There have been some interesting responses so far and I think this is a
very worthwhile debate.
Can I be a little selfish and foreground the subtext of my original post
(and the source of some of my rueful comments towards the end of my
response to Danny's question)?
Beyond the whys and wherefores of whether or not social media and blogs
are a good idea, there is the problem that applies to many council run
museums; many of them simply aren't allowed to have any control over
their web presence at all.
It isn't just about time and money it is about working within a
corporate culture and being forced to negotiate barriers to even
considering participation.
Like many people here I think that getting your museum on the web and
addressing your audience in a way that is appropriate to them is "a good
thing". I think many more would be surprised to hear exactly how hard
that can be sometimes.
Returning to Danny's question and reflecting on some points made by John
and Brian: I don't see any conflict in wanting to consider a seperate
channel for publishing "informal" museum content.
We are lucky at Bolton in the sense that we buck the trend for council
museums and have our own site (perhaps I protest too much!).
Even so, I think that a "typical" museum site has a particular (if
somewhat broad) purpose: It is a place for the public to go and find out
about that service or a specific aspect of that service - generally
quickly and without dwelling too long on your pages.
For me a blog is a seperate entity. I read blogs and use a news reader.
Though I don't believe that this is mainstream behaviour (yet) I think
that even web users who don't subscribe to blogs will know one when they
see one.
A blog has a recognisable format and generally has a different tone to
mainstream web sites. A blog can also be a part of a conversation or a
community (BTW: way do any official museum bloggers ever comment on
other museums blogs?).
Maybe Facebook is the way to go. Saying that I think Flickr can be a
very good social tool - if you can spare the time to interact with other
users. But that is a whole other problem.
Do any of the larger museums employ a community manager to manage these
disparate channels?
Sorry for the essay!
Perry
-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Brian Kelly
Sent: 19 January 2009 01:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Do any council run museums have blogs?
Hi Perry
That's quite a timely question.
Here at UKOLN, a national centre of expertise in digital information
managed, we have recently launched a blog aimed at the cultural heritage
sector:
http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/
A guest post on "The Black Art of Blogging" by Catriona Cardie,
Marketing Director, Our Dynamic Earth gives a report on a 1-day workshop
organised by UKOLN on "An Introduction To Blogs And Social Networks For
Heritage Organisations". In her post she addresses a number of the
isssues raised in your initial message and subsequent replies.
UKOLN also recently launched a series of IntroByte briefing
documents, which include a number which address various issues related
to the provion of blogs - see
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/#blogs
I hope these resources will help to address some of the issues you've
raised.
Note in particular the question as to "what's the point of a museum
blog" is one we're addressed at our blogging workshops on a number of
occassions.
The various suggestions made have been included in a document on "Use of
Blogs in Museums" which is available at
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/briefing-4/html/
Good luck with your plans
Brian Kelly, UKOLN
On Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:18:33 +0000, Bonewell, Perry
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Hello everyone,
>
>Do any local authority museums publish an official blog?
>
>I am hoping to set one up and would be interested to hear from anyone
>who has had a go.
>
>Apart from links to active examples I would also be interested to hear
>how receptive councils are to the idea and if there are any issues that
>need to be considered.
>
>Please respond to me off line if you would prefer.
>
>Perry Bonewell
>
>
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>
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