At the risk of being flamed for replying to a post as a commercial supplier
to the sector, but also as someone involved on the editorial side of the
Port Cities project and concerned about both dicoverability and engagement,
I'd like to inform the Group that it is indeed possible to both discover and
engage with a wide range of digitized online content - from text and images
to podcasts, blogs and videos - while visiting a museum...through the
visitor's mobile phone.
While it can't be the complete solution, of course, using a mobile phone to
scan a barcode in a guide to a collection or when standing in front of an
artifact, and then being able to receive relevant information in an
appropriate format on the phone, and respond to it, if invited, can make a
significant contribution towards "21st century" access. Moreover, since a
code can be linked to an online database, a search facility can be built in
to make use of whatever tags have been given to the digitized items, so that
visitors can search for works from the same period, by the same artist etc
etc - hence supporting the aim of accessing content by theme.
Coming back to the issue of digital curation, a slightly different version
of the software can be installed on staff phones so that they can create,
view and edit an object's online record from a phone, by pointing the
phone's camera at the SAME code that can give the public access to different
information, and accessing the appropriate online database, or one installed
on the phone itself.
And on top of that, a voucher or payment system can be integrated with the
barcode solution, so that visitors can buy copies of your digitized content,
too!
There are a handful of international case studies that I can share with
interested members, but if you'd simply like to know more about optical
barcodes for mobile phones, please look at our website: www.upcode.co.uk.
Simon de Pinna
Director
Upcode Mobile Solutions Ltd
3 Kingsmill Business Park
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 3GZ
www.upcode.co.uk
Office: 020 8481 0446
Mobile: 07711 022918
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