Course:LIBR559A/Cameron, F. (2001)

Citation

Cameron, F. (2001). World of Museums: Wired Connections - The Next Generation. Museum Management and Curatorship, 19(3), 309-315.

Annotation

Dr. Fiona Cameron has her PhD in Social Anthropology and Museum Studies, as well as her BA in Archaeology and Classics. She has been a keynote speaker around the globe, partnering with researchers around the globe. She currently is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Her research focuses on globalization and its impact on museums and institutions with contemporary societies. The two main focuses of her research are museum’s representations of current topics in public culture, and digital technologies and heritage collections. There are two main issues that arise from museums embracing the digital world and placing their collections in databases. Delivery systems now available surpass current collection databases, and questions surrounding the data properly documenting and engaging online audiences. Most commonly, collections are listed in a storied or thematic approach with very little interactive elements and links. The other is more specialist centered, using searches. Without an understanding of the search model and specific terminology, the database is practically unusable. Digital objects have to overcome the fact that they are lacking the thrill of being in the physical presence of the actual object. Basically, digital collections have to work much harder to engage audiences. There is a move towards adapting online collections to form them into how the collection is being used by each user. Through metadata and other documentation, users can filter the objects to bring out what is most relevant to them, not what the museum has deemed the theme of the collection. There is concern with their being too many complicated elements with this approach, which could potentially render the online collection undesirable from lack of searchability and over structuring. Relationships between objects would be suggested through the metadata from which users could select the items that fit the theme they are looking for. There would certainly be limitations of language barriers that would need to be addressed. While museums would be able to reuse their existing information and databases, there would certainly be limitations from this. Proposals for the next generation of museums are intelligent user interfaces and better presentation capabilities. Through sophisticated technology, there could be “multifarious spatial relationships and narrative structures between things” which could help to enrich the data presently available” (311). Museums would need to develop the collections based on user research and understand that this method would eventually undermine the ultimate authority that most registrars currently hold over their collections. A benefit of databases is incorporating all of the media that museums themselves create, linking pieces of the collection to other exhibits, schedules, lectures, seminars, etc. to enhance the pieces in the database. One of the biggest challenges with this would be to make it accessible for all ages, learning types, and levels of digital literacy. Dr Fiona Cameron. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ics/people/researchers/fiona_camerons.

Areas / Topics / Keywords

Museums Databases Social Inclusion Visitor Services

Kelly Murphy