Technology & The Museum Experience
“Museums offer us an opportunity to be informed and inspired, to be enriched culturally, intellectually, emotionally. Without them we would be infinitely poorer as individuals and as a nation” – Marjorie Schwarzer
“We” represents the members of the American society who have been fortunate enough to recognize the value and opportunity of the institutions we call museums – “we” are members of museum audiences. Museum audiences, as well as American society as a whole, are undergoing rapid transformation – demographic, economic, social, technological, you name it. In recent years, museums have been faced with the challenge of attracting more diverse audiences in order to adapt to these changes, a challenge which many museums are approaching through the utilization of technology.
In both expanding and diversifying museum audiences, three key factors come into play: relevance, accessibility, and relationships. Knowing the nuances of the museum’s community and responding to that community, combating financial barriers with discounted events and entries, creating lasting impressions, and enticing today’s youth are crucial tasks in achieving each of these three goals. How can technology help them do this?
Seeing as Americans of today’s society become a more technologically-advanced audience on a daily basis, it only seems appropriate that the institutions around us evolve to communicate and market on the same terms. There are approximately 17,000 museums in the United States, the majority of which have an established some sort of web presence. The internet has become the primary way to reach an audience who either cannot or will not physically visit places such as libraries and museums. Not only are museums creating an identity online, they are utilizing social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to promote events and to tap into new audiences.
The technology-based strategies do not reach a standstill on the audience member’s computer screen – interactivity has become extremely important in creating accessibility, particularly to enhance the museum experience while physically visiting the museum. For example, interactive kiosks placed at museum entrances and strategic locations within the museums enable visitors to plan their visit, thus pre-determining their intensions and goals for the visit, as well as to access a wealth of information in a way other than reading wall labels. The machines are appealing to both young and old – the generation accustomed to video gaming, as well as those who just might be intrigued by the wealth of information available at the tap of their finger. Other popular interactive exhibits are those involving cell phone and audio tours. At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, museum-goers can trade in their driver’s license for an iPod Touch loaded with an ample supply of photos, interviews, videos, and more. Our very own Walters Art Museum has also been making recent efforts to “digitize” their collection to be made available online. So far, 9,000 works of art have been published to the museum’s website, and are available for an even larger audience to enjoy.
But what does this all mean?
Do you think these technologies enhance the museum experience or deduct from it? Is the museum experience being sacrificed or compromised in any way? And lastly, is this the way of the future, through which museums will transform hand-in-hand along with our changing society and museum audiences?
What do you think?
- Danielle
