This is a presentation for an undergraduate course on museums and digital storytelling

1. From the Cabinets
of Curiosities to
Museums as a
Social Experience
DIGITAL HUMANITIES:
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFORMING CULTURAL
HERITAGE
DR COSTAS PAPADOPOULOS
6 NOVEMBER 2017

2. What is it about?
Storytelling

3. What is it
about?

4. What is it about?

5. What is it
about?
“The audio guide brings the museum to
life. And if you don´t have time or want
to know more you can download the
app on your own phone so you can
listen and read about WW2. Our
experience in whole is great!”
Birgir Jónsson Fjarðarbyggð
WWII Museum
https://locatify.com/blog/icelandic-wartime-museum/

6. Course Structure
From the Cabinets
of Curiosities to
Museums as a Social
Experience
6 Nov.
Preparatory Phase:
Visit to the Science
Museum &
Discussion on the
Museum Experience
8 Nov.
Museums in the
Digital Age: Mobile
Apps and Interactive
Technologies
13 Nov.
Developing the
Wireframe for the
Science Museum &
Introduction to the
Mobile Platform
15 Nov.
Digital Storytelling:
How to Tell Good
Stories in Museums
20 Nov.
Creating the Mobile
Experience I
22 Nov.
Visitors, Movement,
and Circulation in
Museums
27 Nov.
Creating the Mobile
Experience II
29 Nov.
Ownership,
Copyright, and
Community
Engagement in
Modern Museums
4 Dec.
Testing and
Refinements
6 Dec.
Final Presentations
& Group Discussion
11 Dec.
Mobile App
Finilisation
13 Dec.

7. Assessment
s
Evaluation of a Case Study
You will be required to write a case study evaluation of 500 words due
on 27 November.
This will include the assessment and critique of a specific approach to
digital museology taken by one of the examples below (20%). Your
evaluation should not be a summary of the case study but a critical
reflection on the methods deployed and results, especially in relation
to visitor/user experience.
Using tangible smart replicas as controls for an interactive museum
exhibition
Audio-based narratives for the trenches of World War I : intertwining
stories, places and interaction for an evocative experience
Museum in a Box

8. Assessment
s
Mobile App
As part of a group you will be required to develop, and present, a working
mobile app experience for the Science Museum, at St. Patrick’s College,
Maynooth due on 15 December (40%).
Students will work on the development of the mobile app during tutorials, but
also may need to meet out of class to work on the project.
The finalised app should include audio-visual materials, make use of proximity
sensors, and employ digital storytelling principles to enhance visitor
experiences.
Students will also be expected to write a brief report (approx. 750 words)
which will address:
a) their contributions to the project;
b) a reflection on the app development process, including obstacles,
limitations, and successes;
c) a personal reflection in regards to their experience with the project,
including working with a team, and collaborating with a heritage institution.
Each student will get a separate mark based on their contribution to app
development, the final presentation, and individual report.

9. Today
The
earliest
Museum
Cabinets of Curiosities
Towards Modern
Museums
Museums as Social and
Cultural experiences

10. The Earliest
Museum

11. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of Curiosities

12. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of
Curiosities

13. Wunderkammers/ Cabinets of Curiosities

14. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of
Curiosities
John Tradescants
1570-1638 (the elder)
1608-1662 (the younger)
First in the courtyard there lie two ribs of a whale, also a very
ingenious little boat of bark; then in the garden all kinds of foreign
plants…In the museum itself we saw a salamander, a chameleon, a
pelican, a remora, a lanhado from Africa, a white partridge, a goose
which has grown in Scotland on a tree, a flying squirrel, another
squirrel like a fish, all kinds of bright colored birds from India, a number
of things changed into stone, amongst others a piece of human flesh
on a bone, gourds, olives, a piece of wood, an ape's head, a cheese,
etc; all kinds of shells, the hand of a mermaid, the hand of a mummy, a
very natural wax hand under glass, all kinds of precious stones, coins, a
picture wrought in feathers, a small piece of wood from the cross of
Christ…. many Turkish and other foreign shoes and boots, a sea parrot,
a toad-fish, an elk's hoof with three claws, a bat as large as a pigeon, a
human bone weighing 42 lbs....

15. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of
Curiosities
Ole Worm
1588-1654

16. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of
Curiosities
Athanasius Kircher
1602-1680

17. Wunderkammers/
Cabinets of
Curiosities
Sir Hans Sloane
1660-1753

18. Wunderkammers/ Cabinets of Curiosities

19. A Modern
Wunderkammer
with Living
Curiosities

20. Towards Modern
Museums
Ashmolean
British Museum
The Louvre

21. Towards Modern
Museums
Building a National identity
Promoting Science & Tech

22. Towards
Modern
Museums
20th Century
Wars, Recession, and
Reassessment

23. International
Council of
Museums
A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of
society and its development, open to the public, which acquires,
conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible
and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the
purposes of education, study and enjoyment.

24. Museums
as Societal
Institutions
How can museums support the social cultural
resources and motivations to support the
experiences?
How can museums be of value to individuals,
groups, society, people’s lives, needs etc.
Perception of museums has changed over time –
Social Media, television, and film have largely
influenced people’s perception of museums

25. Museums
as Societal
Institutions

26. Museum
Experience
Personal
Context
Social
Context
Physical
Context
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

27. Museums as an Experience
Personal Context
• Motivations and expectations
• Prior knowledge and experience
• Prior interest and beliefs
• Choice and Control
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

28. Museums as an Experience
Social Context
• Facilitated mediation by others
• Social and cultural mediation within a group
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

29. Museums as an Experience
Physical Context
• Physical space
• Architecture
• Exhibition design
• Delivery of Content
• Interpretation
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

30. Museums as Sociocultural
Experiences
•Surveys indicate that only 7% visit alone; 46% arrive in small groups 3-6;
•Visit to the museum – word of mouth (family, friend, acquaintances)
•Learning by interacting and sharing
•Families (intergenerational), school and adult groups learn by talking, watching, interacting
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

31. Museums as
an
Experience
“Each visitor’s experience is different, because each brings
his own personal and social contexts, because each is
differently affected by the physical context, and because
each makes different choices as to which aspect of that
context to focus on.”
John Falk & Lynn Dierking 2012. The Museum Experience Revisited

32. Next Week
Museums in the Digital Age:
Mobile Apps and Interactive
Technologies

33. From the Cabinets
of Curiosities to
Museums as a
Social Experience
DIGITAL HUMANITIES:
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFORMING CULTURAL
HERITAGE
DR COSTAS PAPADOPOULOS
6 NOVEMBER 2017