Matt Morgan wrote:
>
> 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.
That depends on the museum and the services they provide. We are
talking about 3 separate types of functions:
the online catalog (like a library catalog) that provides information
on the museum's collections
the online catalog like the print version, usually a small part of the
collection, often tied to an exhibit
the online exhibit
The library-type catalog can be useful depending on the museum and their
collection. We have a large photograph collection and we will be making
our database available to the public (hopefully) sometime next year (the
research library collection is already available). Since we provide
copies of our photograph collection, it's very useful to the public to
know what we have. Other museums may not provide that service, so
making that information available to the public perhaps would be less
useful for them.
The exhibit catalog or online exhibit is a selected collection of
objects drawn together for the purpose of being "displayed" together.
These two methods are frequently used to highlight parts of the
collection where physical display would be difficult or to provide a
"highlights" display for an exhibit shown in the past. Some museums
also use online catalogs/exhibits as a "teaser" for an existing exhibit.
While I agree that online exhibits don't come close to actually
experiencing the exhibit on display in a museum, online exhibits and
databases can have legitimate uses in the museum environment.
Julie
--
Julie Beamer
Database Manager
Virginia Historical Society
(804) 342-9646
email: [email protected]
web: www.vahistorical.org
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