Hi John
I'd echo the comments so far - as an experiment it's bold, interesting, and
definitely different from the norm, which has to be a good thing!
What I personally still can't get my head around as a user (but I suspect
this isn't aimed at me!) is that there are absolutely no structured routes
in - curated sets have been suggested, but I'd also like to have just a
little more control over my journey of discovery (yeah, I know, not really
the point!) for example of 'related' objects (or maybe the grid is related,
I seem to get mixed results). And by related I don't just mean just mean
through traditional metadata like text, dates etc, but also things like
shape and colour. Perhaps high level thematic 'tags' would help, but I
still find myself yearning for a search box and typing things that spring
into my mind when I see something interesting and wonder what else there
might be, especially if the results came back so richly displayed. After
all, you do say "Hopefully providing a simple and compelling search
experience".
More specific points
- if the items are related it would make sense to be able to skip from one
item to the next and have a different set of items appear that relate to
that newly selected one
- I like the fact that you can share your collected discoveries via one
link (e.g.
http://collectionsdivetwmuseums.org.uk/share/55a401a47d3ca1b4410b4978) but
that only reinforces the fact that personally I'd like to more consciously
find related items to pull together (I think there's a closet curator in
everyone!)
- the images are all scaled to full width and have big impact. No
complaints there, but I'd like a 'shrink' button that fits the image to the
screen so I can see the full image if i can see lots has been cropped
More than I meant to say, but it's really interesting and I look forward to
seeing it evolve.
Cheers, James
---
James Morley
Work: labs.europeana.eu / [log in to unmask]
Personal: www.jamesmorley.net / @jamesinealing
Also: www.whatsthatpicture.com / @PhotosOfThePast
On 13 July 2015 at 14:36, Martin Bazley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi John
> I really like the idea behind this approach. It establishes an open,
> friendly tone and gets people right into the objects straight away, with
> lovely full screen images and onward routes.
>
> Lovely the way you have the tags on the right hand side as well.
>
> Two suggestions:
>
> 1.(usability) make the whole of each panel clickable rather than just the
> button at the bottom.
>
> 2.(sustaining and deepending engagement) offer a few small curated
> collections of objects rather than a series of individual ones. And/or a
> few narrative pieces based on small numbers of objects for people to follow
> along. I imagine you were probably already intending to create 'layers'
> above the online collection itself.
>
> It looks pretty good on an iPhone too.
>
> Best
> Martin
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Martin Bazley
> Digital heritage consultant
> Martin Bazley & Associates
> 15 Margin Drive
> Wimbledon
> SW19 5HA
> 0780 3580 727
> [log in to unmask]
> www.martinbazley.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> John Coburn
> Sent: 13 July 2015 12:42
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [MCG] Novel cross-collections interface
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I thought I'd share v1 of a new collections interface Tyne & Wear Archives
> & Museums has been working on over the past year with Newcastle Uni and
> Microsoft Research. It's been funded as part of Nesta's Digital R&D for the
> Arts programme.
>
> It's intended to serve as a novel cross-collections interface encouraging
> 'non-specialist' audiences to browse and stumble across
> intriguing/surprising artefacts. Hopefully providing a simple and
> compelling search experience.
>
> http://collectionsdivetwmuseums.org.uk
> http://greatnorthmuseum.org.uk/collections/collections-search (via GNM:
> Hancock, one of our museums)
>
> The system is designed to present collections in response to our current
> interpretation of how you use it. Ie. How engaged you are with what you're
> seeing. It currently exposes 32,000 records.
>
> It is not intended to replace traditional catalogue/text search (this
> system is also being relaunched very soon). It should complement it and
> provide a simple alternative for anyone without the skills or inclination
> for doing this.
>
> We're still working on a software development kit. The plan is that any
> museum/archive/etc who wants to use it for their collection can adopt it
> relatively easily. I can share more as and when for anyone interested.
>
> Any comments/questions/bugs spotted, feel free email me away from the list!
>
> Cheers,
>
> John.
>
>
>
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