thoughts on museums, content, design, and why they matter
So here we are in the midst of truly global calamity, pandemic, social upheaval, economic mayhem. People are losing their lives, their livelihoods, and their
Happy Leap Day! I’ve had a bunch of conversations lately that are all converging around the intersection of reflection and learning. I had a meeting
Happy holidays, comrades! Here we are, on the cusp of 2020, and I want to ring out the old year by reflecting on some of
I had the great good fortune to be in London in October for the MCG19 conference, and they just published my reflection on the event. I’d watched MCG via Twitter for years, but never had the chance to attend until now. And I am very glad I did. The theme of ‘Openness’ was incredibly timely, and the talks all explored some of the interesting frontiers of museums’ ongoing quest to figure out what it means to be more open and accessible to more audiences, both digital and physical. Check it out!
Imagine a typical museum visitor in the act of “being engaged” by something at the museum. What are they doing? Thinking? Feeling? Can you describe what that “engagement” looks like? How can you know that visitor is engaged as opposed to confused or looking at their email? Is engagement like pornography; hard to define but you know it when you see it? I don’t think so.
My chapter from “the Routledge International Handbook of New Digital Practices in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums and Heritage Sites” by Hannah Lewi, Wally Smith, Dirk vom Lehn, and Steven Cooke
Thinking about Museums 