Slides from the third session of the course "The Recurated Museum" by Sytze Van Herck & Christopher Morse at the University of Luxembourg (Summer Semester, 2020). Course slides typically begin with a brief summary of the online discussions that occurred before the session.

1. The Recurated Museum:
Digital Collections, Exhibits, &
Online Education
Sytze Van Herck & Christopher Morse

2. How can museums create a space where threshold fear is minimised and
inclusion increased?
With the inclusion of modern technologies and the focus shifting to providing an
experience what could be the risks? Does the “wow-effect” have a negative impact on the
educational purpose of museums and exhibitions?
Representation
Digital ticket
Inherent Elitism
Different
purpose Generalisation
Fun & Education
Understanding
Events

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTih-l739w4
Money & Relevance
Meaning / Effort
Education &
Communal Identity

4. A (BRIEF)
HISTORY OF
MUSEUM
TECHNOLOGY

5. Short-Wave Ambulatory Lectures (1952)
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
A technological achievement in itself, the system was
such that all visitors with a receiver could only hear a
specific piece of commentary at any time; hence, groups
of visitors would move through the galleries and look at
exhibits as if guided by an invisible force, in complete
synchronicity.
(Tallon, 2008)
ww.flickr.com/photos/27591534@N02/sets/72157617021503629/
1952 1953 195

6. 1960 1962 1964

7. A realization for the need for collaboration
between GLAM organizations, IT companies, and
academic institutions.
In 1967, the Museum Computer Network (MCN)
appeared as the initiative of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (New York, USA), which initially
brought together 15 museums, but the number
of participants in the network began to grow
rapidly.
Virtual Museum History
The Digital Turn in Museums
1965 1969

8. 1970 1980
SELGEM was an information management
computer system invented, developed, and
distributed at the Smithsonian Institution and
used for more than 30 years.
SELGEM: The Data Structure
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, increasingly
sophisticated information management systems
and computer networks were designed for
museum professionals to catalog and manage
rapidly increasing collections.
...

9. 1980 1984
In 1983, the Museum Documentation Association
(now known as Collections Trust) conducted a
survey of decision-makers from UK museums
using computers in their activities. The results
of the survey have identified that most
museums use cataloging and accounting
systems, administration systems, specific
programs for organizing data (databases) and
collection management software packages.
However, most catalog systems, documentation
systems were not intended to visualize museum
objects, which prevented the expansion of their
use.
Virtual Museum History
The Digital Turn in Museums
1982

10. 1990 2000...
Amidst a proliferation of new technologies for
museums, in 1992 Apple releases what has been
called the world’s ‘first virtual museum’ via CD-
ROM as a showcase for their Quicktime video
format.
Eli’s Software Encyclopedia

11. What is a virtual museum?
digitised physical objects
born digital objects
“object-centred online exhibitions using images and text,
as well as 3D reconstructions”
(Perry et Al., 2017)

12. What is a virtual museum?
delivery of informational content
solitary visitor engagement
limited interactivity
conventional curation of digital content
(Perry et Al., 2017)

13. "While (...) museums [facilitate] attitudinal and value change, social
activism and social consciousness, (...)"
"[what's lacking is] intellectual and emotional experiences that
stimulate people's curiosity, excitement, and empathy"
Do you believe that museums can achieve "(...) attention
restoration, therapeutic change and personal transformation"?
(Perry et Al., 2017)

14. What is a virtual museum?
storytelling
personalisation
adaption
social media connectivity
(Perry et Al., 2017)

15. What is a virtual museum?
Interactivity
Personal Experience
Rich Content
Narratives
Coherent Display
Individuals & Groups
On-Site & Off-Site
Synchronous & Asynchronous
(Perry et Al., 2017)

16. https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/exhibitions/the-sound-of-the-trenches#
What is a virtual museum?

17. What is a virtual museum?
“Consider a virtual museum as a cohesive, yet
distributed set of tangible objects and intangible
concepts held together by overarching themes”
(Perry et Al., 2017)

18. https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/royalpavilion/history/3d-history/
Inexpensive Cardboard Viewers
for Stereoscopic
Panoramas
Digital Representation of Real
Location
Imaginary Physical Spaces
Navigation and Selection
(Perry et Al., 2017)

19. https://www.britishmuseum.org/visit/audio-guide
object-centered audio
descriptions
visual exploration of objects
basic personalised approach
i.e. digital souvenir
story-like descriptions
data-collection onsite and post-
visit
(Perry et Al., 2017)

20. http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

21. Museum as Information Service
°GLAM or galleries, libraries, archives, and museums
digital collection contains surrogates
blurs distinction of collections management and exhibit design
instant access to information resources
(Marty, 2008)

22. Museum Websites
same information, resources, and activities as museums
& unique experiences (customisation and personalisation)
“Online museum visitors have specific preferences for viewing
artefacts and exhibits in the museum, and for accessing information
on the museum’s website.”
(Marty, 2008)

23. DIGITAL
COLLECTIONS
EVALUATION

24. Assessing the user experience (UX)
of online museum collections:
Perspectives from design and
museum professionals
Studies show that online museum collections are
among the least popular features of a museum
website, which many museums attribute to a lack
of interest. While it’s certainly possible that a
large segment of the population is simply
uninterested in viewing museum objects through
a computer screen, it is also possible that a large
number of people want to find and view museum
objects digitally but have been discouraged from
doing so due to the poor user experience (UX) of
existing online-collection interfaces.
(MacDonald, 2015)

25. Exercise: Evaluate a Digital Collection
Using MacDonald’s (2015) assessment rubric, we will
evaluate the user experience of an online digital
collection.
Access the Harvard Art Museum digital collections
page:
www.harvardartmuseums.com/collections
Test the site features for 10 minutes, and then in
groups complete the assessment rubric.

26. EDUCATION
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/catedraunesco/plant-letters/talk/subjects/14117685

27. What is the role of a museum educator?
"Museums are focusing more on visitors, community, and
participation; education departments are essential because
educators have expertise and connections that help build a
vibrant visitorship."
(Herz, 2014)

28. What is the role of a museum educator?
program designers and teachers for schools and families
visitor advocates, representing the visitor on exhibition and
program development teams
marketers, bringing new visitors, increasing quantity and diversity of audiences
experts in creating engaging and participatory visitor experiences
(Herz, 2014)

29. What is the role of a museum educator?
Education at center of public service role
Reflect the diversity of society
Expand learning opportunities
Enrich knowledge of collection
Reflect variety in cultural and intellectual perspectives
Collaborate with organisations and individuals
(AAM, 2008)

30. How can museums
contribute to education?

31. Mission implications of decisions and actions on education and public service
Audience political, social, economic, demographic characteristics of communities
Learning educational experiences of school children, families, and adults
supporting different learning styles
Scholar- make information accessible to academic and non-traditional scholars,
ship museum professionals, and the public
Inter- involve representatives in research and documentation
pretation intellectual debate
Collaboration
(AAM, 2008)

32. “Museum exhibitions are
media of public
communication that offer a
transformative experience
also expanding and altering
the visitors awareness,
interest and value [attributed
to the self and the world].”
(Ahmad et Al., 2014)

33. Modes of
Apprehension
Types Common in
(but not limited to)
Characteristic
Contemplation Aesthetic Art Museums Individual perception of
specific works
Comprehension Contextual or
Thematic
History, Archeology
and Ethnographic
Museums
Relation perceptions of artefacts
in context or in relation to a theme
Discovery Exploration – as in
visible storage
Natural Science
Museums
Exploration of specimens
grouped by categories
Interaction Live demonstration;
multimedia
Science Centre Kinaesthetic respons to stimulus
Adapted from Barry Lord (2001),The Manual of Museum Exhibitions: The purpose of Museum Exhibitions. (Ahmad et Al., 2014)

34. Learning
formal learning school type experience, teacher or staff led,
passive, assessment
self-directed learning led by learner when they are interested in a
subject or motivated by a specific need
Informal learning unplanned casual encounters that lead to new
insights, ideas or conversation
(Ahmad et Al., 2014)

35. Type of Exhibition
Technique
Mode of Visitor Apprehension Type of Learner
1. Aesthetic Contemplative and reflective visual and solitary
2. Didactic Text based, cases, murals solitary and linguistic
3. Hands -On Low technologies interactive
activities
mathematical / logical,
kinetic, musical, social
4. Multimedia Videos, computer based, audio
and projection
visual and kinetic
Dawson, M. (2006), Lord Academy, Museum Seminar, Malaysia National Museum, Kuala Lumpur. (Ahmad et Al., 2014)

36. Type of Exhibition
Technique
Mode of Visitor Apprehension Type of Learner
5. Minds-On Encourages problem solving
and discussion plus exhibits
that ask question
social,
mathematical/logical
6. Immersive Environments Reconstructions that allow
visitors to become part of the
exhibition plus give context to
content and artifacts
all, esp. kinetic and
social
Dawson, M. (2006), Lord Academy, Museum Seminar, Malaysia National Museum, Kuala Lumpur. (Ahmad et Al., 2014)

37. How often do you use the Internet for
cultural purposes like, for instance,
searching for cultural information,
buying cultural products, or reading
articles related to culture?
November 2013 Eurobarometer report on
Cultural access and participation, p. 55

38. A national analysis focusing on the aggregated
results reveals significant variations between
EU Member States: more than four in ten
respondents say that they use the Internet for
cultural purposes at least once a week in
Luxembourg (48%), France (43%) and
Sweden (41%). The proportion falls below 20%
in Austria (17%), Greece and Bulgaria (both
18%).
November 2013 Eurobarometer report on
Cultural access and participation

39. 48%
11%
10%
26%
0%
at least once a week
1 to 3 times a month
less often
never
no access to the Internet
don’t know
Luxembourg
5%

40. Assignments
DEADLINE
05.03 Start the discussion
10.03 Read & Annotate
Museums, Can We Stop Letting Objects Control The Narrative?

41. Bibliography
American Association of Museums, Excellence and Equity. Education and the Public Dimension of Museums, 2008.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication (Ed.). (2013). Special Eurobarometer 399: Cultural Access and Participation
(No. 399; Eurobarometer).
Fthenakis, L. (2016, July 20). SELGEM: The Data Structure. Smithsonian Collections Blog.
Herz, Rebecca. 2014. “What does a museum educator do?” Museum Questions.
MacDonald, C. 2015. Assessing the user experience (UX) of online museum collections: Perspectives from design and museum
professionals. MW2015: Museums and the Web 2015.
Marty, Paul F. 2008. “Museum websites and museum visitors: digital museum resources and their use.” Museum Management and
Curatorship, vol. 23, nr. 1, p. 81-99 .
Povroznik, N. (2019). Digital Turn in the Museums – VM History. Virtual Museum History.

42. Bibliography
Perry, Sara Elizabeth, Roussou, Maria, Economou, Maria et al. 2018. “Moving Beyond the Virtual Museum: Engaging Visitors Emotionally” 23rd
International Conference on Virtual Systems & Multimedia (VSMM), Dublin, 2017, IEEE, p. 1-8.
Shamsidar Ahmad et Al. 2014. “Museum Exhibition Design: Communication of meaning and the shaping of knowledge.” Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 153:16, 254-265.
Simone, Nina. “The Art of Relevance”. TEDxPaloAlto, 2017.
Tallon, L. 2008. Introduction: Mobile, Digital, and Personal. In L. Tallon & K. Walker (Eds.), Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience:
Handheld Guides and other Media. AltaMira Press.
The Virtual Museum (Mac, CD-ROM) Apple Computer—1992 USA, Canada Release. Eli’s Software Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4,
2020.

43. https://gph.is/2AJYv3x https://gph.is/1OlI4tD
Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash https://collectionstrust.org.uk/
https://www.slideshare.net/LoicT/00-loic-bk-extract
http://si-siris.blogspot.com/2016/07/selgem-data-
structure.html