Dear Nick (and other MCGers)
Thanks for your comments on the BPMA Wiki. The idea was conceived
before I took over the job as Web Officer but I will do my best to
explain the thinking of my predecessor and our web developers when the
idea was first thought of.
I don't think that we created our Wiki entirely 'just because we can'.
I'll cover the thinking behind it below. Having said that, as Tehmina
says, there was an element of 'to see what happens' as well, which is
not necessarily a bad thing.
The first thing that I should explain is that the BPMA at present is a
slightly unusual organisation. We are a museum and an archive but at
the moment our museum collection is in store and apart from a very small
philatelic display area in our Archive Search Room, we don't have an
exhibition space. We view our website as the most important way of
reaching our audiences. We need it, therefore, to be able to provide as
much of a museum/archive experience as possible.
Many of my predecessor's thoughts and motivations are summed up in the
Wiki page:
http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/wiki/Why-we-created-the-BPMA-Wiki if
you are interested in reading them.
In addition to this, I would say that we know that there are communities
out there with very specialist knowledge relating to our collections and
the stories they tell. We wanted to experiment with giving them the
tools to interact more between themselves and with us, and to harness
some of the knowledge that they hold.
As I say, my blog will keep a track of how my dissertation is going and
I shall no doubt be sharing some of my findings on there so that's
probably the best way to keep track of the outcomes. Who knows, I might
also be able to turn it into something else once it's written so that it
can reach a wider audience!
Thanks
Rhiannon
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Rhiannon Looseley
Web Officer
Tel: 020 7239 2588
Fax: 020 7239 2576
[log in to unmask]
The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA)
Freeling House, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL
www.postalheritage.org.uk
British postal communications helped to shape the modern world. The
British Postal Museum & Archive illuminates the lives of people in the
Post Office, the messages carried by Royal Mail, the history we all
share. Our history through the post.
The BPMA is the public identity of the Postal Heritage Trust.
Registered as a charity in England and Wales.
Registered Charity Number 1102360
Company Number 4896056
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Nick Poole
Sent: 27 March 2008 09:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: British Postal Museum & Archive Wiki
Dear Rhiannon,
Many thanks for your email about the BPMA Wiki. I would be really
interested to know more about why the BPMA took the decision to
implement a Wiki. Is it something your online audience have been
requesting? Is there a specific target demographic for whom a Wiki is
their preferred form of interaction?
The reason I ask is because of your comment about taking time to get
people on there. Of course, this may simply be the inertia faced by any
fledgling service, but at the same time I am not sure whether this is
central to your mission or an incidental add-on.
Not to be too negative about things, but (bearing in mind the recent
exchange between Frankie and Mike) I remain sceptical about the
appropriateness of models like social networking and participative media
to the delivery of museums online. As Mike notes, there's no hard and
fast rule - it's appropriate when it's appropriate - but I'd be really
interested to know whether this is a case of 'because we can' or whether
there is a genuine audience/marketing driver behind this thing.
Similarly, I'd be very interested to know more about the outcomes of
your dissertation - not just from a quantitative point of view (how many
museums are doing this), but also from a qualitative one (of those
museums, how may are doing it well, and how many will still be an
actively supported resource in 2 years time).
Of course, I see the potential of crowdsourcing interpretation and
selection, and the Wiki model certainly offers a potential channel for
people to get at the museums back-end systems, but I think we run the
risk of overlooking the very specific psychology and demographics of
User Generated Content, and regarding it as something appropriate for a
generalist audience.
Any further info gratefully received!
Best regards,
Nick
Nick Poole
Chief Executive
MDA
www.mda.org.uk
www.collectionslink.org.uk
Tel: 01223 316028
Fax: 01223 364658
MDA (Europe) Ltd: Company Registration No: 1300565
Reg. Office: 22 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JP.
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Rhiannon Looseley
Sent: 26 March 2008 17:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: British Postal Museum & Archive Wiki
Dear all
I thought some of you might be interested in hearing about the new
British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) Wiki:
www.postalheritage.org.uk/wiki. It's based on Zwiki technology which is
Zope/Plone developers' answer to Wiki technology.
It's a bit of an experiment and at the moment, unsurprisingly, it's
taking a bit of time to get people on there. I've started a few 'seeds'
to get people started. At the bottom of this email is an example of the
email we sent out to our E-Newsletter mailing list to try and encourage
people to contribute. It gives you an example of some of the seeds
we're using at the moment. We've created similar flyers and newsletter
articles as well.
I would be interested in hearing any suggestions others might have on
topics we could use to get people started and also experiences of
building up a community like this. I'm particularly keen to find ways
of making the most of Wikis' potential for collaborative work.
Also if you're interested, I'm currently writing my MA in Museum Studies
Dissertation on Museum Wikis, with ours as a case study. I'm blogging
about my progress at: http://rhiannonlooseley.blogspot.com if anyone is
interested in following my progress. I'd welcome any comments along the
way (please let me know if you specifically don't want me to quote your
comments, either on my blog, or by email, in my dissertation).
Best wishes,
Rhiannon Looseley
--------------------------------------
Rhiannon Looseley
Web Officer
Tel: 020 7239 2588
Fax: 020 7239 2576
[log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA)
Freeling House, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL
www.postalheritage.org.uk <http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/>
British postal communications helped to shape the modern world. The
British Postal Museum & Archive illuminates the lives of people in the
Post Office, the messages carried by Royal Mail, the history we all
share. Our history through the post.
The BPMA is the public identity of the Postal Heritage Trust.
Registered as a charity in England and Wales.
Registered Charity Number 1102360
Company Number 4896056
Family History Research
Researching your postal ancestors? Want to share what you've discovered
with a wider audience? Why not use the Wiki to tell others about your
research?
Use the Wiki Family history research
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OE7Q6963B7UOK4YSTV>
page to get started.
Postal History
Do you know a lot about a certain aspect of postal history? Have you
uncovered a particularly interesting story in our archive? Why not tell
us more about them on the Wiki?
Use the Wiki Postal history
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OEYMPO78SIJ7MY0JO3>
page to get started.
Working with our collections
Did you/do you work for the Post Office? Do you recognise some of the
objects and documents in our Collections section
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OE0QP7O71MVGI0PIQW> ?
Why not tell us about what it was/is like to work with them?
Use the Wiki Working with our collections
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OEBHDGUI0DHZ2L69O7>
page to get started.
Working for the Post Office
Did you/do you work for the Post Office or Royal Mail? Tell us about
your experiences on the Wiki.
What do you think has changed over the years? We'd be interested to hear
what you think.
Use the Wiki Working for the Post Office
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OECZXA1DOTRLJIRJAD>
to get started.
Letter boxes
Do you have a digital image of a particularly interesting letter box?
Why not upload your image to the Wiki and tell us more about it.
Is there a letter box near you that you would like to know more about?
Maybe someone else out there can help you with your query. You could
post a question on the Wiki.
Use the Wiki Letter boxes
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OE789FM2I4ZDYIV491>
page to get started.
War Memorials in the Post Office
Have you noticed a War Memorial in your local Post Office? Please help
us compile our database of Post Office War Memorials.
Use our Wiki War Memorials in the Post Office
<http://www.massmailer.co.uk/go.php?RKKH2J8JU8N459OETUG225U1E5M98XFF>
page to get started.
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