The Use of Digital Solutions in Museums Today and in the Future

Johanna Clements,Ida Fossli,Jaroslav Bogomolov,Anna Insa Vermehren

doi:10.5617/jomi.8795

Abstract

In this paper we look at digital solutions in museums today and with a view to the future. We believe that they have a potential to innovate museum practices and reach audiences with relevant content. We have found the Norwegian Government’s Museum Framework (Kulturdepartementet 2009) a useful starting point to consider ‘digital’ through the lens of the areas of collection care, research, content dissemination, innovation and business development. In this paper, our focus is on smaller museums and heritage organisations. We contribute our thoughts, experiences and give some practical ideas how small museums can better utilise digital media and digital solutions.  This paper was written by staff members of Museum Nord who are part of the Research and Development Team. Museum Nord was lead partner in the CINE project, 2017-2020 (CINE project 2017) which enabled the team to gain valuable insights into this area of knowledge and practice.

Highlights

In a world full of data, digital things become fleeting and obsolete while others stand out for longer
“Until recently, the museum [that is the British Museum] had no easy way of finding out how people experience its exhibitions: what routes they take; what they engage with; how many minutes they take at each installation; which pieces they choose to ignore.”. By means of such analysis we gain new curatorial tools to improve the heritage offer that we provide to our visitors - both physically and digitally
We want to turn back to our initial question ‘how can museums use digital to good effect?’

Summary

Introduction

In a world full of data, digital things become fleeting and obsolete while others stand out for longer. Museums can help these developments by expressing their needs, by initiating such research or by offering to be partners in experimenting with such new technologies.

Results

Conclusion