Nick Poole wrote:
> What it has done is throw into sharp relief the slightly
> embarrassing fact that most public sectors can get together
> and publish a coherent collective dataset, but we can't.
> Whatever the technical solutions and possibilities, we are
> going to have to find a way of shifting this discourse out of
> the tech-world and into the head of managers, politicians and funders.
The last MCG conference was a good case in point. Everyone in the room
has a good idea of what we need to do, we might even argue we have a
responsibility to open up our collections for cross-sector searching and
for a virtuous circle of engagement with our audiences. It's lovely
that we all agree, even if we quibble over the details, but warm fuzzy
feelings don't translate into action.
How many curators, managers, directors, CEOs were in that room? How
many of us went back to our institutions and discussed it with the
people who should have been in that room but weren't? Did any of us
manage to convince someone higher up to push for change in the metrics
by which we're judged? Do our directors even know we think the metrics
should be changed?
Who do we need to talk to, and how do we organise that conversation?
Can we look outside the sector to other public sectors that have managed
to make that transition?
More immediately, is there any reason why we can't use the MCG list/site
to share success stories, and the lessons learnt from the failed
projects?
cheers, Mia
Mia Ridge
Database Developer, Museum Systems Team
Museum of London Group
46 Eagle Wharf Road
London. N1 7ED
Tel: 020 7410 2205 / 020 7814 5723
Fax: 020 7600 1058
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.museumoflondon.org.uk
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