from closed silos to collaborative networks: digital impacts on museums
DESCRIPTION
Starts with results of an informal poll conducted among museum technology professionals at MCN 2011. Continues with 4 more in-depth case studies: the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Tate, MoMA, and the Walker Art Center (WAC). What are the impacts of digital publishing on organizational structures, workflows, and institutional voice? Presented in Rotterdam at DISH 2011.TRANSCRIPT
From Closed Silos to Collaborative Networks: Digital Impacts on Museums
Peter SamisAssociate CuratorInterpretive MediaSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art
DISH 2011 Rotterdam, NL December 7, 2011
Let’s DISH:
“Rapid digitisation is the defining trend in today’s society. The public expects their institutions to be as active on the Internet as they are.”
“How do you equip yourself for these new roles, that demand new functions and new competencies in your organisation?”
-from the DISH 2011 Call for Entries
And equally importantly:
How do we use the digital as an agent of change in how we relate to our publics?
Multiplying modes, venues, voices…
1984
Early digital storytelling tool…
The Conversation began a while ago…
And it has expanded & accelerated ever since.
We conducted an un-scientific survey.
• Museum director• Web Editor• Exhibit Developer• IT Systems Analyst• Curator• Marketing & Communications Officer• Education• New Media Initiatives• Visitor Services• Publications Associate
Attendees at the Museum Computer Network conference:
Question: Do you see digital publishing platforms changing the organization’s structure?
• Pool of content creators has increased dramatically.
• New kinds of workflows, less hierarchies.• New functional organisation, new positions,
new relationships between departments (more intensive collaboration, publication planning on a longer term, trend of digital content co-production).
• The way we conceive of transmitting information has changed.
• The need for dedicated digital content staff is apparent and overdue.
• and…
“Not sure it will happen, but
there is a lot of pressure.”
Question: Do you see digital publishing platforms changing the organization’s structure?
Question: If multiple departments self-publish, what are the impacts, if any, on institutional voice?
• It is appropriately diverse.
• Quality of content & writing is impacted…• Not sure I believe in ‘institutional voice’. I don’t
think this is important anymore. So I think the impact is that this concept itself is going away.
• Subject matter is often at odds with institutional goals.
• What institutional voice? (That was a joke.)
Question: Do you see digital media as a democratizing force in your organization? If so, how?
• Yes, digital media is less controlled by curators and is deeper rooted in the organization.
• It certainly broadens the pool of people who get to be custodians of the Museum’s mission…
• Yes, relatively young, junior staff are taking on more responsibility for being the institution’s voice and our audiences are also part of our brand now.
• Yes, in that younger staff members who are not part of the curatorial staff have a way to contribute stories and content via the blog or social media, whereas 10 years ago these staff would have had no voice.
Case Studies
2005: Building renovated/technology refresh. 2007: Website relaunch.2009: IMA Lab founded. 2010: Website re-relaunch, with a difference: Designed & built in-house.
A partial Timeline
2010: New Division of Research, Technology, & Engagement under Rob Stein
What do these things have in common?
An emphasis onResearch.
An emphasis onResearch.
Objective #3 in their new Strategic Plan: Establish the IMA as a research leader among its peers in the areas of art history, conservation science, information science, and visitor studies.
An emphasis onResearch.
• Commit to long-term evaluation & the analysis of results as part of routine planning processes
Goal #4:• Become an organization
where models for evaluation are conceived, implemented, and shared
The Education Dept. has been renamed Audience Engagement.
“We’re in the process of defining what that means.”
–Rob Stein
But it will be data-driven.
“It’s not digital
strategy;
it’s just strategy.”–Rob Stein
Emphasis on Conversational Engagement:
• Free-choice learning• Intrinsic motivation• Critical thinking• Epiphanies
How do you measure an epiphany?
Wrestling with the Perceived Authority of the museum in the minds of the visitors.
“Authoritative”
= we have expertise and are willing to share it
Authoritarian
= demanding respect without earning it
TatePhoto by chaoticzee, Creative Commons license
4 physical sites & 19 million unique web visitors/year
“Broadcasting the Museum”
Leonardo Live in 40 cinemas around the country
“We need to be where the people are.” –Jane Burton Director, Tate Media
“Be everywhere all the time—and ideally, free to everyone.” Sponsored & commissioned—not internally funded.
• Legacy Trust• Bloomberg• SkyTV• Channel 4• BBC
Additional revenue through Tate Enterprise, digital catalogues, freemium apps & games
• Even BP
“The Artist is core.”
• The Physical• The Virtual• The Artist
Curators are becoming more active collaborators.
“Their voices are present in the debate along with the artists, along with other cultural commentators, along with museum visitors and experts in their own fields.”
In the Gallery • On the telly • Online • In the App space • At the cinema • In people’s lives, everywhere
Two more early adopters changing stripes:
“If you want to be relevant right now, you have a conversation.” -Allegra Burnette, MoMA
“If you want to be relevant right now, you have a conversation.”
“If you want to be relevant right now, you have a conversation.”
Meanwhile, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the museum as newspaper.
Also a Video Channel:
And a Re-org:
Now for something completely different:
• Education & New Media report to new chief
• New Journalist-Editor mentors curators
• Builds their comfort contributing to Web
• Online voices multiplied
http://www.changecycle.com
© Oakland Museum of California & Gail Anderson
Thank you.