Museums and the web by Caroline Dunmore

The chapter museum and the web is from the book The Responsive museum: working with audiences in the Twenty-First Century what talks about the development in the museum world in the UK.

This chapter looks at what has been happening in between 1999 and 2004 in the museum sector if we look at the use of new technologies.

In the UK the department for education and skills sets the agenda when it comes to the use of technology in education. Museums must make sure they fit in with the agenda

The UK Office for Library Networking (UKOLN) and The Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) came up with a Good Practice Guide for Developers of Cultural Heritage Web Services >>

Different developments

Culture online >>
" The purpose of this website is to develop interactive online projects that will engage new audiences, that are not traditionally interested in arts and culture, and encourage them to participate".

The 24-hour museum >>
The 24 hour museum is essentially a marketing website for publicly funded museums and uses the web to encourage people to visit actual museums, galleries and other heritage attractions.

The knowledge web
It's main purpose is to provide access to online resources.
The main components are:
* Cornucopia >>
* MICHAEL >>
* People's network discover service >>

Cornucopia is a database that shows you all the Phisicel held collections in the UK at cultural intsitutes.

MICHAEL is a online database of digital cultural resources.

The People's network discover service delivers 3 online services: enquirer, discover and read.

The leading museums in the UK on exploring the use of new media are:
Tate >>
The National Gallery >>
The British Museum >>
Victoria and Albert Museum >>

Things that have to be more developed:
* Despite the knowledge of the power of the Internet and the ability of this medium to reach remote users the majority of web-based resources produces by museums are still intended to enhanced, and not replace, the actual visit to the museum.
* Not enough research has been done into how people use and want to use the available digital resources online offered by museums.
* " There has not jet been a unified approach to developing a pedagogy for museums' digital learning resources" .

Research that has been done:
Learning journeys: using technology to connect the four stages of meaning making by Morris Hargreaves. This report has never been published.