Hi Charlotte,
Hope you are well.
I guess it depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want your
existing web stuff to be usable on a mobile device (who doesn't?!) then
responsive design is the way to go. Having our websites working
optimally on a mobile is a very good aspiration for all of us, I'd say.
We've been implementing it - see below. First some stats which show why
we have done this...
Currently 14% of our website traffic is from mobile and notably this
rises to 40.8% of the traffic to just the Visit Us pages. Those pages
are ones that people can be expected to use when actively trying to get
here, and need to work for visitors out and about with their mobiles.
The trend of increased mobile use is really quite marked if we compare
to a year ago.
In September 2011 7.31% of our overall traffic was from mobile, and
17.6% of traffic went to the same Visit Us pages was.
Anyway, I know you know all about this and so here are some actual
examples :)
Mobile web
Our contribution is our site: www.vam.ac.uk
My esteemed developer colleagues have been fine-tuning the V&A site to
be responsive.
We made this available a few months ago on all the main pages. It
detects screen size, because that is platform-independent. The content
is the same, but the layout is presented optimised for mobile with a
readable type face and collapsable navigation. The pages are displayed
de-cluttered of navigation, but that can be called up if required. The
site has three sizes. Full size for large screen sizes (which includes
iPads and large tablets as these tend to be used like a desktop),
small-size for small screen devices (essentially smart phones), and an
intermediate size for medium size tablets (Kindles/small Android tablets
etc).
Check it out on a web-enabled phone, a 7" tablet and a desktop. This
will show you the shift from full size to dual column to single column.
You can also mimic this if can open it up in a browser and resize the
window.
Of course, the tricky part is that most transactional services on the
site are not under our direct control. This means that some parts of the
website are not optimised and ironically will jar when visited from the
optimised pages. In particular booking exhibition tickets, which relies
on a third party system, is not great from a desktop, but is appalling
from a mobile. We took a decision not to wait until we could get every
part of the site improved with mobile-responsive layout, but to pick off
the low-hanging fruit first. Better to take what action we can being
ther rationale. It also allows us to advocate for change by showing
staff the difference between mobile-friendly and mobile-god-that's-awful
web pages!
On Apps...
I think apps should be treated as one-off things. They tend to work
best for targeted specific purposes. Best to think: "what will it
deliver, and how long will it do this for before it's discarded". (They
also remind me of CD-ROMs, but that may be harsh!)
Although there are some great apps, ultimately I don't expect any we as
Museums will be able to produce will last as indefinite services.
I would also suggest not building any app that is not something that
only we can produce. The only apps I really use on my phone are Google
maps, a Twitter app and an underground train map. On an iPad, I am
currently into 123d Catch, which allows you to do serviceable 3D
modelling from the camera. It may be off-subject abit, but this sort of
app is not something we should be attempting to build, but it is
conceivable that apps like this may allow even small scale museums to
create 3d imagery without investing in kit.
This 3d rendering took me about 2 minutes to capture, and about 20
minutes for their server to render:
http://www.123dapp.com/obj-Catch/Twitr-Janus-Mask/842675
For more advanced use of such things see Liz Neely's stuff at the Art
Institute of Chicago. Also an exploration, but you can see glimpses of
possible futures. Involves 3d printable models etc.
http://www.freshandnew.org/2012/09/pulling-rabbit-mesh-hat-liz-neely-talks-3d-digitisation-3d-printing/
anyway, enough already. Hope this helps
Andrew Lewis
Digital Content Delivery Manager
Digital Media Team
Victoria and Albert Museum
South Kensington
London SW7 2RL
020 7942 2373
[log in to unmask]
www.vam.ac.uk
linkd.in/andrewlewis
@rosemarybeetle ( https://twitter.com/rosemarybeetle )
>>> MCG automatic digest system <[log in to unmask]> 21/09/2012
00:00 >>>
There are 10 messages totaling 996 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. What make a well designed mobile experience? (6)
2. What make a well-designed mobile experience?
3. Conference 'Migrating heritage: networks and collaborations
across
European museums, libraries and public cultural institutions',
Glasgow 3-4
December 2012
4. Digital Assitant at Horniman Museum and Gardens
5. Low cost collections management solutions
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Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:07:57 +0100
From: "Sexton, Charlotte" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Hi all,
I¹m looking for inspiration!
Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites and
or
apps which you think work brilliantly?
They don¹t have to be museum specific - anything you¹ve used which you
think
is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
Thanks in advance
Best
Charlotte
--
Charlotte Sexton
Head Digital Media
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square,
London WC2N 5DN
T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
11 July - 23 September 2012
Admission Free
Find out more:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
National Gallery:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:24:02 +0100
From: Jim Richardson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Sydney Festival is one which was mentioned at Culture Geek a couple of
weeks back, it's a responsive design. They had also tried running an app
alongside this, but found that responsive web delivered better for them
as an organisation.
Personally I am pretty pleased with the job we've done delivering
www.yorkminster.org as a responsive website which works across
devices very effectively.
Jim
---
On 19 Sep 2012, at 11:07, "Sexton, Charlotte"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I¹m looking for inspiration!
> Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites
and or
> apps which you think work brilliantly?
> They don¹t have to be museum specific - anything you¹ve used which
you think
> is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
>
> Thanks in advance
> Best
> Charlotte
>
>
> --
> Charlotte Sexton
> Head Digital Media
>
> The National Gallery
> Trafalgar Square,
> London WC2N 5DN
> T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
> www.nationalgallery.org.uk
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
> A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
> 11 July - 23 September 2012
> Admission Free
>
> Find out more:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
>
> Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
> National Gallery:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
>
> ****************************************************************
> website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> ****************************************************************
Jim Richardson
Founder
----
We have moved:
Sumo
Toffee Factory
Lower Steenbergs Yard
Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE6 1LF
We also have a new phone number:
0191 375 9050
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:52:17 +0100
From: kwatson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well designed mobile experience?
There's a very nice online magazine called Beautiful Pixels (also
available in Currents App on iPad) which has stories on the best looking
websites and Apps.
Regards
Keith
On 19 Sep 2012, at 11:07, "Sexton, Charlotte"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I’m looking for inspiration!
> Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites
and or
> apps which you think work brilliantly?
> They don’t have to be museum specific – anything you’ve used
which you think
> is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
>
> Thanks in advance
> Best
> Charlotte
>
>
> --
> Charlotte Sexton
> Head Digital Media
>
> The National Gallery
> Trafalgar Square,
> London WC2N 5DN
> T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
> www.nationalgallery.org.uk
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
> A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
> 11 July - 23 September 2012
> Admission Free
>
> Find out more:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
>
> Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
> National Gallery:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
>
> ****************************************************************
> website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> ****************************************************************
****************************************************************
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****************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:28:07 +0100
From: Tim Trent <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Not so long ago a web site had to be designed to suit mobile devices.
We were looking at WAP enabled steam powered phones and doing our best
with clunky technology. I remember implementing a site that catered for
*Good browsers
*Internet explorer (it was even worse back then!)
*Ancient browsers
*Folk using WebTV
*WAP mobiles
I used a different CSS approach for each of them based upon my ability
to detect their device/browser type.
The current generation of smart phones is, surely, immune to all web
design? We chose not to do anything special with
http://dartmouthmuseum.org on the basis that phone technology and pad
technology is, surely, sufficient to overcome even the Dreamweaver free
template that we use, clunky HTML or not! Though I did have to upgrade
the template to XHTML to overcome some oddities!
I do have a site today that detects IE users and suggests they get a
browser that is standards compliant, though!
On 19 Sep 2012, at 11:07, Sexton, Charlotte wrote:
> Hi all,
> I’m looking for inspiration!
> Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites
and or
> apps which you think work brilliantly?
> They don’t have to be museum specific – anything you’ve used
which you think
> is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
>
> Thanks in advance
> Best
> Charlotte
>
>
> --
> Charlotte Sexton
> Head Digital Media
>
> The National Gallery
> Trafalgar Square,
> London WC2N 5DN
> T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
> www.nationalgallery.org.uk
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
> A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
> 11 July - 23 September 2012
> Admission Free
>
> Find out more:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
>
> Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
> National Gallery:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
>
> ****************************************************************
> website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> ****************************************************************
Tim Trent - Consultant
Tel: +44 (0)7710 126618
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:32:09 +0100
From: Hugh Wallace <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Hi Charlotte,
My absolute favourite example from the sector at the moment is
www.newmuseum.org - a fast, simple, tailored experience that gets
away from the hefty load speeds and superfluous information that a lot
of responsive designed sites suffer from. www.walkerart.org is
definitely worth checking out too.
Outside the sector, take a look at www.barackobama.com for how they
prioritise calls to action and order content, particularly at the top of
the site. It loses its way a bit the deeper you go.
Two of the sites I look at most do mobile really well:
www.smashingmagazine.com for readability and dealing with *tons* of
information; www.redditedit.com for keeping it super simple.
Google's best practice guidelines are nice + practical reminders of
what makes an effective mobile site:
http://www.howtogomo.com/en-gb/d/why-get-mo/#mobile-best-practices
Cheers,
Hugh
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hugh Wallace
Head of Digital Media
National Museums Scotland
Chambers Street
Edinburgh EH1 1JF
t: +44 (0)131 247 4446
m: +44 (0)7787 002190
e: [log in to unmask]
www.nms.ac.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Sexton, Charlotte
Sent: 19 September 2012 11:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Hi all,
I¹m looking for inspiration!
Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites and
or apps which you think work brilliantly?
They don¹t have to be museum specific - anything you¹ve used which you
think is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
Thanks in advance
Best
Charlotte
--
Charlotte Sexton
Head Digital Media
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square,
London WC2N 5DN
T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
11 July - 23 September 2012
Admission Free
Find out more:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
National Gallery:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
****************************************************************
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Imperial Russia has arrived in Edinburgh. Catherine the Great: An
Enlightened Empress, National Museum of Scotland, until 21 October
www.nms.ac.uk/catherine
National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:46:28 +0100
From: Fiona Marshall <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well designed mobile experience?
I really like the National Trust's app for finding nearby properties
and
events. It works brilliantly on the iPhone: intuitive, fast and much
easier
to use than the NT's website, but that maybe due to my dead slow
broadband...
There are other apps that work better for me than the corresponding
websites: I guess that's because they get me straight to the thing I
need
(opening times, train times, account balance etc) without all the home
page
waffle and advertising.
Fiona
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Sexton, Charlotte
Sent: 19 September 2012 11:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Hi all,
I¹m looking for inspiration!
Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites and
or
apps which you think work brilliantly?
They don¹t have to be museum specific - anything you¹ve used which you
think
is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
Thanks in advance
Best
Charlotte
--
Charlotte Sexton
Head Digital Media
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square,
London WC2N 5DN
T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
11 July - 23 September 2012
Admission Free
Find out more:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
National Gallery:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
****************************************************************
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Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 12:15:46 +0100
From: "Webber, Jason" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: What make a well-designed mobile experience?
Hi Charlotte
I'm a big fan of the Flipboard app for iPhone and iPad. It looks lush
and works well is one of the few that I still get a kick out of using.
The approach is one that I think would work well for cultural
institutions.
Cheers.
Jason
Jason WebberWeb Content Manager (Collections)Museum of LondonLondon
Wall150 London WallLondon EC2Y 5HNTel: 020 7814 5587Email:
[log in to unmask]
Book tickets for Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men (19 October
2012 - 14 April 2013)
at www.museumoflondon.org.uk/dissection
Before printing, please think about the environment
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Sexton, Charlotte
Sent: 19 September 2012 11:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: What make a well designed mobile experience?
Hi all,
I¹m looking for inspiration!
Can you recommend any really well designed mobile friendly websites and
or apps which you think work brilliantly?
They don¹t have to be museum specific - anything you¹ve used which you
think is really well tailored to mobile interaction will do.
Thanks in advance
Best
Charlotte
--
Charlotte Sexton
Head Digital Media
The National Gallery
Trafalgar Square,
London WC2N 5DN
T +44 (0)20 7747 2850
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------
Metamorphosis: Titian 2012
A unique collaboration with The Royal Ballet
11 July - 23 September 2012
Admission Free
Find out more:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/metamorphosis-titian-2012
Sign up for news, offers and exclusive competitions from the
National Gallery:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/what/news/subscribe.htm
****************************************************************
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 10:28:16 +0100
From: Perla Innocenti <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Conference 'Migrating heritage: networks and collaborations
across European museums, libraries and public cultural institutions',
Glasgow 3-4 December 2012
'Migrating heritage: networks and collaborations across European
museums, libraries and public cultural institutions'
International conference, Glasgow, 3-4 December 2012
Organised by HoA - School of Culture and Creative Arts, University of
Glasgow
as part of EC-funded FP7 project European Museums in an Age of
Migrations (MeLA)
http://wp3.mela-project.eu/wp/pages/research-field-03-international-conference-overview
Full conference program:
http://wp3.mela-project.eu/upl/cms/attach/20120920/103858882_5859.pdf
<http://wp3.mela-project.eu/upl/cms/attach/20120920/103858882_5859.pdf>
----------------------
The School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow is
delighted to be hosting a two-day international conference on
transnational and translocal partnerships, collaborations and policies
between European museums, libraries & public cultural institutions
around the themes of cultural heritage for the arts and sciences,
migration, cultural dialogue, and ICTs. Papers are related to real-life
case studies, collaboration models and research on cultural memory,
identity and cultural policies.
How can museums define innovative practices, spaces and policies that
reflect the challenges of building an inclusive Europe in an age of
migrations? What are the experiences and effects of collaboration,
partnerships and networks around the core activities of archiving,
preserving, displaying history and artefacts, and the associated
categories of cultural value and identity? Is it possible to allow more
flexible and heterogenic connections of public cultural institutions
within the European/Mediterranean space? How are museums, libraries and
public cultural institutions presenting themselves and interacting with
multicultural audiences? What guidelines and policies could be suggested
to support networking of public cultural institutions?
An exciting program has been arranged, with speakers from the
Australian National Maritime Museum; British Library; Cité nationale de
l'histoire de l'immigration; Council of Europe (Diversity and
Intercultural Dialogue division, DG II); European Cultural Foundation;
Europeana; Foundation for the History of Technology, The Netherlands;
Génériques; Glasgow Museums; Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration
Network; Harvard University; London South Bank University; Muséum
National d'Histoire Naturelle; Museum of the Resistance, Deportation,
War, Rights and Freedom (Turin); Natural History Museum, London;
Politecnico di Milano; Science Museum, London; Surrey City Council;
University of East Anglia; University of Glasgow; University of
Manchester; University of Naples; ZKM Media Museum and more.
Confirmed invited speakers:
* Sharon MacDonald (Professor of Social Anthropology, University of
Manchester)
* Kathrin Merkle (Head of the Cultural Policy, Diversity and
Intercultural Dialogue Division, DG II, Council of Europe)
* Rebecca Kay and Alison Phipps (Professors at University of Glasgow
and convenors of Glasgow Refugee Asylum and Migration Network)
* Agnès Arquez Roth (Directrice réseau et partenariats, Cité nationale
de l'histoire de l'immigration)
* Dr Bernhard Serexhe (Chief Curator of ZKM Media Museum)
* Anne Marie van Gerwen (Marketing & Communications Manager,
Europeana)
* Katherine Watson (Director of European Cultural Foundation)
Conference registration:
Registration is free and includes a delegate pack, lunches,
refreshments, and wine receptions. Advanced conference registration is
required at http://mela2012conference.eventbrite.com/ by 23 November
2012.
Dowload full conference program:
http://wp3.mela-project.eu/upl/cms/attach/20120920/103858882_5859.pdf
<http://wp3.mela-project.eu/upl/cms/attach/20120920/103858882_5859.pdf>
With best wishes on behalf of the MeLa Conference Organising Committee
__________________________________________________________
Perla Innocenti
Research Fellow
History of Art
School of Culture and Creative Arts
University of Glasgow
8 University Gardens
Glasgow, UK, G12 8QH
Email:
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Web:
www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/staff/perlainnocenti/<http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/staff/perlainnocenti/>
Phone: +44(0)141 330 7308
Fax: +44(0)141 330 3513
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:05:04 +0100
From: Adrian Murphy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Digital Assitant at Horniman Museum and Gardens
Hello all
We're currently recruiting for a Digital Assistant (plus a few other
comms roles) here at the Horniman - if you're interested, or know
someone who is, there are full details and how to apply on our website:
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/jobs
Thanks,
Adrian
--
Adrian Murphy
Digital Media Manager
Horniman Museum & Gardens
Dir: 020 8291 8724
email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Explore how body adornment has become part of London life at new
exhibition The Body Adorned, now open until January 2013.
Visit our website to see exhibitions, events, explore our collections
and much more: http://www.horniman.ac.uk
The Horniman Public Museum & Public Park Trust. 100 London Road, London
SE23 3PQ.
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Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:07:03 +0100
From: Jonathan Whitson Cloud <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Low cost collections management solutions
I am agreeing with all that is said here. A coherent knowledge
management environment for museums, like any organisation, is an
obvious
ambition. There are however obstacles and sometimes solutions have to
be
piecemeal.
What I'd like to add to the thread is the thought that RDF, whilst it
may indeed be handled separately for each application, may point to a
solution because at the heart of it is the notion of co-referencing.
So if we have an events management system and an object location
system
and an object catalogue system, rather than attempt to share every bit
of data in all the systems we use an appropriate level of entity
referencing. Hold a URI for each event, move and object in shared
(within the institution) internet space and ensure that every time an
object for instance is moved or used in an event, the record for that
points to that URI, whatever system the record is in. Kinda
super-thesauri.
What do we think?
Jonathan
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Ben Rubinstein
Sent: 03 September 2012 10:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Low cost collections management solutions
On 31/08/2012 10:17, Cristiano Bianchi wrote:
> Why cannot a more modular approach and system be imagined, one which
museums may use to take care of all of their information (a true
museum's knowledge management system), instead of going on using
isolated applications, which are indeed getting more and more open and
accessible and can of course be integrated, but require considerable
cost and effort to do so?
Hi Christiano,
It can certainly be imagined! But I think it is unrealistic to
believe
that this is the end point of the path that all will converge upon.
I'm sure your experience like mine is that organisations as complex as
museums have a huge job adapting to any system and migrating/bringing
their content up to desired levels. Even just upgrading from one
version of a collections management system to another is in many cases
a
huge job. For all ports of the organisation to make that switch to a
single system increases the burden.
There are many different offerings around for collections management,
for managing exhibitions, transport and so on; let alone for
development, for education, for web presence etc. That's legitimate
and
unsurprising, because different organisations have different
requirements, resources, and priorities. In none of these areas has a
single product turned out to be ideal for everyone. Hence, that a
single product will turn out to be the best solution for each part of
the same organisation is just mathematically less likely than the
alternative.
Where there's a greenfield situation I certainly strive for the
simplest
solution - but even then I think one has to consider that some
solutions
may be too simple, either because the simplicity is bought at the cost
of a poor fit to the requirements in some areas, or because the
simplest
solution may work for now, but be insufficiently flexible for the
future.
Even when an organisation is in a position to deploy a single unified
solution, I not convinced it's desirable. Because organisations,
systems, technologies, possibilities - every part of the landscape -
can
change, what was a good solution for one part of the organisation two
years ago may not be ideal in two years time. If at that point,
making
a change for that one part of the organisation will require all parts
of
the organisation to change at once, it becomes vastly more difficult.
So although I always feel the lure of a single shining new solution,
in
general I think we're better off assuming a heterogeneous landscape,
and
finding good solutions for that real world, that acknowledge that
different bits will have to "learn to get along", and the likelihood
that in the future different bits will need to be modified or swapped
out, at different times; rather than trying to leapfrog these
imperfect
realities.
Of course, like all generalities, this is not always correct! There
are
always other situations.
best regards,
Ben
On 31/08/2012 10:17, Cristiano Bianchi wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
> what is the reason for resisting the idea of an integrated system,
where all (or most) museum information would be stored and could be
retrieved and integrated in a much easier and cost effective way than
using APIs and middleware? Is it a practical reason (e.g. legacy
systems
that are difficult to get rid of and overcome)? Or a more ideological
one? Or both?
>
> As you know, museums have been using vertical systems for years:
every
time a new need emerge, the common approach is to acquire a new
application (sometimes checking it can be integrated with existing
ones,
but not always). Commercial organisations like yours and mine help
museums merge these vertical applications into more integrated data
landscapes - e.g. making collections online more accessible by
creating
narrative and interpretation through content management. For that, we
need to extract object data from the collection management system and
merge it with a content management system, to allow creating
contextual
information (highlights, themes, trails, exhibitions, etc) - something
that is not always possible to do with the collection management
software.
>
> The issue is: the two systems I mentioned (collection and content
management, as well as the many more that museums use) look very
different on the surface, but it would seem to me they all share the
same needs in terms of data management: relational databases with
digital asset management (I am not mentioning RDF on purpose - as that
can be applied later). On top of that, some applications will need
procedures and workflows, while others won't - but again, those are
simply more modules and relational data. This applies to every other
application a museum normally use - not simply to collection data. Of
course I am oversimplifying the issues, but probably not too much.
>
> Why cannot a more modular approach and system be imagined, one which
museums may use to take care of all of their information (a true
museum's knowledge management system), instead of going on using
isolated applications, which are indeed getting more and more open and
accessible and can of course be integrated, but require considerable
cost and effort to do so?
>
> Thank you,
> Cristiano
>
>
>
> On 30 Aug 2012, at 16:20, Ben Rubinstein <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> (Getting away somewhat from the original poster's question...)
>>
>> On 30/08/2012 13:28, Nick Poole wrote:
>>> I know that several larger UK museums are starting to think of
their
>>> 'information landscape' and how they get value to flow across
>>> collections, documentation, digitisation, education, web and paper
>>> publishing, retail and licensing, conservation and other functions
>>> in as seamless and integrated a way as possible.
>> [snip]
>>> To put it simply, over the next 10 years, museums are going to have
>>> to accept a lot more new data into their systems, and are going to
>>> be asked to make it available, robustly and reliably through a lot
>>> more output channels.
>>
>> I agree so far.
>>
>>> It seems likely that most people will follow a path from partial
>>> integration to middleware to full systems integration and/or
>>> refactoring. I would really love to hear from people who have
either
>>> found an alternative route, or are embarked on one of the
approaches
>>> I've described above.
>>
>> I'm less convinced about the end of that path.
>>
>> Just as there isn't a single solution for collections management,
not
least because the needs of a portrait collection differ from a general
fine art collection differ from a natural history collection etc; so I
don't think there will ever be a system no matter how modular that
meets
the needs of all the different parts of an organisation - and I
wouldn't
think such a monoculture would be healthy anyway.
>>
>> It's much more plausible to assume that data that should be shared
outside the institution will always be managed through a variety of
different systems; and therefore that solutions for making that data
available will always need to involve some kind of middleware that
retrieves, connects and aggregates data to make it available
downstream.
If not "always need to" then I'll at least go for "should" - even
where
the landscape is simple enough that you could hook two systems
together
by API, you have to assume that change is gonna come, and it's better
to
build in fire-breaks and buffers.
>>
>> APIs and XML and RDF and documentation standards and metadata
exchange standards are all good and useful parts of this, that help
make
middleware solutions cheaper, more re-usable, more adaptable - but I
just don't believe in the single, covers everything, does everything,
integrated solution as the end point for many people's path.
>>
>> warm regards,
>>
>> Ben
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End of MCG Digest - 18 Sep 2012 to 20 Sep 2012 (#2012-187)
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