Dear all,
I 've never got over my initial prejudice about COL. Why should the
DCMS set up as content providers - they don't put on exhibitions and
they aren't the BBC? Their other major excursion into this territory
was hardly auspicious. Bridget, your comments are very interesting
and perceptive.
Having been involved with work on a very large scale museum database,
it seems to me that museums have to do something to demonstrate that
all that funding and effort by many staff is worthwhile.
Sustainability applies to funding and support too - if they struggle
for years with little result will the flow of resources dry up? We
took the view that there had to be some quick and visible wins along
the way - never likely to be delivered via COL. Subsequently some
very much larger, costly but seemingly sustained wins were created,
with specific and targeted funding.
I'm not convinced about 'sustainability'. It clearly applies to
collections and their management, but we still enjoy exhibitions. is
a temporary exhibition 'sustainable'? Let alone a block buster. Why
do web exhibitions have to be different? (But I am very sorry that
the wonderful Painting the Weather has gone from the BBC website, why
didn't I capture it?)
Suzanne
On 25 Jun 2007, at 10:45, Nick Poole wrote:
> Dear Bridget,
>
> I was really glad to read both your email and your blog about
> Logging On. I
> think the time has come for some proper reflection on Culture
> Online, so
> that hopefully one could better learn how to construct or inform these
> large-scale programmes in future.
>
> For me, Culture Online was a tale of opportunities missed and money
> wasted.
> Although I would share in your wish not to denigrate any of the
> individual
> projects, there is no doubt that Culture Online represented a
> significant
> strategic moment which should have had a far more profound impact
> than it
> did.
>
> The fact that it did not is an eloquent illustration of the difference
> between the underlying motivations of politicians and
> practitioners. Our
> sector needs, indeed is crying out for, sustained investment in core
> infrastructure and skills. In less political terms, we need money
> for boxes,
> wires and the skills to use them and market the resulting services
> effectively. It is this, and this alone that is going to prepare us
> fully to
> become a player in the digital marketplace.
>
> From a political perspective, Culture Online was a dream project.
> It was
> high-profile, it involved a sexy team of ex-broadcasters and New
> Media gurus
> and it promised to 'break the mould' and 'create a new paradigm'. I
> have
> often heard DCMS refer to it as a much-loved project, at least
> partly for
> the awards and profile it garnered them, but also partly because of
> the
> reflected cool of the creative industries.
>
> In reality, though, sector-wide change isn't something you can just
> 'do' to
> people. Good change management is about working with people,
> understanding
> their needs and potential and helping them to achieve it. Culture
> Online
> always had the feeling of happening 'near' the culture sector
> rather than in
> it - a feeling which was exacerbated by the commissioning model,
> and which
> echoes through 'Projects Etc'.
>
> Now - I am aware of the risk of appearing reactionary and old-
> school about
> this, but Culture Online really should have been an opportunity to
> bring the
> spirit of the enterprise culture into the online delivery of
> museums. We
> certainly all have much to learn about creating market-competitive,
> high
> quality services, but they way to learn it is not by seeing what small
> number of already well-equipped players can do with a sudden
> injection of
> cash.
>
> I remain deeply concerned about the sustainability of these
> projects. Having
> reviewed the Culture Online-funded sites over the past 6 months,
> several of
> them are either broken or in stasis. Of those that are not, it is
> hard to
> see the business model by which the host organisations will sustain
> the
> necessary investment in costly infrastructure (such as mobile phone
> gateways).
>
> Of all of these projects, I would single out the 24 Hour Museum (as
> you have
> in your blog) as an exception. The 24HM is a shining example of
> what our
> sector can achieve even under budget constraints, and strategically
> the
> sector as a whole benefits from the public profile they bring. The
> City
> Heritage Guides are a good product, well-made and can be sustained and
> developed in future.
>
> So in answer to your original question, a future Culture Online
> would indeed
> feature fewer projects. I would very much hope that the majority of
> its
> money would be spent not on websites or services, but on simple
> intelligent
> things which would benefit the community as a whole. Sector-wide
> market
> research, for example, or a consistent benchmark for statistics.
> Business
> models for sustainability which included example contracts and
> costs for
> legal advice. Guidelines and design principles for everyone to
> follow, even
> nice, portable widgets like Google maps which everyone could
> implement in
> their own sites, thus raising the game for the many, not the few.
>
> The challenge to our sector remains great, and vital, and I am
> afraid that
> from my perspective Culture Online did not get us very much further
> than we
> were already.
>
> Happy to be contradicted though!
>
> Nick
>
>
>
>
> Nick Poole
> Chief Executive
> MDA
> The Spectrum Building
> The Michael Young Centre
> Purbeck Road
> Cambridge
> CB2 2PD
>
> Tel 01223 415 760
>
> www.mda.org.uk
> www.collectionslink.org.uk
> www.culturalpropertyadvice.gov.uk
>
> MDA (Europe) Ltd. Registered company number 13000565.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Bridget McKenzie
> Sent: 25 June 2007 09:19
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Logging On (review of Culture Online)
>
> Has anyone read Logging On: Culture, Participation and the Web by John
> Holden of DEMOS? http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/loggingon
>
> It's a reflection on Culture Online, asking questions about future
> directions. I wrote a rather opinionated blog post about it, rather
> late at
> night. See here: http://bridgetmckenzie.blogspot.com/
>
> In the cold light of morning I'm not sure that I'm quite right and
> would
> appreciate your views on Culture Online, off list if you don't want
> to make
> them public, or perhaps as comments in my blog. Otherwise, I hope the
> question could make an interesting debate on the list:
>
> What do you think a future Culture Online should be?
>
> Please note - no criticism of any individuals and their efforts is
> intended
> in my post. I think everyone involved did their best to make some
> very good
> websites, but that there are political planning issues not
> addressed in John
> Holden's report.
>
> Bridget McKenzie
> Director, Flow Associates
> 441 New Cross Road,
> SE14 6TA
> 07890 540178
> 0208 691 6803
> e: [log in to unmask]
> www.flowassociates.com
>
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