Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Technology in Museums
Chris Alexander
Manager of Interactive Technology - SJMA
Consultant/Freelancer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Outline
! Introduction
! In-house content creation
! Delivery methods
! Mobile devices
! The new web
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
SJMA Technological History
! Technology program started in 2005 ! September 2007 prototyped iPhone tour
! Used Video iPods in “Notes-Only” Mode ! May 2008 officially launched iPod Touch tour
! First Customer of Guide by Cell (prototype) ! Holistic approach/Many points of access
! MUSE (American Association of Museums)
Award recognition in 2006
YouTube
Podcast iPod Touch/iPhone
Cell Phone
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

San Jose Museum of Art: getting it done
Content Creation In-house
!Started out just using a laptop with Apple’s
Garageband on it using a USB microphone
(audio only podcast)
!Purchased a Marantz digital audio recorder,
Sennheiser Microphone and digital camera
(enhanced podcasts)
!Started using an handheld tape based
camcorder with iMovie (video podcast)
!HD Video Camera, Wireless Microphones,
Final Cut Express (HD video podcast)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

San Jose Museum of Art: getting it done
iTunes
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

San Jose Museum of Art: getting it done
YouTube
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

San Jose Museum of Art: getting it done
Guide by Cell
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Devices Used
Cell Phones Video iPods iPod Touch/iPhone
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Cell Phones
! Started cell phone tours and Video iPod tours concurrently
! Guide by Cell first beta user
- Simple to use web interface
- Great statistical information
! Audio basically recycled from iPod tour
! Broadest visitor reach/accessibility
! Limited capabilities
! Usage has trailed off since launching iPod Touch Tour
! Text messaging and polling available
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Video iPod
! Used Notes-Only Mode aka “Museum Mode”
! Beginning learning curve
! Good Apple documentation
! Limiting (font-size, images, buttons)
! Creative UI solutions
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Access to information
! Visitor have immediate access to
information
! They want small nuggets of info
! They want short audio or video
! They like the ability to share with
friends
! They like to be able to take something
with them
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Website Relevancy
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Museum
Website
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
The new web ecosystem
Museum
Website
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Twitter
! One of the newest that museums are still trying to figure out.
! Twitter is considered a microblog where users make 140
Twitter
character updates.
! Nina Simon and Koven Smith on their blogs
(www.museumtwo.com and kovenjsmith.com) talk about
Museum
the institutional voice on Twitter.
! Website
Unique uses might be to have an artist post updates about
a commission, a curator post about an exhibition, or a
conservator discussing the restoration of an artwork
! Some museums on Twitter include the Getty, LACMA,
MoMA, Tate, and Brooklyn Museum
! Brooklyn Museum has a special online membership
“1stFans”
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Facebook
Twitter MySpace
Facebook and MySpace
! Museums have been active on MySpace for several years now and
Museum
more recently on Facebook. Website
! Offers the ability to start a group around your museum where the
members of the group can interact with one another
! Offers an alternative to the institution’s own website offering hours,
fee, exhibition schedules.
! Museums on both include: the Smithsonian, Oakland Museum of
California, Judah L. Magnus, MFA Boston
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Facebook
Twitter MySpace
YouTube
! Museums have been making great headway with creating
Museum
their own video content and posting it online.
Website
! Videos focus on artists, exhibitions, museum, staff
! Ease of creation has made this possible - affordable HD
cameras, software, audio equipment YouTube
! Artists are surprisingly willing to participate
! Helps to market the museum
! Museums on YouTube include: Indianapolis Museum of Art,
MoMA NY, San Jose Museum of Art, Exploratorium
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Wikipedia
Facebook
! Most museums have an entry on Wikipedia
! Whether they started it or not is another story
Twitter MySpace
! Artists and art pieces also have entries on the site
! Museums are starting to utilize it in unique ways
! Wikipedia Loves Art involved 15 museums and consisted of a scavenger
hunt and free content photography contest aimed at helping to illustrating
Museum
Wikipedia articles Website
YouTube
Wikipedia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Flickr
Facebook
! People are photographing and posting photos of your museum
Twitter MySpace
whether or not you have a no photography policy or not.
! They are also tagging these photos making your museum, artists
and artworks easy to find.
! Allows a forum where users can discuss these items as well
Some Museum
! of the photos are incredible
Website
! Possible marketing uses
! Graffiti at the Brooklyn Museum utilized Flickr to highlight the
exhibition itself as well as its in-gallery and on-line interactive
Flickr YouTube
projects.
Wikipedia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Facebook
Twitter MySpace
Museum
Website
Flickr YouTube
Wikipedia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Facebook
Twitter MySpace
Museum
Website
Flickr YouTube
Wikipedia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Facebook
Twitter MySpace
Museum
Website
Flickr YouTube
The new museum ecosystem
Wikipedia
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology in Museums: Chris Alexander
Contact Info
Chris Alexander
Manager of Interactive Technology/San Jose Museum of Art
Consultant/Freelancer
email: cmalexander@me.com
web: www.chris-alexander.com
Presentation: www.chris-alexander.com/category/presentations/
Tuesday, March 10, 2009