Creating and Maintaining an Online Museum
With the proliferation of sites like Blogger, Facebook, and Multiply, it is easy to create your own microsite. What is not easy is to maintain the site and turn it into a provider of content.
Such is the case in creating and maintaining an online museum. Most teachers beginning to hatch the plan for a heritage project in their hometown or city often wonder, how long does it take?
The time spent on the web is not really the development of the site or page; it’s the management, maintenance and growth. When you start an online museum, think about who and what group is responsible to sustain it.
See below a quick rundown of time requirements and the online activity you can devote to it:
- No time - you can Twitter, follow blogs and websites on yelp, tripadvisor, technorati, and maybe post images on flickr
- 1 hour - you can comment on blogs, create or join a facebook group, and update a personal myspace page
- 5 hours - you can manage and update a blog, and share podcasts
- 10 hours - you can run a community, or maintain a website
Teachers can create project-based learning experiences with the theme of virtual museums. This can be done through digital scrapbooking or blogging resources. Students can gather virtual artifacts to be shared to other classes.
The usual objectives for this project are to:
- provide rich and engaging content for the classroom
- use information and communication technology for powerful learning activities since the prerequisites for this project involves computers with Internet access and Microsoft Office programs
Expert advice when coming up with the theme or focus of your online museum includes:
- Ask yourself the following questions when creating the concept- Does the concept work within the museum’s mandate? Does it address a need? Is it achievable? Is it gradable?
- Evaluate your concept by asking the following questions- Does it meet audience needs? Does it maximize online media? Is it accessible to target audience? Can it be maintained?
- Find out more about museums by visiting one and talking with some museum volunteers and staff. This can be useful feedback, especially in the usual elements of educational tours and school tour group activities.
- Use the latest scrapbooking and blogging resources.
- Research on online museum formats and get help from professionals (by researching online) as necessary.
Sources:
Diener, Tom. “MuseumMakers: Create an Online Museum.” Retrieved November 25, 2009 from
http://eeznt3.nyiteez.org/olacatalog/Documents/MuseumMakers/Syllabus.pdf
“How Much Time Does Web 2.0 Take?” Retrieved November 25, 2009 from
http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-much-time-does-web-20-take.html
“Producing Online Heritage Projects.” Retrieved November 25, 2009 from
http://www.chin.gc.ca/English/Digital_Content/Producing_Heritage/concept.html
(Published 21 December 2009, Smart Communications Inc.)
