the future museum: connected, social, open
paula bray sebastian chan
manager, image services head of digital services and research
powerhouse museum powerhouse museum
aimia
nov 2008
sebc@phm.gov.au
www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog

qr codes
interactive media
social search
public facing blogs
we do folksonomies
pod/vodcasts
social network seeding
location-based content

risk averse?
125+ years old
public sector
government
we are
loved by most visitors
provide real value
under-utilised, under-visited

today

powerhouse
online

our informational sites

full of the
usual content

specialist sites

open content

launched May 2005

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joschmaltz/2336836962/

web ʻpresenceʼ

participation
involves giving
up some control

value-add

node in a
global network
source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/2457576800/

improved findability
making digital collections usable

taxonomies

and folksonomies

transparency

putting our
collection elsewhere
content + community + social environment

last year
31,000 views
51% from Google search
18% direct traffic from PHM
15% from Picture Australia/NLA

our commons
experience
content + community + social environment

four weeks
40,000 views 75% from Flickr community
230 ʻcontactsʼ
2500+ tags

four weeks
thatʼs nearly 17x as much as before

six months
208,000 views 64% from Flickr community
875 ʻcontactsʼ
4500+ tags

creating
communities

making
discoveries

bob meade had
only visited the
museum once in
the last ten years

reingesting tags

sharing collections

connecting our collection
connecting to other digitised content

the museum without walls
maps, places and mobile

summary:
closed websites to integrated open web presence
approaching digital content differently to the
physical museum: new models, structures
putting digital content where audiences are
and ensuring ʻfindabilityʼ
listening to and building collaborative
communities with audiences (not just marketing!)
the web and the visitor at the centre, not peripheral to the
museum and business strategy

questions?
thank you.
sebastian chan paula bray
head of digital services & research manager, image services
powerhouse museum powerhouse museum
sebc@phm.gov.au paulab@phm.gov.au
Fresh + New blog
www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog
all images except where noted by Powerhouse Museum