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James We're doing an experiment with QR codes on interpretative panels and I'll report back the results mid-year. We did a low key one on a festival brochure in August (see Fresh & New for the usage report) with mixed results - but we learnt a lot from the trial. I'm with Frankie - not many people will use them initially - however the word of mouth from those that do will get full object records on their phones/devices plus a bunch of other material that will (hopefully) encourage them to word-of-mouth to their friends and colleagues. It would be very trivial to (freely) generate a bunch of QR codes then print them up on Moo stickers and place them on existing signage and monitor the result. That would be a <20 quid trial . . . . Even those who are spruiking QR codes as a marketing solution openly admit that mass market adoption is 3-5 years off - that's no reason not to test them though. On RFID - Nokia is soon launching a backplate for phones which will be a nearfield communication device reader . . . . but mass market on that is still 5-7 years off. Seb Sebastian Chan Head of Digital Services & Research Powerhouse Museum street - 500 Harris St Ultimo, NSW Australia postal - PO Box K346, Haymarket, NSW 1238 tel - 61 2 9217 0109 fax - 61 2 9217 0689 mob - 0413 457 126 e - [log in to unmask] w - www.powerhousemuseum.com b - www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog -----Original Message----- From: Museums Computer Group on behalf of James Morley Sent: Tue 09/12/2008 4:32 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Putting web addresses on interpretation Sorry, I guess I hadn't made my question that clear - I had already made the assumption that any printed urls would be short and memorable (thinking of BBC guidelines, SEO, common sense and just about every other argument I can think of), but my question was really based on user experience and behaviour so that this approach can be fine tuned. Even if you do print 'simple' urls, do people use them? Anecdotally I'd say rarely (a problem I have here is that the urls we have printed in the past always match existing links, so there's no way of differentiating users who have come in through that channel - I've always meant to try printing a unique URL to tease out this issue - has anyone ever done this?) If you just print your home page, is that really providing a good end-to-end experience for users if it is then hard to find the content they were looking for? Of course good IA, signposting and search can all contribute Is there a middle ground where you publish a very small number of key urls e.g. www.kew.org/plants (which exists) & www.kew.org/250 (for our birthday next year) and then have landing/portal pages that make it relatively easy to find something more specific? Or do you just accept that everyone will Google you (as a previous responder suggested), which is fine for unique brand names but becomes tricky for interpretation on subjects like 'climate change' and 'desert plants' (although we're working on that!) Whilst 2D bar-codes and other new methods have their appeal, we have to think of the typical audience reading our signs. Likewise I personally love the idea of typing my email address into a screen and getting it to send me links that I then pick up at home, but we can't really do that under every tree. But each does have its use and potential application. Cheers, James ---------------------------------------------------------------------- James Morley [log in to unmask] Website Manager Tel. +44 (0)20 8332 5759 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew www.kew.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > -----Original Message----- > From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of Ottevanger, Jeremy > Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 3:44 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Putting web addresses on interpretation > > Yup, that's what we do and I'm sure pretty much everyone else too! > Jeremy > > > > Jeremy Ottevanger > Web Developer, Museum Systems Team > Museum of London > 46 Eagle Wharf Road > London. N1 7ED > Tel: 020 7410 2207 > Fax: 020 7600 1058 > Email: [log in to unmask] > www.museumoflondon.org.uk Museum of London is changing. Visit > www.museumoflondon.org.uk to find out more. > Explore how the Great Fire shaped the city > www.museumoflondon.org.uk/londonsburning > Before printing, please think about the environment > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of Tony Crockford > Sent: 08 December 2008 15:41 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [MCG] Putting web addresses on interpretation > > I'm wondering if the obvious is being overlooked? > > it's technically trivial to rewrite urls on most webservers, > so that http://www.domainname.com/easytotype > can be redirected to the appropriate 'proper but unmemorable' URI. > > So wouldn't it make sense, from an analytics POV as well, to > have memorable urls printed on handout materials and then you > can manipulate and track at the server end. > > Personally, I often pick up leaflets and key in the url > printed there- on for more info (after that I'd bookmark!) > > You could also set up 'landing pages' that mirror the > leaflet and have live links? > > ************************************************** > For mcg information and to manage your subscription to the > list, visit the website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk > ************************************************** > > ************************************************** > For mcg information and to manage your subscription to the > list, visit the website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk > ************************************************** > ************************************************** For mcg information and to manage your subscription to the list, visit the website at http://www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk ************************************************** =========================Important Notice===================================== This email and attachments are for the use of the intended recipient(s) only and may contain confidential or legally privileged information or material that is copyright of Powerhouse Museum or a third party. 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