Dave Patten is responsible for all public facing IT and AV, including interactive exhibits, at the Science Museum in London. Dave talked with us about connecting visitors to museum content, and the role technology plays in that process. The content is everything Visitors don’t visit museums for their tech. Rather, they seek meaningful encounters…
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Aaron Cope, Senior Engineer, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Aaron Cope is part of the team reinventing the collections website for the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Aaron talked with us about digital museum objects and what the future of online collections might look like. The Copper-Hewitt’s Manhattan building is currently closed for renovation (set to reopen in 2014). While physical access to the…
Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, Director of Interpretation, Media, and Evaluation at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
At the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Silvia Filippini-Fantoni manages the Interpretation, Media and Evaluation Department, which is responsible for the development of analogue and digital interpretive content about the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, and historic properties as well as audience research and evaluation. Silvia talked with us about how museums can identify and better…
Carolyn Royston, Head of Digital Media, Imperial War Museums
Carolyn Royston can be attributed with the impressive task of pioneering, developing and instituting the New Media Department at Imperial War Museums (IWM), a family of five related but distinct institutions located in the UK. Imperial War Museums include the IWM London; IWM North in Trafford, Greater Manchester; IWM Duxford near Cambridge; the Churchill…
Charlie Moad, Acting CIO, Director IMA Lab, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Charlie is essentially in charge of all technology at the museum including general IT maintenance, in addition to spear heading software development initiatives through the IMA Lab. The Lab consists of five developers and two graphic designers which is typically uncommon given the size of the institution. In addition, the team offers consulting services for…
Elycia Wallis, Manager, Online Collections, Museum Victoria
Elycia Wallis spoke with us about her many experiences at Museum Victoria with online collections and several other collections-based technologies. It was a fascinating discussion that highlighted participation with museums in an online setting. Dr. Elycia Wallis, PhD is Manager of Online Collections at Museum Victoria in Australia, where her role covers all aspects…
Christina DePaolo, Director of Digital Media, and Maren Dougherty, Director of External Affairs, Balboa Park Online Collaborative
We talked with Christina and Maren about the successes of the Balboa Park Online Collaborative, the role played by the Web in museums’ marketing and outreach strategies, and the future of social media and engagement. As Director of Media at Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC), Christina is in charge of Balboa Park Commons, an effort…
Ranti Junus, Systems Librarian, Michigan State University
We spoke with Ranti about museum website usability. What would be your top three reasons for improving access to museum audiences? Improving accessibility provides an equal opportunity to all users, increases diversity and if funding for the website comes from a government grant, it is a legal requirement. What technical and philosophical challenges need to…
Shana Crosson, Web Content Manager, Minnesota Historical Society
Shana Crosson is the Web Content Manager and Technology Integration Specialist at the Minnesota Historical Society and has been for the last six years. Currently her job revolves around preparing the Minnesota Historical Society for the digital delivery of K-12 content. Shana is currently in revisions for a digital text book for use in…
Bruce Wyman, Museum Consultant on Technology and Exhibitions
Currently an independent consultant for museums, Bruce Wyman was originally a marine biologist. While working at the New England Aquarium, he helped build the museum’s first website in 1995. From that point on, he continued to focus on integrating technology with museums at the aquarium and later with the MIT-connected startup NearLife, Second Story, the…
Susan Chun, Founder, Steve: The Museum Social Tagging Project
Susan is a researcher and consultant to cultural heritage organizations. She specializes in publishing; intellectual property policy and open content initiatives; information management; visualization; advanced search strategies; and multilingual content development and management. She leads several multi-institutional research and development projects in the museum and library community: She is a co-founder and project lead for…
Sarah Toplis, Commissioning Editor, Tate Collectives
As Commissioning Editor for Tate Collectives, Sarah manages and develops the digital strategy and ongoing schedule of digital projects for younger audiences at Tate. Tate Collectives is a youth art initiative run by and for young creatives, giving everyone the opportunity to reach their own conclusions about art. We spoke with Sarah about the importance…
Tim Songer, President and Lead Consultant, Interactive Knowledge
Tim Songer, president and lead consultant at Interactive Knowledge, has worked in the field of educational media for over 20 years. Tim’s personal journey took him from teaching high school to grad school to study instructional design. Tim’s work on a grant for developing learning materials for an adult literacy program that were recorded on…
Sebastian Chan, Head of Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies, Powerhouse Museum
Seb Chan leads the Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies department at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. Seb has a background in social policy, journalism and media criticism as well as information technology. Since the mid 1990s he has been building and producing websites and interactive media. At the Powerhouse Museum, he oversees a number of…
Nancy Proctor, Head of Mobile, Smithsonian Institution
Nancy Proctor heads up mobile strategy and initiatives for the Smithsonian Institution, and is co-chair of the Museums and the Web annual conference. From 2008-2010 she was Head of New Media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Nancy served as program chair for the Museums Computer Network (MCN) conference 2010-2011, and co-organizes the Tate Handheld conference among other gatherings for cultural…
Matthew Fisher, President, Interactive Designer, Night Kitchen Interactive
Matthew Fisher is the President and Co-Founder of Night Kitchen Interactive, which produces educational interactives, social media solutions, marketing communications, interpretive installations, and online exhibits for museums. The company uses kiosks, touch-tables, mobile apps and websites to combine the vital storytelling functions of both picture and word. We asked Matthew about his experiences facilitating participation…
Rob Stein, Deputy Director for Research, Technology and Engagement, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Rob Stein is currently the Deputy Director of Research, Technology, and Engagement at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. With a history of computer science and computer engineering, Rob initially set out working in the field of computer graphics and human-computer interface. As the Deputy Director of Research, Technology, and Engagement Rob oversees technology, software,…
Paul Marty, Associate Professor, Florida State University
Paul Marty is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the College of Communication and Information at Florida State University. He has researched and written extensively on museum informatics, website usability and how people use information. He was also the Director of Information Technology at the Spurlock Museum in…
Diya Vij and David Strauss, Queens Museum of Art
We had an interview with David Strauss, Director of External Affairs and Diya Vij, Designer and New Media Specialist of the Queens Museum of Art (QMA). The following includes a few key points that I found particularly helpful in regard to using social media for marketing and fundraising. Serving a diverse audience Queens, New York…
David Schaller, Founder and Principal, Eduweb.com
On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, we interviewed David Schaller, and asked him about a variety of topics related to educational game play and interactive design. David Schaller is the founder and principal of Eduweb.com, an educational digital learning game design firm based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Since the company’s founding in 1996, Eduweb has…
Bart Marable, Owner and Designer, Terra Incognita
Bart Marable is an interactive designer that works independently with a variety of teams. He is currently the owner of his own company, Terra Incognita. For years he has been working with interactives since his years as a student. Intending to teach, he actually ended up becoming an interactive designer and pursued his creative outlet….
Perian Sully, Project Manager, Balboa Park Online Collaborative
Perian Sully is working with Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC), which is a group of 27 organizations located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. She is responsible for digitization of objects, placing those collections online (either on the organization’s website and/or Flickr) and implementing a DAMS (Digital Asset Management System). Combining all images in one location…
Lowell Robinson, Director of Online Engagement, Exploratorium
Our first guest expert interview focused on the topic of online audiences in museums. Lowell Robinson is an award winning designer, technologist and filmmaker. He is the Director of Online Engagement at the Exploratorium, where he leads a digital group focused on exploring online and mobile experiences. Lowell has experimented in the areas of networked…