The document discusses new modes of interaction in museums through user-generated content and community engagement, highlighting various projects that utilize crowd-sourcing and tagging to enhance exhibition development. It emphasizes the importance of clear goals, inclusivity, and technology in encouraging visitor participation and creating meaningful connections. The document cites examples such as the Brooklyn Museum's 'Click!' and collaborative projects that showcase how museums can democratize the visitor experience.

1. New
Modes
of
Interaction
User-­‐Generated
Content,
Community,
and
Museums
Lauren
Valone
lauren.valone@gmail.com
New
England
Museum
Association
Annual
Conference,
Hartford,
CT
November
18,
2011

2. User
Generated
Content
Who?...What?...Why?...How?
Visual
Text/Language
• Curatorial
projects
• Tagging
• Exhibition
• Exhibition
development
development
• User-­‐generated
• Multiple
levels
and
metadata
depths
of
participation
• Wikis

3. User
Generated
Content
Who?...What?...Why?...How?
Visual
• Curatorial
projects
• Exhibition
development
• Multiple
levels
and
depths
of
participation
Art
Gallery
of
Ontario’s
In
Your
Face:
The
People’s
Portrait
Project

4. User-­‐Generated
Content
What
do
you
think
of?
http://conference.archimuse.com/image/tallon_l_and_i_froes_going_mobile_insights_into_the_13
Text/Language
• Tagging,
wikis
• Exhibition
development
• Dialogue
with
collection
• Relevancy

5. User-­‐Generated
Content
How
can
you
make
it
work
for
your
museum?
Visual
Text/Language
• Curatorial
projects
• Tagging
• Exhibition
• Exhibition
development
development
• User-­‐generated
• Multiple
levels
and
metadata
depths
of
participation
• Wikis

6. Initial
Considerations
• Theme
or
big
idea
• Clear
Goals
• Clear
Audience
• Acknowledgement
• Planning
for
Response

7. Click!
:
The
Brooklyn
Museum
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click/
The
Basics
• Used
the
idea
of
crowd-­‐sourcing
to
form
an
exhibit-­‐building
program
• Theme
of
“The
Changing
Faces
of
Brooklyn”
• The
public
was
invited
to
participate
in
a
3-­‐month
evaluation
period
where
they
could
rate
pictures
• The
most
popular
pictures
were
displayed
at
the
Museum,
with
the
ratings
determining
their
size

8. Click!
Statistics
• 389
photo
submissions
• 3,346
evaluators
• 410,089
evaluations
Successful
because:
• Broad,
applicable
theme
• Clear
objects
• Multiple
paths
of
entry
• Competition
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click/top_discussed.php
• Acknowledgement

9. Click!
The
Technology
• Used
a
specific
algorithm
for
voting
system
• Asked
people
for
their
knowledge
level
and
location
• Technology
that
facilitated
an
in
person
experience
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click/comparison.php

10. Folksonomy
&
Tagging
Folksonomy
• Socially
constructed
classification
system
• Users
describe
what
they
are
seeing
• Use
terms
that
make
sense
to
them
www.steve.museum
Tagging
• Non-­‐hierarchical
search
term
by
viewer
or
owner
• Low
barrier
for
participation
• Directly
involvement
with
collection
• Vernacular
language
• Fill
contextual
gaps
within
http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/03/12/discover-­‐the-­‐ima-­‐using-­‐tags/
collections

11. “…the
everyday
stories
of
individual
people
actually
resonates
with
museum
visitors
more
than
the
customary
dispassionate
third
person
thesis.”
-­‐ Daniel
Spock
Minnesota
History
Center
Exhibitionist
2009

12. Next
Steps
with
Tagging
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/tag_game/

13. Next
Steps
with
Tagging
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/freeze_tag/

14. Tagging
&
Community
:
The
Virtual
Museum
of
the
Pacific
http://australianmuseum.com/image/Virtual-­‐Museum-­‐comb-­‐detail/
For
more
information,
check
out
the
project’s
YouTube
page:
http://www.youtube.com/VirtualMuseumPacific;
http://australianmuseum.com/BlogPost/Science-­‐Bytes/Virtual-­‐Museum-­‐of-­‐the-­‐Pacific

15. Communication
Combinations:
Object
Stories
http://www.objectstories.org
The
Basics
• Object
Stories
is
a
new
audio
and
photo
installation
project
from
the
Portland
Art
Museum
(Oregon)
• Lead
to
extended
interactions
• Storytellers
are
given
acknowledgement
• These
videos
are
then
published
on
an
onsite
and
online
gallery
http://www.objectstories.org

16. Communication
Combinations:
Object
Stories
http://objectstories.pam.org/stories/
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-­‐do-­‐you-­‐capture-­‐compelling-­‐visitor.html

17. Communication
Combinations:
The
Commons
to
Common
Ground
• Created
in
2008
with
the
Library
of
Congress
• Currently
over
50
institutions
worldwide
participating
The
Commons
has
2
main
objectives:
1. To
increase
access
to
publicly-­‐
held
photography
collections
2. To
provide
a
way
for
the
general
public
to
contribute
information
and
knowledge.
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/papers/oates/oates.html

18. Communication
Combinations:
The
Commons
to
Common
Ground

19. Communication
Combinations:
The
Commons
to
Astronomy
Photographer
of
the
Year
• Used
Flickr
for
it’s
reach,
flexibility,
and
appropriateness
• Over
2,000
members
in
their
Flickr
group
• Made
a
contest
administration
application
tool
with
the
Flickr
API
(Application
Programming
Interface)
• Monitored
participant
usage
through
Flickr’s
tracking
tools
• In
2011
almost
800
people
from
over
30
countries
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto;
http://www.flickr.com/groups/astrophoto;
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/romeo/romeo.html

20. Communication
Combinations:
The
Commons
to
Common
Ground
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/bray/bray.html
• An
extension
of
the
partnership
between
institutions
involved
in
The
Commons
and
Flickr
• 10
institutions
and
their
respective
constituents
virtually
met
up
in
October
2009

21. Communication
Combinations:
The
Commons
to
Common
Ground
An
example
of
bridging
online
interactions
into
face-­‐to-­‐face
experiences
Powerhouse
Museum,
Australia
Brooklyn
Museum,
NYC
http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum_photography/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/3978346173/
3949752901/sizes/m/in/photostream/
sizes/m/in/set-­‐72157622482438604/

22. Communication
Combinations:
Cooking:
The
Exhibition
Chefs
http://cookingexhibitchefs.ning.com
The
Basics
• Cooking
has
opened
the
traditional
exhibition
development
process
to
the
general
public
• Was
created
by
the
Exhibitions
team
• Combines
visual
and
verbal
communications
• Has
a
broad
theme
• Multiple
paths
for
involvement
• Acknowledgement

23. Communication
Combinations:
Cooking:
The
Exhibition
Chefs
Ning
• Customizable
software
platform
• Functions
like
a
cross
between
Facebook
and
a
blogging
program
• Social
networking
and
interaction
management
platform
• Facilitated
the
involvement
of
hundreds
of
people
Staff
Can
• Post
documents
• Share
design
plans
on
the
site
• Organize
call-­‐in
meetings
http://cookingexhibitchefs.ning.com/
• Organize
virtual
events
• Make
an
iphone
application

24. Communication
Combinations:
Cooking:
The
Exhibition
Chefs
http://cookingexhibitchefs.ning.com/photo/albums/cooking-­‐team-­‐dinner-­‐1292009

25. Communication
Combinations:
Cooking:
The
Exhibition
Chefs
Members
Can
• Have
profiles
• Post
pictures
• Communicate
with
others
• Comment
on
posts
• Post
messages
and
photos
http://cookingexhibitchefs.ning.com/photo/albums/maine-­‐shrimp-­‐from-­‐sea-­‐to-­‐table

26. User
Generated
Content:
Why
Bother?
• Helps
form
community
– Local/physical
and
global/virtual
• Incorporation
of
new
perspectives
• Increase
diverse
involvement
• Democratize
museum
experience
lauren.valone@gmail.com