Cultures with antiquities being curated in foreign countries should be given better access to their heritage By Claire Nicholas September 2014 ABSTRACT It is suggested that museum websites could do more to engage with the nations represented by the artefacts in the museums’ collections, as curating artefacts from foreign countries for the benefit of education and science might result in the donating cultures feeling alienated from their heritage. Three surveys were conducted to test this hypothesis, taking Egypt as a case study, and thanks are extended to all participants for their help with this research. The paper looks at how museums need to adapt to a changing environment and discusses usage of museum websites and their online collections. Comments received from the public in Survey 1 include a lot of support for using museum websites and their online collections, however there are also many criticisms. The issue of language is addressed. Survey 2 involved examining 81 websites of museums outside Egypt believed to contain Ancient Egyptian artefacts in their collections but of these only six offered translations in Arabic on their websites. On this basis, less than 8% of museums with Ancient Egyptian collections are able to easily communicate with the population whose heritage has been removed from their country. Survey 3 considers which form of Arabic should be used – the classic form, or colloquial Egyptian – with the outcome being the former. The conclusions are: 1. The number of museums with Ancient Egyptian collections and a translation in Arabic on their websites needs to be significantly increased, which would not only increase the number of visitors to websites but also enhance Egyptians’ engagement, understanding and learning of the objects in the online collections; 2. Museums should plan to have these changes in place within five years; 3. Effecting this change fits with the UK’s Museum Association’s proposals in their ‘Museums 2020 Discussion Paper’ The changing environment for museums The two big impacts affecting museum management are the digital age and worldwide economic recession in 2008/2009, although lack of funding has been an ongoing issue for many institutions for far longer (Janes 2013: frontispiece). Museums that do not adapt to these challenges might well find their future threatened. The Museums Association in the United Kingdom conducted a study in 2011 and found that one-fifth of the museums in the UK had received a cut in funding of at least 25% within the last year; the way they had coped with this was to reduce staffing and opening hours, and one had closed altogether (Janes 2013: 331). 1 An additional impact on museums is that they now have to be more visibly accountable and credible in their communication to the public (Madan 2011: 30). Museums still generally use physical attendance and engagement of visitors to their institutions as their benchmarks, rather than the much wider audience which is, or could be, achieved via their websites. Published visitor studies typically quote actual rather than virtual attendance. For example, in Museum Marketing and Strategy, published well into the age of the internet and cyberspace, all of the data collected on visitors, through use of phrases such as ‘visitors contribute income’ appears to relate only to those who physically attend the building (Kotler 2008: 153-168). When discussing attracting new audiences, using the internet is barely mentioned and using museum websites to reach a wider body of people is not mentioned at all (Kotler 2008: 168-176). Visitor attendance is still seen as the museum’s reason for existence, without which it becomes just a collection (Lord 1999: 22). Proposals in a consultation paper issued in 2012 by the UK’s Museums Association include rectifying this omission by encouraging museums to expand their thinking away from traditional policies and do more work off-site (Museums Association Discussion Paper 2012: 18). Museums should now pay more regard to their online visitors, and treat online activity as part of their success. Black develops this thought when suggesting it is through regular attendance that engagement and learning take place, and that virtual attendance is the practical way to encourage such frequency (Black 2012: 52). What do the general public think of museum websites, in particular, their online collections? Survey 1 was posted on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn, as well as sent to groups found through other sources to glean opinions from the general public. Although it was open to everyone, the questionnaire was only available in English which reduced the potential number and spread of participants. A further impact on the number of results was that a financial incentive or reward was not offered, so the only people likely to offer an opinion were those with a personal interest in the subject; therefore the opinions should be considered as relevant, because they were offered by an engaged audience. After data cleaning, the survey yielded 242 responses. Of these, 176 stated English was their native language with the remainder covering a broad spectrum of languages, of which Arabic or Nubian were the first language for six respondents. Although all answers play a crucial role in the overall summary, the six Arabic or Nubian ones are of particular interest for this study and are itemised in the summaries. One question offered 11 different statements describing online collections on museum websites, and asked respondents to select all that resembled their opinions. The following table shows the results, with numbers in brackets denoting the answers from the Arabic and Nubian speakers. 2 Number of responses 86 84 76 63 59 51 46 44 40 40 11 Statement Being able to zoom in on the objects is a great advantage (1) Useful to be able to read about the objects at my leisure (1) Annoying that we only see the collection highlights, and not all of the objects (1) Museums miss the opportunity to make this into a much more engaging facility I tend to use the online facility to supplement my visit to the museum (1) Given that space is not really an issue, I'm surprised the text doesn't go into more detail Are just another version of the museum catalogue (1) Objects are always shown individually, we still need to see them in context of others (1) Fairly static and ordinary I rarely use museum websites, but might consider using them more often in future (1) Online collections are vivid and exciting The options were designed to offer useful feedback to museums on how they might be able to improve their websites. Respondents were given the opportunity to add supporting text; their anonymised comments relating to use of websites are shown at Appendix 1. The wording of each one is exactly as originally submitted, except in one case where a few words that might be considered offensive have been removed. None of these comments were made by the Arabic or Nubian speakers. Survey 1 included a list of major museums, and asked which ones the participants had visited; these results form Appendix 3. Several of the museums itemised in Survey 1 also appeared in Survey 2, enabling the results to be combined. Several comments were made about the lack of variety in the list, but to incorporate one that reflected all options would not only have been impractical, it was likely to have produced fewer results, not more, due to the list being unmanageable. Language and identity Published works read for this research include several books concentrating on bringing museums into the 21st century, and how to make them more engaging, particularly to their online visitors (Cameron & Kenderdine 2010 ‘Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage’; Simon 2010 ‘The Participatory Museum’; Black 2012 ‘Transforming Museum in the Twenty-first Century’). Rarely was the issue of language mentioned and, when it was, the brief inclusion usually referred to use of jargon rather than which languages should be adopted to ensure the museum visitors could fully understand the exhibits. The choice of language to connect museum artefacts with today’s populations is crucial, to ensure visitors can understand and engage with the exhibitions. Clearly the first consideration is to ensure the visitor has the option to learn about the exhibits in their own language, and the need for clarity with language is as important for online visitors as it is for those who turn up to see the exhibitions in person. Using Arabic to converse with Egyptians requires additional consideration. The Arabic spoken in modern Egypt is not the standard (‘Classic’) format, but instead is referred to as Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. The differences between the two forms have been likened to comparing 3 today’s English with that used in the times of Shakespeare – it can be understood, but the grammar and vocabulary has little bearing on daily life and would be difficult to maintain in speech. If the proposals contained in this paper are to be adopted, the question for museums with Ancient Egyptian collections is which form of Arabic to use? Using the classic form to engage with a wider Arabic-speaking audience would seem logistically sensible; however, would this address modern Egyptians’ needs and, conversely, could the museum risk alienating them through offence given by not acknowledging their own version of the language? Alternatively, would offering both versions be practical? Egyptians are intensely proud of their identity and their language is one way of reflecting this. Yasir Suleiman considered the relationship in his 2003 book on ‘The Arabic Language and National Identity’. Citing work conducted by Gershoni and Jankowski in 1986, he identifies Arabic as not being one language, but a collection of languages which spring from the same master format; for example, Lebanon and the Hijaz also have their own version (Suleiman 2003: 176). The issue is further complicated in Egypt in that there is a tendency to split the language between the spoken and written versions, with the latter typically representing classic Arabic. In the 1920s and 1930s, some Egyptian nationalists believed a discontinuance of using classic Arabic as the written form in Egypt would aid a break from the close association with other Arabic-speaking countries, thereby strengthening Egypt’s own identity (Suleiman 2003:179). Others quote the Pharaonic history as being the key to modern Egypt’s identity, rather than the Arabic connection, and Salama Musa in particular urges more Egyptians to become trained Egyptologists (Suleiman 2003: 183). It is further stated that more work on Ancient Egypt should be published in Arabic, which he believes to contain an influence of Coptic (Suleiman 2003: 183). Therefore this work also underlines the importance of uniting modern populations with their ancient heritage in order to strengthen their identity, to set up a structure so that the heart of Egypt’s culture is protected and developed for future generations. In preparation for this paper, a question was posed (Survey 3) amongst large groups of Egyptians on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn about which version of Arabic they would prefer to see foreign websites use. On this occasion social media didn’t yield any answers, so instead a few individuals were asked the same question. They all answered ‘in classic Arabic’ though gave the following differing reasons: Egyptian colloquial Arabic is slang; Classic Arabic is the version most Egyptians expect to see; Classic Arabic is the proper form, though care should be taken to avoid complicated words (Nicholas 2014: personal conversations) 4 Are Egyptians interested in their history? However, do Egyptians sufficiently care about their ancient heritage to justify the time and expense museums will have to incur to translate their websites? Since the revolution of 2011 when Hosni Mubarak was ousted from his presidency, Egypt has suffered from political and social disturbances, often resulting in loss of human lives and national treasures. Damage and looting has been widely reported, particularly during times and areas where there is a reduced police presence. The Western world has received images of an Egypt that imposes wilful destruction on its antiquities. The reverse side which is not shown, because it is not news, is of the population that relies on tourism which, with the exception of leisure in the Red Sea resorts, is based on the country’s ancient history. Since 2011 foreign tourism has plummeted and, although Egypt has striven to compensate for the loss by increasing domestic tourism, the overall decline is noticeable. During a stable period, tourism contributes up to 11% of Egypt’s GDP (Euronews.com, 26 August 2013). Figures quoted by Nations Encyclopedia state that 2.3 million people are employed by the tourism industry, though this probably does not reflect the millions more whose businesses rely on visitors to purchase their goods (Nations Encyclopedia, date unknown). A desire to see tourism returned to pre-2011 figures is more likely to be driven by a need for survival rather than an interest in archaeology or wanting to achieve a higher education status, however the outcome is the same: those who know about their history are better placed to earn income from tourism. Giving Egyptians more access to free information about Ancient Egyptian history and its resulting archaeology online, in Arabic, might encourage some to improve their knowledge and, therefore, their future. Which museums already have translations in Arabic on their websites? Survey 2 consisted of examining the websites of 81 museums outside of Egypt which are believed to have Ancient Egyptian artefacts in their collections. Of these, 68 specifically state in their opening pages that they do hold such items, so it can be argued that they market themselves on this particular collection. Only five of these museums offer translations in Arabic, and they are: Field Museum Durham University Oriental Museum Garstang Museum British Museum Musee des Beaux-arts de Lyon Chicago Durham Liverpool London Lyon The remaining 13 museums either did not expressly state they have Ancient Egyptian artefacts in their opening pages, or did not have a full website themselves and used either only one informative page, or a tourist website. One of these – the University of Liverpool – offered a translation in Arabic. 5 Should museums offer the translations? This paper proposes that only museums with a significant Ancient Egyptian collection should look to add a translation in Arabic to their websites, as there has to be a realistic balance between the cost of doing so and the likely benefits to the audience. However, in order to determine whether the collection is significant, various factors should be taken into account: Does the museum aim to attract an international audience? Does the museum openly market its Ancient Egyptian collection, as though it is one of their main attractions? Does the museum specialize in Egyptology? Does the museum produce publications on either Egyptology or their Ancient Egyptian artefacts? Does the museum’s Ancient Egyptian collection ever feature in a main exhibition, or the centre of a talk/event? If any of the above are answered with a Yes, then they should consider doing the translation. If several questions are answered with a Yes then the Museum should consider implementing the translation as a priority over the coming five years. The following obstacles might be given as a reason to not do any translating, and are addressed below each statement: 1. The museum rarely gets any visitors from Egypt There is a high level of poverty in Egypt which makes the prospect of overseas travel for many people little more than a dream. The limited physical presence of Egyptians in museums merely serves to increase the argument for enabling them to browse the collections from afar. 2. Regardless of the language, it is too costly to add an online collection to the website Not all museums have an online collection, and most that do only publish highlights from their collections rather than attempting to portray all items on the web. Whether an online collection exists, the main attractions are usually featured on the website pages. Clearly the museum needs to make an informed decision based on their audience and collection as to how useful an online collection would be, but comments from Survey 1 might serve to encourage museums to improve their online facilities. Such improvements would fall within the aims of the Museums 2020 paper issued by the UK’s Museums Association. 3. Setting up the translation is time consuming and costly, which isn’t included in the museum’s budget The way to handle this is to plan for the future, rather than try to finance everything in one go. Getting the improvement into the plans is the main aim. When planning the 6 schedule, see whether the volunteer-base includes some who are qualified and available to offer their expertise. Also consider approaching businesses or grant-giving associations for help with funding the translation as a specific project (Janes 2013: 339). 4. Egyptians resent foreign museums having their cultural history, therefore they won’t welcome this initiative and will use it as a demand to have the objects returned There is little doubt that some believe all artefacts should remain in the country of origin, as proven by the restitution debate, however Egypt itself has given away antiquities which has lessened its case for a return in general of artefacts in other countries (Nicholas 2013: 31). The loudest arguments coming from Egypt are for the return of particular items, or those that are in dispute as having been stolen. 5. The website is available in English which, being the international business language, should suffice Widespread use of English is encouraged in the business world, but it is not appropriate to assume populations from lesser-developed countries have the ability to read a foreign language at all, and certainly not to the level that would allow them to understand the terminology applied in archaeology and museology. Such an assumption increases the feeling of alienation and loss of their heritage. 6. If website visitors really want a translation, they can use facilities like Google Translate to do it easily for them Google Translate is a useful tool in certain situations, and the quality is better in some languages than others, but its main scope is as a dictionary and not as a complete translation tool. It often fails to accurately apply grammar or select the correct option when various interpretations are available. It is not recommended to use Google Translate when imparting historic information requires clear understanding. Concern has been expressed that an improvement in online facilities could result in less physical visits to the building, therefore it would not be in the museums' interest to offer full online access to their collections. A question in Survey 1 asked about people’s preferences over visiting a museum in person (travel permitting) to fully appreciate the artefacts, or through the comfort of browsing online. The result was 70% stating they prefer to visit the museum in person, with a further 29% stating they like both forms. No-one selected the option of online browsing as a replacement for physically attending the museum. These results shouldn’t be misinterpreted as a reason to not improve websites in order to capture a wider audience. The preferences were only offered on the basis that travel would not be an issue to physically visit museums, whereas in reality this constraint is a big consideration. 7 Do survey participants prefer to visit museums in person, or via online methods? Base = 240 Nicholas 2014: unpublished research Answers from the six Arabic-speaking respondents were evenly split between ‘Visiting museums in person’ and ‘Both’. Conclusions Museums need to adapt to new expectations of them. In the United Kingdom, the Museums Association has itemised areas that their members should aim to meet by the year 2020, which include making a greater difference to individuals, communities, society and the environment (Museums Association Discussion Paper 2012: 22). Recognising the fact that a modern-day population from a country with a widely-dispersed ancient heritage can be easily reunited via a thoughtful application enabling online access to relevant items in their own language is one way of achieving this. Plans should allow for translations to be effected within five years. Reuniting civilisations with their heritage also fulfils an ethical challenge of museums that currently falls disturbingly short of being met. Egyptians have a right to know about their history and to be included amongst the audiences that museums aim to educate and please. It is not acceptable to assume that offering the information on their websites in English is sufficient; whilst many Egyptians might be able to speak enough words to persuade the tourists to buy their wares, they would not be able read it. 8 Note about the author Claire Nicholas is a postgraduate student at University of Exeter, aiming to get a PhD in Archaeology. Her studies concentrate on reuniting Egyptian Nubians with their heritage and, in order to convey summary research results to the Nubians ahead of completing her degree, she has created a website: http://www.whithernubia.co.uk. She is the author of ‘Moving monuments: can heritage be exported and still be appreciated?’ REFERENCES Black, G. 2012. Transforming museums in the twenty-first century.London, New York: Routledge Cameron. F and Kenderdine, S. (eds.) 2010. Theorizing digital cultural heritage. Cambridge MA, London: The MIT Press Euronews, accessed 8 April 2014 http://www.euronews.com/2013/08/26/egypt-tourismindustry-in-deep-decline/ Hooper-Greenhill, E. (ed.) 1999.The educational role of the museum (2nd edition). London, New York: Routledge Janes, R.R. 2013. Museums and the paradox of change (3rd edition). London, New York: Routledge Kalay, Y.E., T.Kvan and J. Affleck (eds.) 2008.New heritage: new media and cultural heritage. London, New York: Routledge Kotler, N.G, Kotler, P. & Kotler, W.I. 2008.Museum marketing and strategy (2nd edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Layton, R. (ed.) 1994. Who needs the past? Indigenous values and archaeology. London, New York: Routledge Lord, G.D, and Lord, B. 1999. The manual of museum planning (2nd edition). London: The Stationery Office Madan, R. 2011. Sustainable museums: strategies for the 21st century. Edinburgh: Museumsetc Merriman, N. 2000.Beyond the glass case: the past, the heritage and the public. London: Institute of Archaeology, University College London Museums Association, accessed 14 April 2014 9 http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums2020/23072012museums2020-consultation Nations Encyclopedia, accessed 8 April 2014 http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Egypt.html Nicholas, C. 2013. Moving monuments: can heritage be exported and still be appreciated? Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing Simon, N. 2010. The participatory museum. Santa Cruz: Museum Suleiman, Y. 2003. The Arabic language and national identity: a study in ideology. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press 10 APPENDIX 1 Free-text comments about museum websites, made in Survey 1. N.B. None of the following comments were made by any of the Arabic or Nubian speakers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Open-Ended Response I enjoy museums that offer virtual tours if special exhibits to give a real sense of objects in context and how they are displayed. Museums need to invest heavily into the on-line option to capture a ever increasing mobile consumer. it is believed that in the next 10 years the majority of all purchasing and browsing will be conducted on the smart phone I like the interactive museum exhibitions, so in terms of Visual museum I also prefer it better to be interactive but they rarely are. I'm really interested in the issue of "far access" by Internet and I'm frequently in front of the computer. Answering to your questionnaire, I was asking me why I'm not a user of museum's websites ... I've not an answer yet but ... thanks to your work, I have a new interesting answer to look for ! I prefer to look with my critical eye at the real objects, rather than images of objects. You have chosen to include a strangely elitist list of Museums and few "site" museums. Oddly it is often the smaller museums that seem to have the most object centred and well described websites. I wish museum websites in general were easier to navigate to get at collateral information, offered more contextual information, allowed more complete and faster browsing for pre-visit preparation, and gave more information about artifacts in storage. Would be most helpful if museums generally simply added a nations flag to offer language translation at the top of the page as opposed to text. Access to a small selection of objects rather than a full selection of curated cultural material is the norm. There is a vast amount of material in storage and access to information / photos of this would make background research more fruitful. The database of objects is not even accessible in many cases, and surprisingly this goes for online library catalogues too. The ability to have access to collections on-line are very important for study. 1. Most of the museums I visit online have to do with Indigenous Peoples. I am appalled at the lack of respect shown with public posting of collections of secret and sacred objects of Indigenous Peoples on the web in both western and Asian museums. 2. While some understand the ICOM Code of Ethics and the implications for the online collections, most don't respect the local/regional Codes. For example - the Canadian Turning the Page and the PIMA Code of Ethics in the Pacific. 3. Online collections are meant to enhance access. However, because they are not interactive in most cases, they remain in the elite domain of researchers and curators. 4. Most museums professionals do not understand the Principle No. 10 in the ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter. They rarely understand the difference between digitization and digital access and born Digital Heritage. Not sure if you have confused online collections with museum websites that support your visit - they are very different. Smaller museums often use collection databases to drive online collections this is not necessarily the same as a catalogue but does reflect Nick Poole's COPE strategy. We hold a small collection of Egyptian artifacts as do many small museums that have been established for some time and were often dominated by private collections initially. Where you are funded through local government funding - the decision anout how a website works and the audience you are trying to reach are not the same as a large institution. I hope museums can exist as they are. I absolutely hate newer museology. The past can never reach those who are unreceptive, so there's no museology in the world that can activate the uninterested majority 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 I wasn't aware that on line museums existed. I am IT literate and a keen visitor to art galleries and museums. online photos are not as good as walking around all 4 sides of an artifact I look at the websites for opening times, to see what special activities or exhibitions are coming up to help plan a visit. As a lay person I rarely use the websites to look at their collections online and had not thought to do this I use on line collections for research The only reason I would visit an online museum site would be to look for something specific. The internet is a useful tool but at this point in time I prefer to look at actual artifacts. I recently read an article in National Geographic about the digital preservationists who are on a mission to capture the world's threatened masterworks in virtual 3-D. Now that would be worth looking at and I'm sure that it will be a thing of the future. some of the bigger museums have too much on their website. In a way it is good but it is so easy to get lost. Whilst I believe that museums are best enjoyed in person, I think having an online presence opens up possibilities for people who are unable to attend in person for reasons such as disabilities, geographic limitation or simply they cannot afford to attend. However, the more people that view collections online free of charge, the less income the museum will have and may cause financial difficulties. Incidentally, the one area I have particularly enjoyed online is ancient documents and manuscripts, they suit the online environment and I have time to study them in detail. I would like to be engaged in various aspects of museum activities and also engaging local people to the concerned museum for awareness among the masses. It will cater the need and purpose of museum through educative, interactive and informative system. the fact that text was not available in my native language, dutch, was not a problem as most adults speak english. A online-collection should however have some language options, for instance french [...] and French [this has auto-corrected because I typed a space in!] is an important African second language. I think that languages of former colonisators like portugese, italian, can be helpful to repair the cultural bond to the former colonies and the land where a lot of artifacts where brought to. Besides at museums a lot of obects of art from africa are in private hands and often people don't have the faintest notion of what they have inherited.Appeals could be made to send in pictures and stories relating to objects people have sitting at home and so enhance the knowledge of the subject. Most objects are in a kind of diaspora as ethnic artifacts have at times been more seen as a curiosity than as important artwork. A good overview might restore african peoples feeling of history and give identity to a developing nation. For such a goal it is not important if the object is in a private Californian household and its counterpart in a Leningrad museum, virtually it can be shown together and in context. web based collections allow students to visit many collections they otherwise woud not be able to view due to geographic limitations. For reserach and education these web sites are invaluable. Some museums have wonderful online resources which I have made great use of, others seem to have nothing. With so much in the vaults it would be good if everything was online for both amateurs and professionals I have been an online student living in a small Middle Eastern Emirate for many years, and am often frustrated by the poor quality of online museum resources. Using graduate/post grad volunteers to update online collections would be an obvious solution (after training and with supervision this could be affordable, with credits given to student volunteers). Digital Egypt is a perfect example, and although Manchester's Egyptology programmes (online) are wonderful, this isn't supported by their online collections at Bolton, Liverpool and at Manchester Museum itself. I'm now doing an MRes Archaeology at Winchester and able to visit more museums in person - but really online catalogues are really poor in the UK compared to some European and US online collections. 12 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 I visited many museums in my teens and early twenties, partly for self-education and, subsequently, to provide my children with stimulation. In later years I have found museums to be crowded and noisy, especially in London. I can no longer bear to visit places like the British Museum, with its jostling crowds. I go to Museums for pleasure and interest, usually when on holiday (although I pop into the British Museum whenever have spare time in London) and the experience is holistic - the museum itself is part of it. So it wouldn't occur to me to go online. I guess it's my age - 56 ! I might go to a live-link at a cinema if I couldn't travel to, or get tickets for, a big exhibition (e.g. did this for the Bowie one last year). To my mind, one of the key things that is lost by looking at online collections is a sense of an object's/artefact's physical scale. Whilst this may seem a relatively trivial issue, I often find that getting a sense of an object's size, big or small, forms an important part of my understanding - such as how it might have been made, what purpose(s) it may have fulfilled (if this isn't discernibly practical in nature), and what impact it may have had on those who employed it in their lives. Regarding this latter point, and I find this is particularly the case with large, naturally occuring objects, there is an enhanced sense of wonder that is imparted when being able to see them at full size, firsthand - perhaps it is a sense of the sublime, on my part, but getting a sense of an object's scale certainly helps me to gain a sense that I've seen and 'experienced' it, as opposed to simply observing it from afar. When you are researching the particular history of an object, being unable to access certain records or images is an obstacle. As is the often limited information provided. Searches by object and more specific date, as well as by collection, country of origin, and very broad period, would be very helpful. It never even occurred to me to browse museums' collections online... the digitisation projects of many institutions (especially for text and manuscripts) are worthy and a great resource for sharing and disseminating information. However, more work needs to be done to uncover both the capabilities and the limitations of digitisation/online presentation. [The Walters Museum, Baltimore USA and the Library of Johns Hopkins are both doing interesting work in this area.] Personally, given that most of my museum visits are for research, I can't see digitisation being a replacement for seeing things in person, but it's a great asset for planning research, sharing outcomes and comparing objects/texts in different institutions. I rarely use the museum's website for anything other than to identify collections before I visit in person. I think the biggest challenge is the information - provenance and so on. It's also sad that the back sides of artifacts are so seldom shown. But it is a great treat to be able to access a Museum's collections from the other side of the world. I am studying Egyptology because I have and fascination for the subject sometimes I can completely immersed in on-line access that I forget the tine,. I find for me to visit a museum I need to ration the areas I look at because I can spend a lot of time with specifics - I get tired if standing a long time and am VERY grateful for moveable seating. Sometimes I take a book with me to study the objects thoroughly - for example, I have dome this with the paintings of Nebamun in the British Museum. Some museums' online catalogues Search criteria require exact keywords to find objects, which can make it very difficult to track down what I want to see. 13 APPENDIX 2 Museum websites involved in Survey 2. University of Aberdeen Allard Pierson Museum National Archaeological Museum Michael C Carlos, Emory University Ulster Museum Phoebe A Hearst Museum Egyptian Museum & Papyrus Collection Neues Museum Birmingham Museum Blackburn Museum Central Museum and Art Gallery Museum of Fine Arts Brighton Museum and Art Gallery Museum and Art Gallery Cinquantenaire Museum Museum of Fine Arts Fitzwilliam Museum Field Museum Oriental Institute Cleveland Museum of Art University of Missouri's Museum of Art & Archaeology Carsten Niebuhr Institute Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek MuzeumArcheologiczne Detroit Institute of Arts Museum National Museum of Ireland Durham University Oriental Museum National Museum of Scotland Egyptian Museum Burrell Collection Hunterian Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum Musee de Grenoble Kestner Museum Roemer-und Pelizaeus Museum Nelson-Atkins Museum Bagshaw Museum, Yorkshire McClung Museum Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Egyptian Museum Musee des Beaux-arts de Lille Garstang Museum Liverpool Museum 14 Aberdeen Amsterdam Athens Atlanta Belfast Berkeley Berlin Berlin Birmingham Blackburn Bolton Boston Brighton Bristol Brussels Budapest Cambridge Chicago Chicago Cleveland Columbia Copenhagen Copenhagen Cracow Detroit Dublin Durham Edinburgh Florence Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow Grenoble Hanover Hildesheim Kansas Kirklees Knoxville Leiden Leipzig Lille Liverpool Liverpool University of Liverpool British Museum Harrow School Petrie Museum Musee des Beaux-arts de Lyon Manchester University Museum Art Museum at the University of Memphis Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Dorman Memorial Museum Musee royal de Mariemont National Pushkin Museum Staatliche Sammlung fur AgyptischeKunst Brooklyn Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art Peabody Museum Ashmolean Museum Pitt Rivers Louvre Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery Poznan Archaeological Museum Reading Museum MuseoGregorianoEgiziano Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum Sheffield City Museum State Hermitage Museum Medelhavsmuseet Egypt Centre Nicholson Museum Toledo Museum of Art Royal Ontario Museum Museum SchlossHohentubingen Egyptian Museum Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities Kunsthistoriches Museum National Museum Eton College (Myers Museum) Worcester Art Museum 15 Liverpool London London London Lyon Manchester Memphis Michigan Middlesborough Morlanwelz Moscow Munich New York New York Newhaven Oxford Oxford Paris Philadelphia Plymouth Poznan Reading Rome San Jose Sheffield St Petersburg Stockholm Swansea Sydney Toledo Toronto Tubingen Turin Uppsala Vienna Warsaw Windsor Worcester APPENDIX 3 Museums from list in Survey 1 that have been visited by survey participants. N.B. Figures denote number of answers, not number of times museum has been visited In person 52 151 9 35 4 31 88 43 15 9 4 21 2 15 7 29 13 16 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford British Museum, London Cinquantenaire Museum, Brussels Egyptian Museum, Cairo Egyptian Museum, Leipzig Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Louvre, Paris Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest National Museum, Warsaw Neues Museum, Berlin Nicholson Museum, Sydney Nubian Museum, Aswan Oriental Institute, Chicago Petrie Museum, London Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg 16 Online 36 92 8 21 8 15 47 47 18 4 8 21 5 8 17 24 11 17