Alterations: The Effects of Digitization on the Study of Academic Costume Collections

This thesis explores the effects of digitization on the study and exhibition of historic costume collections in colleges and universities. Based on interviews with key curatorial staff at six academic costume collections, I will argue that digitization, although expensive and time consuming, is essential to managing an academic costume collection and the associated outreach and education. Curators and collections staff who make their collections available online, either in the form of a catalogue database or more informally through social media, have greater intellectual control over their collections. They have the potential to reach more users in a broader geographic area and have more productive appointments with researchers. When sufficient digital photography is available, wear and tear of fragile collection items can be mitigated because the need to pull objects from storage is reduced. Producing digital photography also lays the groundwork for digital exhibitions and digital components to accompany physical exhibitions.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201

Effective Strategies in Museum Distance Education

Abstract Museums remain an underutilized resource for educating the public, but this is changing with the development of effective distance learning programs. In recent years, many museums have developed mobile applications, websites, and social networking resources that vary in complexity and purpose. Some have merely provided basic information on hours of operation. Others are quite elaborate, consisting of virtual galleries and supplemental educational programs for teachers interested in incorporating exhibits into classroom or online instruction. For many years, the primary mission of museums was to preserve and display real objects and to help visitors interpret the meaning of these objects. Now there are new options for representing objects and encouraging interaction with them, which results in new possibilities for educating the public. This paper presents the results of an investigation of the distance education approaches used by museums. The results of the study suggested there are at least twelve essential elements in the design of effective distance learning programs for museums. These include contingencies, pre-requisite skills of both learners and developers, target populations, learner characteristics, appropriate topics for distance learning, the nature of the material, instructional design principles, the use of cognitive learning strategies, the incorporation of motivational techniques, interface design, and limitations unique to museums. In general, museums emphasize the importance of visual displays supplemented by audio guides, and they seek to engage the visitor in a way that encourages the visitor to make meaningful connections to his or her life. To develop an effective instructional strategy, the museum education instructional design and technology team focus on instructional design principles, cognitive learning and motivational strategies as well as the best way to effectively deploy new technologies

Best practices of textile and clothing museum website development

The internet offers museums a variety of educational outlets. With the rising use of internet technologies in the everyday lives of millions of Americans museums are able to connect to a larger and more diverse audience. The internet itself, as well as internet technologies such as: podcasts and blogs have the potential to assist the collection in making its objects accessible, transferring knowledge of historic costume and textiles, increasing public awareness, and broadening its audience. This master\u27s thesis reviews the best practices used by museum professionals in the textiles and apparel discipline in an effort to better understand the Web and internet technologies to: disseminate information, present textiles and clothing collections and to enhance the virtual museum and collection experience. Eleven museum professionals of textile and clothing museums were interviewed to better understand the methods, procedures, factors of effective website design, and display preferences, and to understand the purpose and mission of a textile and clothing museum and collection website

Aesthetics, Accessibility and User-centered design: An analysis of the University of Otago Library Special Collections online exhibitions 2002-2013

Research Problem: This study analyses 42 online exhibitions which are currently available on the University of Otago Library Special Collections web page. The research integrates aesthetics, accessibility and user-centered design and focusses on each exhibitions functionality and appeal within these parameters. Methodology: The intention of this research is to compare and contrast 42 online exhibitions up until November 2013, with additional in-depth analysis of ten selected online exhibitions. Tools used were an LG wide-screen monitor and PC, and exhibitions were accessed via the Mozilla Firefox web browser 24.2.0. Results: Three clear issues with the exhibitions design were identified: 1) in the majority of exhibitions, the size of the type used was smaller than recommended accessibility guidelines, and fluctuated over time; 2) labelling rather than numbering cabinets in an index created improved usability; 3) overall aesthetics and functionality within the exhibitions improved over time, reflecting available technology. Implications: The 42 online exhibitions analysed provide insight into how available technology has improved the aesthetic appearance of the exhibitions and their functionality since 2002. The latter exhibitions contain far more images, varied and appealing page design, and an unobtrusive provision of further information on the cabinet artefacts. Usability and accessibility could be enhanced by consistent 12 point type within the main body and cabinets of the exhibitions, in addition to consistent labelling of cabinets which provides the patron a better understanding of the whole exhibitions theme, and the cabinets, wall and vitrines without too much ‘clicking’. Areas for future research into accessibility and patron inclusivity in online exhibitions for libraries are highlighted