Hi Loic,

In 2004 I created an MP3 tour (now downloadable but not technically a 
podcast) for Prestongrange Museum (small industrial heritage site outside 
Edinburgh), you may find the link useful; http://www.prestongrange.org/

I would agree with you on your point of museums subcontracting the work out 
for the majority of projects, although the managers of Prestongrange will 
likely undertake work for future MP3 audio tours in-house, I think because 
the staff there are comfortable with the technology and process now they 
have had some experience with audio interpretation.

I also made the content available via mobile phone (dial-up) by using a 
virtual switchboard which has been adopted by others since; this may be 
worth examining in the MA conference as ownership of mobile phones is still 
much higher than that of MP3 players (80% of the general UK population own 
phones versus around 15% for MP3 players).

Use of the "mobile internet" may also be worth exploring, especially now 
data charges for mobile browsing are starting to become a bit more 
realistic!  You may find this link useful for ideas: 
http://www.audioexhibitions.com; if you have any queries on interpretation 
via podcasting or phones I'd be pleased to help.

Best regards,

Andy
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Loic" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2007 6:35 PM
Subject: PodCasting & Internet Communities


Dear All.

I am in the process of organising a Museums Association conference exploring
the potential of every-day technologies - MP3 players, digital cameras,
mobile phones, the Internet - to create more personalised visitor
experiences and am seeking feedback / help on two particular issues:

1.  On PodCasting, which UK museums are running in-house PodCasting
programme?  Are any "smaller" museums using this medium, and / or do people
find that most museums are using external companies to produce the PodCasts?
 Certainly my experience appears to show a preference for the latter.

2.  And on the museum use of existing internet communities - MySpace,
Flickr, YouTube, etc. - who (individuals or museums) are the leaders in this
field, and could anyone point me towards particular trials / programmes that
exist?

Any help on the above two points greatly appreciated, though feel free to
contact me with other ideas / museums (especially if regarding a non-London
museum) but ASAP is of the essence - I am under quite a tight deadline to
set the programme!

Best, Loïc.
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