LATEST ON 'UK MUSEUMS ON THE WEB 2009'

Thank you to those of you that have expressed an interest in being part of this year's UK Museums on the Web Conference 2009 (UKMW09) either as participant or sponsor. 

**I can confirm that this year's conference will (in a departure from the last few years) take place later this year**

We had initially pencilled this event in for 26 June. However, with our spring meeting in Bath just behind us, and (more significantly) two or three significant digital heritage events now taking place in the UK in the next month on similar subjects, we have decided to avoid confusion (and help out with your travel!), by stepping back, and position instead this year's conference in September-October. We will be in touch with you all again (I hope in the next few weeks) the moment we have a date confirmed.

This might also be a good moment for me to stress again that the 'World wide wonder: Museums on the web' conference (on 10 June 2009 in London)
http://www.museumsassociation.org/events/webmuseums
has been organised by the Museums Association - and not the MCG. The MA's timing and the choice of strapline for the event was, perhaps, a little unfortunate, and I know has caused some confusion for some of our members. Nonetheless, I would like to encourage members to check out this event, as I know Matthew Cock at the British Museum (and others involved in the programme) have put together an excellent day.

To keep you up to speed on where we are with UKMW09: this year the programme is being built around the idea of the ubiquitous and everyday Web. Today, the Web is becoming increasingly a more multi-sensory place, with new visual interfaces, rich sound content, where content can adapt to our physical location, and even where interactions can be triggered by bodily movement. Likewise, software and services (just like our content) can today move with us. In this sensory, personalized, location-specific Web, we become increasingly aware of online content permeating our everyday. The virtual is increasingly a part of our reality – rather than an alternative to it.

Therefore, with sessions on 'Vision' (new approaches to visualising content online), 'Touch' (the Wii generation and haptics via the Web), 'Movement' (location specific cultural content) and 'Sound' (music, sound archives, and VOIP), UKMW09 will be about our encounters of touching, hearing and watching digital heritage in the everyday.

As you may know, rather than issuing a formal call, the organising committee puts the UKMW day together by invitation and through the conversations that emerge through the MCG email list. So, if you think you might have something to contribute to these areas (of the multi-sensory Web in the everyday) then don't hesitate to contact me.

With regards,

Ross Parry
MCG Chair


Dr. Ross Parry
Senior Lecturer  / Programme Director - Digital Heritage
Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester
105 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7LG, UK
t: 0116 252 3963   e: [log in to unmask]
w: http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/contactus/rossparry.html

New Masters programme (by distance learning) in 'Digital Heritage'
http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/study/digitalheritage.html
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