English Heritage (2000), Power of Place: The future of the Historic Environment, London: Power of Place Office. Library and Information Commission (2000), Empowering the Learning Community, London: Library and Information Commission. National Museums Directors? Conference (1999), A Netful of Jewels: New Museums in the Learning Age, London: National Museum Directors? Conference. Naughton, J. (1999) A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson Office of the e-Envoy (2001), UK Online: The Broadband Future, London: Office of the e-Envoy. MLA (2001a), Information and communications technology and the development of museums, archives and libraries: a strategic plan for action: draft for consultation, London: MLA MLA (2001b), Using museums, archives and libraries to develop a learning community: a strategic plan for action: draft for consultation, London: MLA MLA Guideline (2001) Museum Learning Online, London: MLA, Internet Smith, L. (ed.), (2000), Building the Digital Museum: A National MLA for the Learning Age, London: MLA, Internet http://www.mda.org.uk/digitalmuseums.pdf Yapp, C. (2001), Fellow, speaking at ?Beyond the Museum: working with collections in the digital age?, Conference held at the Oxford Union on 20 April 2001 top
| 
