Dear Tom et al,

I think this raises a really interesting point. I think the last 12 months or so has seen a 
maturing of our relationship with technology which places the emphasis on 
proportionate and stable technologies over cutting-edge toys. 

While I am all for Web 2.0, mashing up, syndicating, casting and flashmobbing, I still 
want to see a sector in which stable, well-designed websites offer simple user-
focussed interactivity and services, and to be honest, I think this is what the majority of 
users want too. 

It is a fast-paced environment, and I agree that we will never reach a 'stable' web, but 
we do have to draw a line in the sand and ensure that we have got to grips with the 
implications and opportunities of current technology before we move on to new ones. 

There are still some big questions from the static HTML age which haven't been 
satisfactorily answered. What does it mean to put collections online? Who is the 
audience? How do I write web content for Key Stage 2 Victorians? Is Flash ok now? 
The danger of the cutting-edge is that it appeals to funders (pilots of PDA or mobile-
platform services are much sexier than paying for hosting and domain registration for 
a museum site) but is not necessarily addressing the real need.

I will always enjoy new media and emergent technologies, and MDA is closely 
involved in Web2.0-related developments such as the Semantic Web and 
folksonomy, but I believe we have to select the most proportionate technology for our 
needs, and this often won't be the cool stuff.

Best regards,

Nick 

 


On 31 Jan 2006 at 9:42, Tom Goskar wrote:

> On 30 January 2006, Brian Kelly wrote:
> > Web 2.0 technologies do seem very important to the cultural
> > heritage (and educational section).  I gave a talk on this on Friday
> > which may be of interest - see
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/seminars/kcl-2006-01/
> 
> I was interested to read the abstract of Brian's talk, part of which
> is quoted below:
> 
> "However the Web does not yet have appeared to have stabilised. The
> Semantic Web is still being developed and we have recently started to
> hear about Web 2.0. There are also a wide range of Web-based
> applications being developed, such as Blogs, Wikis, Podcasting, Social
> Networking software, etc. which may have implications for the higher
> education community."
> 
> I'm not sure the web will ever become stabilised. The beauty of the
> web is that it is ever-evolving into something new, with many 'stable'
> technologies becoming deprecated as newer versions replace them,
> offering more functionality, and more reliability. Blogs, Wikis,
> iterations of the HTML specification, and web applications (and the
> technologies that drive them) are testament to that. It's quite
> fast-paced in the grand scheme of things, and often involve new ways
> of thinking about things rather than brand new technologies per se (a
> lot of 'Web 2.0' technology isn't new, just used in new ways).
> 
> I'd agree that "Web 2.0", if we have to give it that moniker, has huge
> potential benefits for us in the heritage sector. They give us new
> ways to communicate, which can only be a good thing. 
> 
> "And, in addition to such disruptive technologies emerging from the
> Web development community, within the UK HE sector JISC are committed
> to the development of the e-Framework, based on a Service Oriented
> Architecture (SOA) approach, to support the development of
> applications of particular relevance to the HE sector such as
> e-learning, portals, digital repositories, etc."
> 
> I'm interested in what is meant by "such disruptive technologies". Is
> that in the sense that these technologies arrive with such speed they
> upset current strategies / technology frameworks?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Tom
> 
> --------------------
> Thomas A Goskar MSc
> Archaeological Multimedia Developer
> 
> Wessex Archaeology
> Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, Wilts. SP4 6EB Direct Line:
> +44 (0)1722 343432 Switchboard: +44 (0)1722 326867 Fax: +44 (0)1722
> 337562 Website: http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/
> 
> Wessex Archaeology Limited is a company with limited liability
> registered in England No 1712772, a registered Charity No. 287786 and
> is registered as an archaeological organisation with the Institute of
> Field Archaeologists.
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> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> > Of Brian Kelly Sent: 30 January 2006 09:40 To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Electronic Museum news - Feb 2006
> > 
> > Hi Mike
> >    A couple of comments.
> > 
> > > * Podcast interview - Every object tells a story *
> > >
> > > Finally, after a load of technical hitches, some re-wiring, a
> > > couple of explosions and some heavy swearing, I've managed to put
> > > the first EM podcast interview online.
> > >
> > > In November 2005, I recorded an interview with Rachel
> > > Coldicutt who was project manager for the Every Object
> > > website [http://www.everyobject.net] and asked her about the
> > > site - what went well, what they've got planned for the
> > > future, and what on earth they were doing with a "video taxi"....
> > >
> > > Hear the podcast here:
> > >
> > > http://www.electronicmuseum.org.uk/em/articles/displayarticle.
> > > asp?articleid=podcasts/everyobject
> > 
> > I listened to part of the MP3 file - but couldn't find a Podcast
> > file!  A Podcast is a distribution mechanism for sound files and is
> > not a synonym for an MP3 file on the Web (see
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/briefing-83/)
> > 
> > > ____________________________________________
> > >
> > > * Blog *
> > >
> > > I'd like to welcome Dan Zambonini as co-author of the
> > > Electronic Museum blog. Dan works for internet consultancy
> > > Box UK and regularly posts on the O'Reilly website. He's big
> > > on Semantic Web and all things XML, but don't let that put you
> > > off...
> > >
> > > Together we'll be trying to get to some understanding about
> > > what Web2.0means (if anything) for museums online, as well as
> > > posting as much as we can about what's going on in the world of
> > > the web and how it might affect what we do in our sector.
> > >
> > > screen: http://www.electronicmuseum.org.uk/em/blog
> > > reader: http://www.electronicmuseum.org.uk/em/feeds/blog.xml
> > 
> > 
> > "It's just like being back in the 90's...Excitement seems to have
> > surfaced everywhere you look online at the promise of the "new"
> > web."  Yes, I'd agree with this.  Web 2.0 technologies do seem very
> > important to the cultural heritage (and educational section).  I
> > gave a talk on this on Friday which may be of interest - see
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/seminars/kcl-2006-01/
> > 
> > > ____________________________________________
> > >
> > > * Accessibility - tell EM your thoughts *
> > >
> > > Over the coming months I'm going to be writing some stuff on
> > > accessibility, and I'd like contributions from anyone who has
> > > opinions on how we should approach it:
> > >
> > > - can an accessible website also be visually attractive, or
> > > does it by necessity mean a design compromise?
> > > - are accessible websites expensive to build?
> > > - what are your top 10 accessibility tips when planning a new
> > > site? - who gets it right in our sector? and wrong..?
> > 
> > Again this is a very important area, especially in the cultural
> > heritage area.  And it's not just a question of implementing WAI
> > WCAG guidelines - for example, if you create a Podcast (or an MP3
> > file) you should provide a text transcript if you want to comply
> > fully with WCAG guidelines.  Will institutions do this?  Or will
> > they remove such files if they haven't the resources to do this?
> > 
> > We gave a paper on "Implementing A Holistic Approach To E-Learning
> > Accessibility" at the ALT-C 2005 Conference in September - which
> > included a case study from Caro Howell about her i-Map work at the
> > Tate Gallery where she previously worked - see
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/papers/alt-c-2005/
> > 
> > Hope this is of interest
> > 
> > Brian
> > 
> > ---------------------------------------
> > Brian Kelly
> > UK Web Focus
> > UKOLN
> > University of Bath
> > BATH
> > BA2 7AY
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> > Web: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
> > Phone: 01225 383943
> > FOAF:
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ukoln/staff/b.kelly/foaf/bkelly-foaf.xrdf For
> > info on FOAF see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ukoln/staff/b.kelly/foaf/
> > 
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Nick Poole
Director
MDA

The Spectrum Building
The Michael Young Centre
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Email: [log in to unmask]
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