I really wonder about user studies of searchable online collections. I'm
going to go out on a limb and predict that either no convincing studies
have been done, or that most people don't really use them.
I spend a lot of time thinking about this, but I feel like I have yet to
see a really interesting use for searchable online collections. In my
mind, they serve a narrow set of people, relative to the varieties of
people the entire museum serves, and provide scant service to those
people. I'm sort of struck by Claudio's message, since I previously
thought searchable online collections might at least serve academic
purposes, but they don't help him, I guess.
It seems that nobody has addressed, online, the fact that a visit to a
museum is an interactive social event that people conduct in the presence
(either actual or implied) of several other kinds of people: experts,
strangers, and friends. I have not once seen any interesting interactive
capabilities on a museum web site (discussion between visitors,
ask-the-expert--to name a couple really obvious possibilities). And the
sort of mental exercise that a visitor goes through when faced with a
challenging exhibit ("why is this artwork here? Who thought this was any
good? Why are those people over there reacting in that way to that artwork
that had no effect on me?")--how is that even approached by a searchable
online collection? Outside the context of an exhibition, even with related
descriptive information, artworks lose a lot of their impact. Of course,
they also lose a lot of their impact when reduced to digitized colors, a
flat monitor, and the size of the computer screen (or less).
What kinds of people use searchable online collections? For what
purposes? For the amount of money you can spend on this vs. the benefits,
I'm more amazed how many museums have searchable online collections, than
how many don't have them. I'm not talking about for internal
collections-related purposes, where there's tremendous value, but for
viewing on the internet.
At 04:50 PM 7/11/2002 -0300, you wrote:
OK,
I'm researching about cybermuseu. There are many problems in those museus.
for exemplo: informations about objects, 3D in the objects. Those problems
are impossible to the master or doctor's study in museum.
Cláudio.
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:20 AM
Subject: Online Catalogue Planning
>
> Like the Cincinnati Art Musuem, the Gallery of Art at Washington
University
> in St. Louis is also in the planning stages of developing an online,
> searchable catalogue of its collection (we recognize we are behind the
> times). I too am interested in learning about end-user studies and other
> helpful resources to guide us in the planning process.
>
> Stephanie Parrish
>
> Washington University Gallery of Art
> Saint Louis, Missouri 63130
> http://galleryofart.wustl.edu/
>
>
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