museumsandtheweb.com - metrics

Making Sense of Numbers: A Journey of Spreading the Analytics Culture at Tate

ElenaVillaespesa — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:21:02 +0000

MW2012

Elena Villaespesa, Tijana Tasich, Tate, United Kingdom

Abstract

Program Item Reference:

Making sense of numbers: a journey of spreading the online metrics culture across Tate

Blow Up Your Digital Strategy: Changing the Conversation about Museums and Technology

rjstein — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:30:24 +0000

MW2012

Robert Stein, Indianapolis Museum of Art, USA

Abstract

How much storage will your museum need in the next five years? What is the best way to leverage electronic media and social networks to engage new museum audiences? When should we invest in a new online collection or a new website? These questions and many more plague museum technology professionals who are struggling to justify the investments in technology and staff that leverage these tools for the best purposes of the museum. The creation of Digital Strategy documents for museums seems to be a common approach to addressing these concerns, attempting to insert thoughtful planning and strategic thinking about technology into the conversation at a senior management level. While it’s hard to argue with the logic of developing a step-by-step plan for technology investment, is it possible that by ghettoizing technology strategy to a realm apart from the larger strategy of the museum, we will only succeed in highlighting the perceived gaps that exist between technology issues and those of real importance and permanence for the future of museums?

Keywords: digital strategy, technology strategy, museum administration, professional development, mission, strategic planning, metrics

Program Item Reference:

Blow Up Your Digital Strategy: Changing the Conversation about Museums and Technology

Clicks that Count: Achieve and Measure Online Success with Google Analytics & AdWords (Google Analytics Custom Dashboard Workshop)

balpert — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:15:57 +0000

MW2012

Keywords:

analytics

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

google analytics

Keywords:

information dashboards

Keywords:

reporting

Abstract:

Since its introduction in 2005, Google Analytics has become "the most widely used website statistics service, currently in use on around 57% of the 10,000 most popular websites" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics). Even though "GA" is renowned for its ease-of-use and full-featured functionality however, the challenging question remains: "How can I use the data to improve my website and further my organization's goals"?
In the first section of this Google-oriented joint workshop, the Smithsonian Institution's Web Analytics Analyst Brian Alpert will discuss the basic practice of using web analytics to improve a website, highlighting an Excel-based "custom dashboard" based on data exported directly from Google Analytics. This dashboard enables Smithsonian's web practitioners to use trended data to discern actionable trends and insights, articulate the impact it is having on their organization, and further articulate the steps being taken to correct or improve the situation.
Smithsonian Institution Archives' Catherine Shteynberg will extend the discussion by presenting a case study illustrating how the Archives came up with the goals, strategies, tactics, and finally, measurements that drive their Google Analytics dashboard. Consideration will also be given to a broader analytics approach, using other techniques to gain insight pertaining into other, non-web program elements.
Another Google product that seems daunting to many users is AdWords. Google offers an in-kind program including free AdWords advertising for nonprofit organizations. Participating nonprofits have a monthly budget of $10,000 per month but most nonprofits' marketing professionals don’t come close to reaching this cap. The ad spend depends on many variables, including the number and kind of campaigns you create, the number of people who search for the chosen keywords, and whether or not Googlers choose to click on your text-based ads.
Balboa Park Online Collaborative's Senior Editor Maren Dougherty will conclude the workshop with an overview of how to create and track effective AdWords campaigns. The session will start with the basics of developing keyword lists, creating campaigns, and evaluating ad performance using Conversion Tracking. Participants will then use their museum’s upcoming events or exhibitions to develop new ad campaigns.

Type:

Workshop - full or half day

Clicks that Count: Achieve and Measure Online Success with Google Analytics & Adwords (Google Analytics Custom Dashboard Workshop)

Site:

http://www.si.edu

Authors:

Brian Alpert

Maren Dougherty

What do we really know about social media in museums?

danaallengreil — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:32:10 +0000

MW2012

Keywords:

social media

Keywords:

twitter

Keywords:

Facebook

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

best practices

Keywords:

evaluation

Abstract:

With years of collective experience in social media engagement, many museums are stopping to ask themselves: what have we really learned about the audiences we are connecting with? Have we formed more meaningful relationships with our community and in the process, are we better serving the missions of our institutions? Could the future of our digital outreach be primarily based on social engagement and if so, are our organizations adapting rapidly enough to be prepared for this social future? Are our current social media practices engaging online communities to their greatest potential, or are we missing out on crowdsourcing, collaboratively learning, or other as-yet undiscovered social experiences? How can we better evaluate the success of our efforts and take our social media engagement to the next level?

This extended professional forum will use a range of social media platforms to engage museum professionals attending Museums and the Web and beyond in this discussion. This social media event component will begin before the meeting in San Diego 11-14 April using a wiki and other social media platforms, and the conversation about what we really know about social media, museum content, and cultural institution audiences will surely continue long afterwards as well. The aim is to engage fellow practitioners in defining the myths and assumptions we most want to “bust,” and to gather data in order to formulate testable hypotheses for this provocative discussion, culminating in a special professional forum at the MW2012 conference.

Type:

Professional Forum - discuss an issue

Professional Forum on "What do we really know about social media in museums?"

Site:

http://si.edu/Connect

Authors:

Elissa Frankle

Georgina Goodlander

Victoria Portway

Jeff Gates

Darren Milligan

Brian Alpert

Erin Marie Blasco

Sarah Banks

David Klevan

Amelia Wong

Making sense of numbers: a journey of spreading the online metrics culture across Tate

ElenaVillaespesa — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:36:01 +0000

MW2012

Published Paper:

Making Sense of Numbers: A Journey of Spreading the Analytics Culture at Tate

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

Web analytics

Keywords:

evaluation methods

Keywords:

audience research

Keywords:

Performance

Keywords:

success measures

Abstract:

Measuring online performance has been one of the hot topics for museum online professionals in the UK. Tate was one of the participants in the Culture 24’s action research project which focused on measuring online success. All participants agreed that reporting purely on number of visits and time spent on site fulfilled the governmental requirements, but has not necessarily helped to evaluate online presence against institutional objectives.

We realised we had to start using the large amount of available metrics in a more intelligent way. In this paper we would like to present the steps we have taken to increase the benefits that online metrics can bring to other institutions and and have brought to Tate and the challenges we met on the way of spreading the analytics culture across the organisation.

Using online analytics maturity models we will assess Tate’s management of online analytics looking at each of the following aspects:

Management
Objectives
Scope
Resources
Methodology and process
Technology

There were many different reasons that motivated us to embark on this journey: most importantly, our wish to understand who our online visitors are and how they engage with Tate’s content to offer the best possible user experience. The explosion in digital social engagement also changed the way we perceive, develop and evaluate content for our digital and physical spaces and the metrics have had to follow in the same fashion.

The paper will uncover our analysis process and present outcomes of our metrics audit, the process of creating online analytics reports for the website launch against a new set of key performance indicators, and show how we started making sense of online metrics in a more mature way.

We are also hoping to present findings from a comparative evaluation study of two campaigns to illustrate real analytics in action. The paper would have a great value as a practical case study for any organisation wanting to implement the online analytics culture across their organisations and tell stories using numbers.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Case studies in reading web metrics

Site:

http://www.tate.org.uk

Authors:

Elena Villaespesa

Tijana Tasich

Going further with web metrics with Seb Chan

sebchan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:43:37 +0000

MW2012

Keywords:

analytics

Keywords:

strategy

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

technical

Abstract:

Web analytics are an essential skill for every museum web developer and content producer. With the new complexities of a 'web presence' rather than just a 'web site', museum professionals need more than ever the ability to measure and track visitors so as to both improve their products and content, as well as demonstrate value to managers, directors and funders.

This workshop looks in detail at best practices for web analytics using Google Analytics and participants will learn how to bake in analytics when designing and building digital projects, and how to ensure that useful reports are able to be generated and insights learned.

We will specifically look at -

tweaking tracking codes and health-checking
analytics gotchas
understanding the new look Google Analytics (2011)
understanding and designing segmentation and goal tracking
making useful dashboards and reports
social tracking and 'engagement' metrics

We will also look at, time permitting, integration with Excel for advanced reporting, as well as integration with heat mapping, and ISP-level analytics.

Seb Chan has been delivering Google Analytics and web analytics consulting and workshops for cultural institutions all over the world since 2008. Participants are advised to read his previous MW papers on analytics (2008 - https://conference.archimuse.com/biblio/towards_ne... and 2010 - https://conference.archimuse.com/biblio/spreadable...) , as well as the Lets Get Real report he co-authored for Culture 24 in 2011 (http://weareculture24.org.uk/projects/action-resea...).

Participants will need access, preferably admin level, to their organisation's Google Analytics account.

Type:

Workshop - full or half day

Going further with web metrics with Seb Chan

Authors:

Sebastian Chan

Blow Up Your Digital Strategy: Changing the Conversation about Museums and Technology

rjstein — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:25:03 +0000

MW2012

Published Paper:

Blow Up Your Digital Strategy: Changing the Conversation about Museums and Technology

Keywords:

museum digital strategy

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

return on investment

Keywords:

strategic planning

Keywords:

technology leadership

Keywords:

transparency

Abstract:

How much storage will your museum need in the next 5 years? What is the best way to leverage electronic media and social networks to engage new museum audiences? When should we invest in a new online collection or a new website? These questions and many more plague museum technology professionals who are struggling to justify the investments in technology and staff that leverage these tools for the best purposes of the museum.

At the same time many report that museum directors are often unreceptive to embracing new technology projects, and are slow to adapt to changing practices in contemporary online culture. While the status quo may be changing, communications are further complicated by the fact that most museum technologists are not represented among the senior management in their museums.

The creation of Digital Strategy documents for museums seems to be a common approach to addressing these concerns, attempting to insert thoughtful planning and strategic thinking about technology into the conversation at a senior management level. While it’s hard to argue with the logic of developing a step-by-step plan for technology investment, is it possible that by ghettoizing technology-strategy to a realm apart from the larger strategy of the museum, we will only succeed in highlighting the perceived gaps that exist between technology issues and those of real importance and permanence for the future of museums?

This paper will discuss a variety of issues that need to be considered by technology leaders when thinking about how to merge the benefits achieved through technology with the core strategic planning of the museum. Practical suggestions about how to communicate to senior leadership about technology projects will be discussed, and specific examples regarding how to establish metrics and goals that can be indexed to the strategic plan of the museum will be given. Techniques for avoiding the “shiny-object-syndrome” of new technology projects will be important to demonstrate how technology tools can be fundamental in achieving the museum’s primary purposes of stewarding collections, engaging audiences, and promoting the mission of the museum at a global level.

Type:

Paper - in formal session

Digital strategy

Authors:

Robert Stein

Rethinking Evaluation Metrics in Light of Flickr Commons

jdalton — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:15:07 +0000

MW2011

Paula Bray, and Sebastian Chan, Powerhouse Museum, Australi; Joseph Dalton, New York Public Library, USA; Dianne Dietrich, Cornell University Library, USA; Effie Kapsalis, Smithsonian Institution Archives, USA; Michelle Springer and Helena Zinkham, Library of Congress, USA

Abstract

In the past several years, cultural heritage institutions, including archives, libraries, and museums, have been placing their collections in Web spaces designed for collaboration and communication. Flickr Commons is one example of a highly visible space where cultural heritage institutions have partnered with a popular social networking site to provide greater discovery to, access of, and opportunities to interact with image collections on a large scale. It is important to understand how to measure the impact of these kinds of projects. Traditional metrics, including visit counts, tell only part of the story: much more nuanced information is often found in comments, notes, tags, and other information contributed by the user community. This paper will examine how several institutions on Flickr Commons - the Library of Congress, the Powerhouse Museum, the Smithsonian, New York Public Library, and Cornell University Library - are navigating the concept of evaluation in an emerging arena where compelling statistics are often qualitative, difficult to gather, and ever-changing.

Keywords: Flickr, metrics, evaluation, crowdsourcing, statistics, images

Program Item Reference:

Rethinking Evaluation Metrics in Light of Flickr Commons

How to Evaluate Online Success? A New Piece of Action Research

JaneFinnis — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:24:23 +0000

MW2011

Jane Finnis, Culture24, United Kingdom; Seb Chan, Powerhouse Museum, Australia; and Rachel Clements, Central Saint Martins, United Kingdom

Abstract

How to measure and define the success of cultural websites and online services is a problem common to all parts of the cultural sector – museums, archives, galleries, arts organizations, libraries and publishers. Worse, funding agencies and government departments lack the expertise to offer guidelines or set standards. The result is a confusing mixture of statistics and reporting that reveals little about genuine user satisfaction.

In mid-2010, a group of 24 organizations and agencies from across the cultural heritage and arts sector in the UK began collaborating on a piece of action research addressing the issues around 'evaluating online success'. Coordinated by Culture24 and working with Seb Chan, the groups of institutions have been developing a framework and best practice guide for measuring online projects both on organizational websites and those presented through social media channels.

Keywords: evaluation, metrics, evaluating cultural websites

Program Item Reference:

How to Evaluate Online Success – New action research with 24 institutions

Tales of the Unexpected: A Pragmatic and Candid View of Life Post-Launch

biblio — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:34:58 +0000

Mitroff Silvers, D., Sexton C., & Burnette A. (2010). Tales of the Unexpected: A Pragmatic and Candid View of Life Post-Launch. (Trant, Jennifer, David Bearman, Ed.).Museums and the Web 2010. Proceedings.

Moving the Museum to the Medium: YouTube Play and the Guggenheim

nsemel — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:50:47 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

youtube

Keywords:

video

Keywords:

social media

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

art

Keywords:

collaboration

Keywords:

presentation

Keywords:

global

Abstract:

In June 2010, the Guggenheim Museum and YouTube, in collaboration with HP and Intel, launched YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video, a project conceived to discover and showcase the most exceptional talent working in the ever-expanding realm of online video. Drawing on the Guggenheim’s ongoing commitment to new media, the goal of the project was not to discover what’s ‘now,’ but what’s next in creative
video.

Over 23,000 video submissions were received from creators in 91 countries around the world, which were considered by the Guggenheim curatorial team for the shortlist. A jury of experts comprising celebrated figures from the worlds of art, design, film, and entertainment reviewed the submissions for inclusion in the first biennial of creative video organized by a major museum of contemporary art. The 25 videos were on view in the Guggenheim Museum for four days and a live event celebrating the work was lived streamed to the world on youtube.com/play.

In conjunction with the project, the Guggenheim curatorial team launched The Take Blog (guggenheim.org/thetake), a space on the Guggenheim’s Web site for commentary and discussion by the museum’s invited guests, staff, and Web site visitors featuring writings by scholars, artists, and other experts. The blog provided a
space for the expert community to elevate the conversation surrounding the project and provided a discussion platform for topics including online video, digital content, the history of video art, and the effects of the Internet on art and culture.

Social media was the primary tool used to engage online audiences with The Take Blog over the four-month life of the YouTube Play project and beyond, along with e-mail marketing and on-site computer kiosks at the museum. Strategic social media collaboration with YouTube and HP served to drive growth and attract new audiences on the Guggenheim’s social media channels and Web site. From July 1-Nov 1, 2010, both Facebook and Twitter amassed over 76,000 new followers, a 94% and 67% increase respectively, while the blog attracted over 67,000 visitors--more than
major exhibition microsites such as Kandinsky and Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward.

In addition, the YouTube Play Web site garnered more than 10 million online viewers the day of the live event—a greater number of views than the Guggenheim Web site received the entire year.
To date, the project has attracted over 23 million viewers to the YouTube Play Web site, providing a platform to highlight some of the most innovative work being produced online today. These unfathomable statistics were achieved through tapping into YouTube, HP and Intel’s deep technological resources, the Guggenheim’s expertise in new media, and the collective communications outreach in the global social space.

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

Demonstration V

Site:

http://www.youtube.com/play

Authors:

Nora Semel

Francesca Merlino

Professional Forum on Rethinking Evaluation Metrics

dbear — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:32:40 +0000

Type:

Session

Programs:

Rethinking Evaluation Metrics in Light of Flickr Commons

Date & Time:

April 8, 2011 - 11:00am - 12:00pm

Location:

Congress

metrics

measurement

use

flickr

evaluation

Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*).

A confirmation of your registration will be sent to your email address. Please print it out and bring it to the conference.

You will not receive registration confirmation by regular mail.

If you do not receive your confirmation today, please contact us.

Archives & Museum Informatics EIN: 77-0708617; GST / BN 887978914

Description

What are we measuring when we measure traffic on our Web site and how does it relate to our visibility on the Web? When we seek broad exposure on a range of social sites, and achieve it, how does it effect our data about use? Why are we measuring anyway, and what ought we be trying to learn?

Mini-Workshop on How to Evaluate Success

dbear — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:19:18 +0000

Type:

Session

Programs:

How to Evaluate Online Success – New action research with 24 institutions

Date & Time:

April 8, 2011 - 10:00am - 11:00am

Location:

Congress

metrics

evaluation

assessment

Required fields are marked with a red asterisk (*).

A confirmation of your registration will be sent to your email address. Please print it out and bring it to the conference.

You will not receive registration confirmation by regular mail.

If you do not receive your confirmation today, please contact us.

Archives & Museum Informatics EIN: 77-0708617; GST / BN 887978914

Description

Web Analytics: Part Two – Going deeper with Google Analytics (including personal health check!)

dbear — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:11:51 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

google analytics

Keywords:

Web analytics

Keywords:

metrics

Abstract:

This workshop is delivered in two parts : this second part, the afternoon session, is only available to those who have attended the morning session. The first part is here.

In the afternoon attendees will go deeper into Google Analytics with their own websites. Attendees will be shown how to 'health check' their sites and then time will be spent defining and configuring goals, customised reporting and learning how to gather valuable insights from their existing data. The emphasis throughout the day will be teaching what is achievable with low cost and free options and all participants will be encouraged to have Google Analytics installed and operational on their web projects before the workshop. Both the morning and the afternoon are focused on participants' own web projects and where possible these will be used as examples.

Type:

Workshop - full or half day

Web Analytics: Part Two – Going deeper with Google Analytics

Site:

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog

Authors:

Sebastian Chan

Web Analytics: Part One – The why and how of measuring and tracking online visitors

sebchan — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:52:00 +0000

MW2011

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

Web analytics

Keywords:

google analytics

Abstract:

This workshop is delivered in two parts: you can sign up for just the morning session or do it as a full day workshop. The afternoon session is only available to those who have attended the morning session.

The morning session introduces four broad types of online measurement tools and how they can be used in various combinations by museums. The morning will explore site specific tools as well as introduce social media measurement options.

In the afternoon attendees will have the opportunity to have a 'health check' performed on their sites and and be shown how to define and then configure particular tracking goals and reporting options. See the full description of the afternoon session.

The emphasis throughout the day will be teaching what is achievable with low cost and free options and all participants will be encouraged to have Google Analytics installed and operational on their web projects before the workshop. Both the morning and the afternoon are focused on participants' own web projects and where possible these will be used as examples.

Type:

Workshop - full or half day

Web Analytics: Part One – The why and how of measuring and tracking online visitors

Site:

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog

Authors:

Sebastian Chan

How to Evaluate Online Success – New action research with 24 institutions

sebchan — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:49:32 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

How to Evaluate Online Success? A New Piece of Action Research

Keywords:

metrics

Keywords:

collaboration

Keywords:

social media

Keywords:

best practice

Keywords:

analytics

Keywords:

evaluation

Abstract:

How to measure and define the success of cultural websites and online services is a problem common to all parts of the cultural sector – museums, archives, galleries, arts organisations, libraries, publishers. Worse, funding agencies and government departments lack the expertise to offer guidelines or set standards. The result is a confusing mixture of statistics and reporting that reveals little about genuine user satisfaction.

In mid 2010 a group of 24 organisations and agencies from across the cultural heritage and arts sector in the UK began collaborating on a piece of action research addressing the issues around 'evaluating online success'. Coordinated by Culture24 and working with Seb Chan, the group of institutions have been developing a framework and best practice guide for measuring online projects both on organisational websites and those presented through social media channels.

This mini-workshop will present the findings of the project to date, along with several case studies from partner institutions, anonymised where necessary, demonstrating the impact of metrics customisations, cross-sector audience segmentation, and benchmarking.

The full list of project partners is: