All,
I agree that the council should share the 'good news' stories that
museums generally develop, however the issue I have with sitting in the
council web shell is the obvious council content that gets added to the
page after it is written in the CMS.
If you take a look at ours: www.canterbury-museums.co.uk you'll get a
good understanding of what I mean. The council website is 100% about
making council services available and known on the web, and not about
the more intricate detailing and navigating that a museum website should
hopefully be.
Most of what the council website offers is an online or even worse PDF
version of a paper copy, with some extra, easier to follow links, and
content, museums have (hopefully!) discovered that simply digitising
'brouchure-ware' and propogating it onto the web isn't the best use of
this It 'tool'.
Unlike much of the council website that doesn't outdate very quickly,
our content needs constant intervention (something I cannot always
offer) and the rather simplistic CMS system we use makes updating
anything a long and laborious task, depending on the amount of changes
and number of images needed. I am hoping that the redevelopment of our
website will make these processes slicker and more inspiring for all!
Peter
Peter Davies
Outreach Officer (City Museums)
tel: 01227 475 203
email: [log in to unmask]
website: www.favourite-things.org.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Ian Edelman
Sent: 17 May 2007 11:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Local Authority Museums & URLs
Nick... sometimes long... but never boring
Many local authority museums have been slow to exploit the web, whether
because of managerial, practical or technical reasons.
In smaller authorites the internet is an IT led process and web staff
tend to be technical not creative. But as the web is now recognised by
local government as one of the primary communication tools, museums
managers should be lobbying their managers and councillors to develop
websites that support the needs of the museum.
For sure many local authority websites don't encourage imaginative
design or content, yet it is not that difficult to create interesting
and attractive content even when constrained by municipal design values.
Museums are generally one of the few 'good news' areas of local
government... they need to articulate all the good reasons for having
decent websites under their control.
**************************************************
For mcg information and to manage your subscription to the list, visit
the website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk
**************************************************
DISCLAIMER:
This email and any files transmitted with it may contain privileged or confidential information. It is intended solely for the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient please destroy or delete the content of this message immediately and notify the sender by reply email. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that does not relate to the official business of Canterbury City Council shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by the Council.
This message has been checked for all known viruses.
**************************************************
For mcg information and to manage your subscription to the list, visit the website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk
**************************************************
|