1st Edition

Museum Informatics People, Information, and Technology in Museums

By Paul F. Marty, Katherine Jones Copyright 2008
    358 Pages 37 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    356 Pages 37 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Museum Informatics explores the sociotechnical issues that arise when people, information, and technology interact in museums. It is designed specifically to address the many challenges faced by museums, museum professionals, and museum visitors in the information society. It examines not only applications of new technologies in museums, but how advances in information science and technology have changed the very nature of museums, both what it is to work in one, and what it is to visit one.

    To explore these issues, Museum Informatics offers a selection of contributed chapters, written by leading museum researchers and practitioners, each covering significant themes or concepts fundamental to the study of museum informatics and providing practical examples and detailed case studies useful for museum researchers and professionals. In this way, Museum Informatics offers a fresh perspective on the sociotechnical interactions that occur between people, information, and technology in museums, presented in a format accessible to multiple audiences, including researchers, students, museum professionals, and museum visitors.

    Contents

    Figures, Charts, and Tables

    Preface

    Section 1 Introductions

    Chapter 1 An Introduction to Museum Informatics

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 2 The Transformation of the Digital Museum

    Katherine Burton Jones, Harvard Divinity School

    Section 2 Information Resources in Museums

    Chapter 3 Information Representation

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 4 Representing Museum Knowledge

    David Bearman, Archives and Museum Informatics

    Chapter 5 The Information Revolution in Museums

    Darren Peacock, University of South Australia

    Section 3 Information Management in Museums

    Chapter 6 Information Organization and Access

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 7 Information Policy in Museums

    Diane Zorich, Information Management Consultant for Cultural Organizations

    Chapter 8 Metadata and Museum Information

    Murtha Baca, Erin Coburn, and Sally Hubbard, J. Paul Getty Trust

    Section 4 Information Interactions in Museums

    Chapter 9 Interactive Technologies

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 10 A World of Interactive Exhibits

    Maria Economou, University of the Aegean

    Museum Informatics

    Chapter 11 Blurring Boundaries for Museum Visitors

    Areti Galani, University of Newcastle

    Matthew Chalmers, University of Glasgow

    Section 5 Information Behavior in Museums

    Chapter 12 Changing Needs and Expectations

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 13 Understanding the Motivations of Museum Audiences

    Kirsten Ellenbogen, Science Museum of Minnesota

    John Falk and Kate Haley Goldman, Institute for Learning Innovation

    Chapter 14 Partnerships for Progress: Electronic Access and Museum Resources in the

    Classroom

    Jim Devine, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow

    Section 6 Information Collaborations in Museums

    Chapter 15 Collections and Consortia

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 16 AMOL Ten Years On: A Legacy of Working Beyond Museum Walls

    Basil Dewhurst and Kevin Sumption, Powerhouse Museum

    Chapter 17 Challenges to Museum Collaboration: The MOAC Case Study

    Richard Rinehart, UC Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive

    Layna White, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

    Section 7 Conclusions

    Chapter 18 Information Professionals in Museums

    Paul F. Marty, Florida State University

    Chapter 19 Curating Collections Knowledge: Museums on the Cyberinfrastructure

    Jennifer Trant, Archives and Museum Informatics

    Chapter 20 The Future of Museums in the Information Age

    Maxwell L. Anderson, Indianapolis Museum of Art

    About the Authors

    References

    Index

    Biography

    Paul F. Marty is Assistant Professor in the College of Information at Florida State University. He has a background in ancient history and computer science engineering, and his Ph.D. is from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Katherine Burton Jones is the Assistant Dean for Information Technology and Media Services at the Harvard Divinity School. She is the Research Advisor and an instructor for the Masters in Liberal Arts in Museum Studies. She is a former President of the Board of Directors of the Museum Computer Network.