Museum 2.0

MAY 10, 2011

It's my second week as the Executive Director at The Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz, CA, and boy is my everything tired. I'm also making the 2011-2012 budget, getting to know our terrific staff and volunteers, and starting up a few small participatory projects to launch us into being a more community-driven institution.

Museum 53

Museum History Participatory Arts 53

Museum 2.0

JULY 20, 2010

Last week, I gave a talk about participatory museum practice for a group of university students at UCSC. During the ensuing discussion, one woman asked, "Which audiences are least interested in social participation in museums?" So what's a museum to do--especially one that is funded to encourage youth and teen participation?

Teen 49

Teen Social Museum Participatory 49

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 18, 2008

I've long believed that museums have a special opportunity to support the community spirit of Web 2.0 This month brings three examples of museums hosting meetups for online communities: On 8.6.08, the Computer History Museum (Silicon Valley, CA) hosted a Yelp! To some people, these events may sound like losers.

Museum 22

Museum Hosting Model Community 22

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 5, 2008

Cultural Connections is a group of museum professionals who meet up a few times a year and host excellent programs on a variety of topics. This week, they hosted "Let Them Be Heard: Visitor Participation in the Museum Experience," featuring four presentations on incorporating visitors' content into museums. Here's what they did.

Case Study 20

Case Study Participatory Studies Museum 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 7, 2010

Most of my work contracts involve a conversation that goes something like this: "We want to find ways to make our institution more participatory and lively." Most museums that offer interactive exhibits, media elements, or participatory activities offer them alongside traditional labels and interpretative tools. Fabulous!" "But

Audience 40

Audience Museum Oakland Participatory 40

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 4, 2010

It's rare that a participatory museum project is more than a one-shot affair. But next month, Britain Loves Wikipedia will commence--the third instance of a strange and fascinating collaborative project between museums and the Wikipedia community (Wikimedians). Some of these challenges were about mission fit.

Wikipedia 40

Wikipedia Arts Museum Images 40

Museum 2.0

APRIL 8, 2010

I've been enjoying a few blissful weeks at home but am now hitting the road for a series of conferences and work trips, and I wanted to let you know where I'll be if you want to meet up or come to an event. Many of the talks are related to The Participatory Museum and I will have books for sale on all of these forays.

Los Angeles 22

Los Angeles Museum Participatory Minneapolis 22

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 7, 2007

I got my copy of the fall issue of Museums and Social Issues this week. The theme is "Civic Dialogue," and the journal includes articles on the historical, cultural, media, and museum practice of getting people talking to each other (including one by me about such endeavors on the web). A place many museums are not.

Museum 22

Museum Lecture Denver San Francisco 22

Museum 2.0

JUNE 1, 2010

You can join the conversation in the blog comments, or on the Museum 2.0 Like many museum and library professionals, I am enamored of the idea of cultural institutions as “third places” – public venues for informal, peaceable, social engagement outside of home or work. Third places rarely if ever present scheduled events.

Place 41

Place Discussion Culture Museum 41

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

APRIL 23, 2008

One of the best projects that illustrates the basic idea of Web2.0 - listening and conversation and stakeholders creating their own experience with your organization - comes from the Brooklyn Museum of Art. o is Transparency - and the best example of that is what the Indianapolis Art Museum has done with its pubic metrics on its web site.

Arts 74

Arts Social Media Examples Artist 74

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 29, 2009

Last week, Jim Richardson and I hosted MuseumNext , a 24-hour workshop for museum professionals focused on bringing new, wild museum projects into the world. Thank you to everyone who came and helped co-create an exciting experimental event in a beautiful city. Facilitator bits.

Facilitation 32

Facilitation Reflection Museum Participatory 32

Museum 2.0

MARCH 4, 2009

In other words, a new kind of talkback board or participatory educational program. The thing that excites me about this is not the opportunity to use all the weird-colored cardstock hanging around the supply cabinets of most museums. If Signtific just asked the "What if?" question and allowed open response, it would not be as good.

Game 24

Game Experiment Participatory Museum 24

Museum 2.0

APRIL 22, 2008

Why discuss gifting on Museum 2.0? One of my greatest interests is the "p articipatory museum," in which there is substantive, unfacilitated visitor-to-visitor interaction. When I heard the tollbooth story, I started thinking about gifting as a model for participatory experiences in museums. Ideas participatory museum.

Gift 23

Gift Participatory Museum Model 23

Museum 2.0

JUNE 22, 2009

I'm working on a personal project (slowly) to open a cafe/bar venue that is also a design incubator for participatory exhibits. My goals are two-fold: to develop a dynamic, creative, social platform for my community and to distribute its successful elements to other civic learning institutions (museums, libraries, community centers).

Action 31

Action Ideas St. Louis Museum 31

Museum 2.0

MAY 5, 2009

I just returned from the American Association of Museums (AAM) annual meeting in Philadelphia. I led two sessions, one on visitor co-created museum experiences, and the other on design inspirations from outside museums. what is the value of the exhibition experience to non-participants, that is, regular museum visitors?

Slides 20

Slides Participatory Museum Children 20

Museum 2.0

MAY 19, 2010

How, he asked, could a large museum that serves hundreds of thousands of people per year foster the same sense of personal connection and community that a small one can achieve? I think small museums are generally better than large ones at fostering local communities of visitors and members. Complicity makes big places feel intimate.

Community 21

Community Museum Participatory Relationship 21

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

First, I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to the nascent Museum 2.0 We're still looking for your Museum 2.0-related We're still looking for your Museum 2.0-related I'll be playing in CA and hosting a game event at ASTC in Philadelphia mid-Oct. Tags: Quick Hits. Living Archive.

Fund 20

Fund Teen Museum Game 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 22, 2008

A platform for museum staff to serve as facilitators of safe spaces for difficult conversations? They are often one-offs for events but are increasingly included in the regular slate of programming at major libraries and cultural facilities (but at my count, only one museum). Could this be applied to museums? I think so.

Library 20

Library Model Museum Europe 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2009

In almost all cases, museums assure me that they want to be in conversation, that they want to be responsive, that they want to “really hear” what people think. Sadly, it was the second story that was about a museum. We hope you'll follow these events as they develop and keep the conversation going." Is this a research project?

Conversation 21

Conversation Museum Artist Minneapolis 21

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 19, 2009

They edit the conversations into radio shows, which are then made available as a podcast (you can listen to episode featuring me, #89: Museum Secrets, here ). I still get fidgety listening to the podcast, but now I see it as an artifact of a supremely conducted participatory project rather the sole product of the process.

Reflection 20

Reflection Museum Podcast Participatory 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 27, 2009

I’ve long admired Improv Everywhere , the NYC-based participatory public art group. I particularly like the MP3 experiments , events at which Improv Everywhere distribute an audio file to people for free as a podcast. Tags: Unusual Projects and Influences.

Instruction 21

Instruction Instructional Nicaragua Experiment 21

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 7, 2008

For many museums, visitor research--how people use the museum, navigate exhibits, and understand content--may be an equally important arena in which to adopt groundswell listening techniques. I spent an hour this morning "brand listening" to what the online world says about one of my favorite museums, the Exploratorium.

Museum 20

Museum Teen Second Life Discussion 20

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

Today, the Luce Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is launching what they claim is the first ever alternate reality game (ARG) in a museum. Why would an art museum create an ARG? And the "stuff" of the game is real stuff, artifacts created by players and sent to the museum. To expand their audiences.

Game 20

Game Museum Arts Alternative 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 27, 2008

Joe explains some of the planned intentional dialogue events: First, for the opening night dinner, we hired a local dance company that is putting together pieces about visiting museums, punctuated by an actor/dancer asking provocative questions to the group. But the Hope Stone dancers aren’t just addressing—they’re engaging.

Studies 20

Studies Associations Houston Museum 20

Museum 2.0

JUNE 10, 2010

I spent last week working with staff at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) on ways to make this encyclopedic art museum more open to visitor participation across programs, exhibitions, and events. While there, I was lucky to get to experience a highly participatory exhibition that the MIA mounts once a decade: Foot in the Door.

Participatory 46

Participatory Museum Arts Artist 46

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 4, 2010

I want to share a few fabulous evaluation and research studies that have greatly informed my work (and specifically, the development of The Participatory Museum , which is going to the printer this weekend). The Catalyst for Change social impact study from the Glasgow Open Museum. Tags: evaluation Quick Hits.

Participatory 20

Participatory Evaluation Project Report 20

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Photo from my flickr stream View the Tagging Screencast Presented by NTEN. I'm pleased to announce that my screencast about tagging has been released and showcased by NTEN ! I created it for the screencast to illustrate the definition of tagging. If you have questions about tagging or want to share your organization???s

Screencast 50

Screencast Instruction Instructional Tag 50

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

Now, after attending with museum friends from around the country, I'm hooked. Unlike many other social events in art venues that feature similar crowds and diversity, Artprize stood out in a simple way: people were entirely focused on and engrossed by the work. Very few wrote in typical museum or even gallery-speak.

Arts 52

Arts Experiment Artist Social 52

Museum 2.0

SEPTEMBER 24, 2008

How can you design museum spaces so that exhibits and artifacts become social objects--things that people want to share with each other? This summer, I wrote about situations that bring strangers together in conversation by focusing their attention on a third party (the dog, the stuck elevator, the surprising event). Flickr has photos.

Museum 26

Museum Social Participatory Flickr 26

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 28, 2007

Welcome to the second in the four-part series on comfort (and its boundaries) in museums, a day late but just as tasty. I came out of it truly amazed by the power of the museum—not just to elicit laughter, but also to induce bizarre and voluntary acts of silliness in front of and with strangers. By sending people on missions.

Program 20

Program People Museum Lecture 20

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 8, 2008

I have a lot of conversations with people that go like this: Other person: "So, you think that museums should let visitors control the museum experience?" Other person: "But doesn't that erode museums' authority?" If the museum isn't in control, how can it thrive? Me: "Sort of." and my emphatic response is YES.

Authoring 42

Authoring Platform Museum YouTube 42

Museum 2.0

JULY 3, 2008

I've written before about techniques for talking to strangers, looking at how buttons , buses , and dogs and can all be tools for participatory design. I used that instruction recently to kick off a meeting at a museum planning a participatory education space. Interestingly, at the City Museum in St.

Participatory 20

Participatory St. Louis Museum Game 20

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 13, 2014

Last week, I wrote about MuseumCamp , the annual professional development event we hold in Santa Cruz. While MuseumCamp is an unusual event, I''ve learned a lot from it about designing workshops, charrettes, and meetings--pretty much any gathering where you want to encourage playful, creative, risky thinking in groups. Sleep on it.

Facilitation 36

Facilitation Professional Learning Participatory 36

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

In many museums, comment cards are currently the most "participatory" part of the visitor experience. These services could be a powerful, cheap alternative to comment cards--especially those that are focused towards making suggestions about the museum. Simple, understandable functionality. Focuses users on prioritizing ideas.

Comment 20

Comment Tools Museum Conversation 20

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

As many of you know, I’m writing a book about participatory design for museums. The book is intended to be a practical guide to participatory museum experiences focused on design strategies, case studies, and activities. The WHY of participatory design is really important. And there’s a third reason.

Participatory 26

Participatory Design Museum Wiki 26

Museum 2.0

JULY 14, 2008

What’s in the crystal ball for museums and libraries? The IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services) has commissioned a preliminary proposal for an NAS (National Academy of Sciences) report on museums and libraries in the 21st century. What are the essential differences and similarities between libraries and museums?

Library 20

Library Museum Reflection Alternative 20

Museum 2.0

MARCH 6, 2019

While I originally wrote this post to advocate for more participatory practice (i.e. letting museum visitors contribute and collaborate in museums), I now see this as a crucial issue also for more democratic and inclusive practice (i.e. Other person: "But doesn't that erode museums' authority?" Me: "Sort of."

Authoring 44

Authoring Share Museum YouTube 44