museumsandtheweb.com - small museum

Bridging the Physical and Virtual Experiences: Two Approaches by the Museum of Inuit Art

aprocida — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:51:51 +0000

MW2012

Alysa Procida and Rob Mausser, Museum of Inuit Art, Canada

http://www.miamuseum.ca

Abstract

Program Item Reference:

Bridging the Physical and Virtual Experiences: Two Approaches by the Museum of Inuit Art

ViMuseo.fi project. Towards digital inclusion of small museums

maglaine — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:17:33 +0000

MW2012

Published Paper:

ViMuseo.fi Project. Towards Digital Inclusion of Small Museums

Keywords:

small museum

Keywords:

virtual museum

Keywords:

GUI

Keywords:

prototype

Keywords:

digital museum

Keywords:

digital inclusion

Abstract:

During the demonstration the prototype of the ViMuseo tool will be presented. The ViMuseo is a tool to create virtual museums (implemented as Web CMS). It is designed for small institutions that want to increase their digital accessibility, interact with their audiences and network with other museums. Museum representatives can register, describe their own institution, add objects (object consist of textual description, images, YouTube films, Google maps, etc.) and use them to create virtual exhibitions and projects. The exhibitions and objects may be shared, stored, commented and tagged.

Two development versions of the system were demonstrated at the MW2011[1]. This year the final prototype with ready solutions will be presented, and the basic functionalities demonstrated. The main focus is put on the graphic user interface design, which facilitates friendliness, usability and simple navigation. In the design process, many important elements were considered: (1) sustainable development and technological change: how to design flexible solutions which work on different devices and are supported by different technologies? (2) usability: how to meet the requirements and skills of the users, who are not very familiar with fancy museum applications, but are ordinary internet users, and (3) interrelation between traditional graphic design and digital design: what traditional design elements and rules can be successfully incorporated into a digital project.

The ViMuseo system has been planned, discussed and developed in cooperation with the programmers, graphic designers and of a number of small Finnish local history museums, which are run on a voluntary basis. The development is supported by research on small museums and new technologies in the Finnish context. The ViMuseo tool is a part of an exploratory research project conducted at the Department of Art and Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) and within the doctoral program of the Finnish Research Education Network on the Society’s Memory Functions. The goals of the research are: (1) to investigate the possibilities of new media in presenting cultural heritage in small museums; (2) to analyze the cooperation between the researcher, graphic designers and programmers, and (3) to construct the tool to create virtual museums. Modified ethnographic action research (EAR), participatory design (PD) methodologies are used in this research. Research is aimed at digital inclusion of small, Finnish museums, and to provide results that may be used in other national development projects and initiatives, such as Museum2015 and the Local Museums’ Functioning Development Project (appointed by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture). The research follows the Finnish and international recommendations and standards. Its future implementation is at this moment being discussed and planned with the other Finnish projects.

The non-commercial and interdisciplinary nature of the project represents an unique approach to design, research and development of online museum services. It provides innovative design and research results, which make us reconsider many museum, design and research practices and theories.

[1] Laine-Zamojska, M., Virtual Museum and Small Museums: ViMuseo.fi Project. In J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds). Museums and the Web 2011: Proceedings. Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics. Published March 31, 2011. Consulted December 15, 2011. http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2011/papers/virt...

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

MW2012 Demonstrations II

Site:

http://vimuseo.fi/prototype/

Authors:

Magdalena Laine-Zamojska

Cezary Zamojski

Virtual Museum and Small Museums: ViMuseo.fi Project

maglaine — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:22:31 +0000

MW2011

Magdalena Laine-Zamojska, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

http://vimuseo.fi

Abstract

New media are a huge opportunity and challenge for museums, especially for small institutions without digitized resources. The ViMuseo.fi is a research project conducted at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The research focuses on the possibilities of new media in presenting cultural heritage in small Finnish museums. As a part of the research, a tool to present small museums on the Web was developed. The ViMuseo tool is a CMS for creating multimedia presentations, and was designed specifically for small institutions without digitized resources. The possible deployment of the tool is also discussed.

Keywords: virtual museum, small museum, Finland, digital heritage, CMS, local history museums

Program Item Reference:

Virtual museum and small museums. ViMuseo.fi project

maglaine — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:32:14 +0000

MW2011

Published Paper:

Virtual Museum and Small Museums: ViMuseo.fi Project

Keywords:

local museums

Keywords:

digital heritage

Keywords:

Finland

Keywords:

CMS

Keywords:

virtual museum

Keywords:

small museum

Abstract:

There are around 1000 museums in Finland. According to the National Board of Antiquities there are 163 professionally run museums, which are responsible for 326 places open to public[1]. However, there are around 600 smaller museums[2], which cannot afford to digitize and make their collections accessible to a wider audience. The author’s preliminary study has shown that online accessibility and attractiveness of cultural heritage in these small, local Finnish museums is very limited. However, the local museums are very eager to use available Internet solutions to present their collections and communicate with their audience.

ViMuseo (Finnish VirtuaaliMuseo means “virtual museum“) is a project developed at the Department of Art and Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The main objectives of the research are: (1) to investigate the possibilities of new media in presenting cultural heritage in small museums; (2) to analyze the cooperation between the researcher, graphic designers and programmers; and (3) to construct the tool to create multimedia presentations. Participartory design and action research methods are used in this research.

During the demonstration the basic functionalities of ViMuseo will be explained. ViMuseo is an online tool to create multimedia presentations, virtual exhibitions and projects. It is designed for the institutions without digitized resources, which want to be more active in the internet. The tool is a content management system, implemented as a Web application (Web CMS). It is developed with programmers and graphic designers. There are two version of the system: http://www.virtuaalimuseo.fi/04/ and http://vimuseo.fi/08

The system and its interface are user friendly and its usage does not require any professional knowledge of programming. Users (the institutions’ representatives) may register and describe their institutions in a predefined way. They may add objects and use them to create virtual collections, exhibitions and projects. Each object may be constructed by providing textual description, adding Google maps, images, flash animations, movies, music files and downloadable files in most common formats. In this way, the user creates multimedia presentations, which can be used to create virtual collections, exhibitions and projects. A few examples of social tools will also be implemented and tested (comments, tags and Facebook Open Graph).

ViMuseo is a non-commercial project. At this moment, as a part of the author’s doctoral research, it serves only to investigate possibilities of new media and their implementation in local institutions. In 2010 the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has constituted the working group to investigate the situation of the Finnish regional museums and the possible development tools. If many problems are solved, ViMuseo.fi can be potentially developed as a working system serving local museums.

The research is supported by the grants from the Department of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. This project would not be possible without the help of the Jyväskylä University Museum[3], which provides all the necessary materials and support.

[1] The National Board of Antiquities, Museotilasto 2008 / Finnish Museum Statistics 2008 http://www.museotilasto.fi/user_files/Museotilasto... (13/12/2010)

[2] The Finnish Museums Association http://www.museot.fi/museoala (13/12/2010)

[3] Jyväskylä University Museum https://www.jyu.fi/erillis/museo/en (13/12/2010)

Type:

Demonstration - show your project

Demonstrations III

Site:

http://www.virtuaalimuseo.fi/04

Authors:

Magdalena Laine-Zamojska