Technology + Museums

Technology is being used to “transform museums into more dynamic institutions in the 21st century” (Canos 313). Traditionally, museums have made use of text and labels as a storytelling aid and, while invaluable as a means of conveying background information at once, they are rather static and limited. Technology is now used to augment in-person visits to museums with virtual information designed to enhance the visitor's understanding. With the availability of the public internet and the World Wide Web the amount of people utilizing online resources and the number of resources available as well as contributing providers have increased exponentially. Anyone with internet access can publish information as illustrated by this blog.

TRS-80, Tandy Radio Shack´s first desktop computer
source: Computer History Museum

GettyGuide

A good example of a museum that has at least attempted to remain cutting edge by integrating new technology into exhibits is the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. In the mid-1980s they developed a videodisc system to augment their exhibits but by the mid-1990s had realized the limitations of this technology. The content could not be edited to reflect changes within the exhibit and was limited in its mode of presentation. In 1995 they developed GettyGuide, a kiosk-accessible, database-driven access system which included a database of art and artists, along with related images and videos, and ways to search for art by subject and type.


Robin Lilien, Manager of Information and Media Systems at the time, said their primary goal was to enhance the visitor's experience with the art objects themselves: “The technology needs to support what we want visitors to experience, not to interfere with it or distract from it. It should not become the main event” (Marshak 5). The following image represents a timeline of the Gettys' technological evolution since the 80s.

(click image to enlarge)

Online Collections

The GettyGuide kiosks have been translated to the Explore Art section of their website which allows visitors to access the collection in a digital format from home. Online visitors can browse by artist, type of art, or by theme or topic. There is also a Collection Overview that allows visitors to get in-depth information about the various Getty collections and a Video Gallery featuring videos about the museum's collection, techniques, conservation, and exhibitions, and includes many interviews with artists and curators. One of the most interesting features is their Getty Bookmarks. With this users can mark objects as they come across them on the website and later use the bookmarks to create a printable map of the physical museum indicating where all of the items are located. Essentially, users can create their own customized tour to bring with them to the museum. This is a great example of how remote access to collections can actually serve to increase in-person visits to a museum.

(click image to visit the Getty's website)

Future

So, what's next for museums? Since 2005, the Rijksmuseum has been working on a project to personalize the museum experience based on semantic Web technology so that visitors can access collections in a more meaningful way. They are currently using the CHIP demonstrator, "a museum artifacts recommender system and environment for building personalized museum tours" (Aroyo). After signing up, users are presented with various items from the collection and asked to rate them ("I hate it, I do not like it, It's OK, I like it, I like it very much"). They are also able to rate the piece based on other criteria such as creation site, material medium, and themes. The demonstrator then recommends artwork based on the user's preferences. This interactive dialogue quiz helps users find what interests them in the collection. With the demonstrator the Rijksmuseum hopes to achieve complementary integration of the web with a guided experience within the physical museum to motivate regular visits to both spaces and ultimately allow active engagement of users with artwork.