The Digital Museum: A Think Guide
A book about technology in museums for those of us who are not techies!The Digital Museum, edited by Herminia Din and Phyllis Hecht, is for anyone who cares about the future of museums and the impact of technology on our lives and institutions.
The revolution in communications technology has created a landscape that was inconceivable a generation ago. How will the 21st-century museum respond?
Twenty-five authors, leading thinkers in the fields of technology and museums, lead us through this exciting and rapidly changing terrain, exploring the impact of new technology on all aspects of museum operations, from interpretation to conservation. Topics range from the use of handheld devices, websites and digital games to open source technology and real-time learning.
The book highlights how new technologies can enhance the traditional museum mission while also allowing museums to become laboratories for the tools of digital discourse.
What Are People Saying About This Post?
I like this book best as a quick introduction to the many different ways that technology is impacting museums. Because it is an anthology of brief articles, it can't take you through the project planning stage of any technology initative, but it did introduce me to a lot of subjects I had not previously considered. Museum ethics and techology-- that was a new one for me! Also, I appreicated many of the articles on the "theory" of technology in museums, especially the one by Chun, Jenkins and Stein which encourages museums to use open source software, and thus share both the cost and the knowledge associated with software development.