MUSEUMS AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
SLIDE ONE (Introduction)
This essay is a continuation of my first essay on museum evolution, wherein I researched the history
of archives and the events that shaped the museums that we know today. The relationship between
humans and objects has changed frequently and dramatically since the introduction of museum like
institutions in Ancient Greece, this presentation will show how and why the changing values in
modern society affects the traditional role of a museum.
The introduction of digital archives and evolving technologies mean that the museum must evolve
its own methodology in order to retain its cultural significance and accessibility to new a generation
of visitors.
The focus of this presentation will be the effects of our emerging digital culture on the contents of a
museum and the progression of the physical museum form in response to the new demands and
expectations of the communities it represents.
SLIDE 2
How we interact with the world around us and how this affects the museum.
For over a thousand years museums in their different forms have served as a physical location for
preservation of objects and artefacts of historical significance, which can be accessed for the
purpose of study or enjoyment. The contents within are categorised and presented as an
interpretation of society in the past and the museum provides us with a cultural icon that represents
our ancestry, values and beliefs.
Our lives are defined by encounters with objects. These objects have different roles to play in our
lives, from the necessary to the symbolic; we use these interactions to build up our own individual
experience of the culture around us. Consumption of objects on a material level is a way of showing
values and aspects of individuality to ourselves and those around us, to differentiate between things
that we do and don’t like and to carve out an identity that is unique and representative of our
personal values. From a music subculture or an occupational uniform, we use these symbols to
explain ourselves to other people.
Sometimes an object or interaction can even come to represent a society or country. As this
example shows;
French social theorist Roland Barthes writes about the importance of symbols in his 1957 book
‘Mythologies’. In the essay ‘Wine and Milk’, Barthes suggests that wine-drinking is a representation
of the French people;
Wine is felt by the French nation to be a possession which is its very own, just like its three
hundred and sixty types of cheese or its culture 1
But the wine also has a secondary symbolism to the French in that the act of drinking wine, in a
social situation or in a church at communion, is one of social inclusion and bonding. So the French
people gain a sense of belonging from this association and accept this myth as a part of their
persona. Barthes believed that history, analysed to a critical level, is the foundation of all
mythologies.
As technology becomes an increasingly important factor in the way people communicate with each
other, these advancements are impacting our culture, our relationships and our individual lives. As a
reaction to this the museum must preserve its status as a cultural icon by adjusting its methodology
to remain a bonding link at the centre of the community. Societies are constantly changing and these
social changes affect the roles which institutions hold within a community.
Studying the changes that happened in the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century give us a clear
example of the way in which a society evolves and adapts to new ideas and new circumstances.
Technology and science were revolutionising the way the world worked. As the middle class and
their communities became increasingly financially comfortable with the increase of trade and
production, their values changed, material wealth became something that made people feel
positive, it allowed them to be more self-reliant and to gain a sense of individuality. Museums at the
time flourished and acted as a symbol of communal pride, a visual link to the past, whilst the
increasing ease of travel meant that the museums and other institutions, libraries and concert halls,
stood as a testament of a city’s prosperity to the rest of the world.
Coming back to the present, we can see that similar changes are happening and having an equally
dramatic impact on the role of museums today.
SLIDE 3
How Museums are being affected by technological changes
Museums and archaeologists use the information gained from studying the relationships between
humans and objects from to form narratives about social structures, inequalities and human
emotions in the world around us. This knowledge is then repackaged for us by the curators
according to the values of the museum, giving us a condensed and often idealised version of the
truth. If we look back at the example, of course not all French people drink wine but it is a positive
symbol of their values and it gives this symbol a cultural importance.
Museums are experiencing a digital revolution and embracing the things that our modern society now
places a higher value in. They are already evolving to reflect the radically changing values and
priorities of the current generation. The digital age is characterised by efficiency and accessibility.
Information is available at the click of a button, which is fast becoming an expectation rather than a
luxury. So, how can a museum keep up with changing technology when its power lies in archaic
methodology?
The importance of material culture lies not only in the objects themselves but in how people interact
with them, both emotionally or physically, and how they shape society and the way in which history
will be perceived and interpreted by historians of the future because of these interactions. As
possessions, societies and cultures become something that can exist in an intangible form, such as
the internet, they open to multiple interpretations and not just those of the museums curators who
up until now were responsible for creating the museums experience.
The internet can provide crowd sourcing research so that museums know what people are taking an
interest in and responding to. This allows them to make changes to reflect the interests of the
visitors and stay relevant to current trends.
The internet is also changing how we express ourselves, museums are now more open to criticism
and their practices are more exposed. The new style of museum means that there is a focus on
visitor interactions rather than just providing information. This changes how an audience interacts
with a formal institution and formality is another problem for museums to overcome. Certain groups
of people may not feel like they are welcome in a museum and technology is helping to break down
these barriers.
The museum experience, the past and present.
In the past decades museums have made efforts to be less elitist and to reach out to broader and
more diverse audiences. Technological advances have enabled museums to enhance exhibits,
address multiple learning styles and reaching new online audiences. Technology has begun break
down barriers between institutions and the public, inviting interaction, information exchange, and
even contributed content. In the past museums viewed visitors as cultural consumers, they now
offer them opportunities to become cultural contributors, as we will see in the next three examples.
EXAMPLE 1 – Smart Phones
Below is a screen shot of an exhibition tour app for the iPhone which can be used independently or
whilst in the museum as a ‘tour guide’.
This tool utilises the internet and new technology in order to engage with the interest of modern day
culture. It transforms a museum visit from something that can seem sterile and mundane into
something interactive and social. Relating this back to objects and their place in our everyday lives,
the integration of mobile phones and other devices into the experience of the museum is a natural
shift as these devices become something we place a lot of value in.
Over a quarter of adults and nearly half of all teens now own a smartphone, 37 per cent of
adults and 60 per cent of teens are ‘highly addicted’ to them..Smartphones are beginning to
affect social behaviour2
Audience expectations are set by things outside of the museum. The influence of social media is
teaching people to share and socialise over experiences. It is important that the museum keeps up
with these changing attitudes.
SLIDE 4
EXAMPLE 2: The LOUVRE
With an average of over 8 million annual visitors, The Louvre is the worlds most visited museum. In
April of this year the museum entered a partnership with Nintendo to replace the traditional audio
assisted tour with a new interactive version that uses the Nintendo DS game system. Museums in
Japan have successfully integrated the technology into their own galleries with much success. The
information is displayed in seven different languages and the screen displays an interactive
representation of the exhibit in front of the visitor. This combination of traditional methodology and
entertainment represents a major leap into the digital era that museums are realising is essential to
attract a new generation of patrons.
Around the world museums are evaluating the potential benefits of introducing new technology into
their museums while also reaching the widest audience possible. At The Louvre the usage rate for its
traditional audio guide had dropped to just 4% of its annual visitors, embracing a new kind of
technology was a necessary step.
"It's become strategic," says Louvre associate director Agnès Alfandari, the institution's digital
development chief. "A museum today that doesn't answer the question of how it will integrate new
technologies at every level of its functioning will, in my opinion, be seriously missing the boat."
"Society has gone digital in a radical way," Alfandari says. "From the Internet becoming such a
central part of our daily lives to the revolution of smartphones, the Louvre's role is to follow this
evolution in society."
SLIDE 5
EXAMPLE 3 – NU EXHIBITION
As well as technological changes there is the issue of institutional formality which Museums and
galleries are taking steps to reduce in order to expand their significance within the community.
In 2003 the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow opened an exhibition entitled ‘NU’ whose mission was
to connect with the younger generation that used the outside of the gallery as a weekend meeting
place.
At that time the skateboarders, goth kids and other youth subcultures that gathered around the area
had been described as intimidating by staff and visitors. The teenagers felt that their own self
expression, in music and fashion, was being looked down on by the gallery and the public. A group of
artists invited the youths to collaborate in an exhibition of photography and video works that would
be displayed inside the gallery.
The main priority of a modern gallery or museum is to be accessible to all members of society, so the
notion that some classes of people may not be welcome there is something that should be left
behind as the museum moves forward and this exhibition gave the kids a sense of involvement and
an appreciation for the gallery as they experienced it from the inside instead of the outside.
Slide 5
Other ways museums are changing. Pros and cons of the old and new ways
The internet has also influenced the interest that modern people are taking in history, with sites like
Genes Reunited encouraging people to take an interest in their ancestry for example, and, like in the
Industrial revolution, more people from further afield are visiting museums so the pressure is on for
them to stay on top of the latest trends and developments.
Another way in which the museum has evolved to keep up with changing expectations such as these
is the introduction of cafes, restaurants and gift shops. Searching the internet for information is an
increasingly common source for learning and can be done from the comfort of home without the
need for a trip to a museum. As a response to this advance it is increasingly common to find a
museum that offers hot drinks and a lunch menu and many other things to bring the comfort of
home into the museum, encouraging visitors to stay longer and spend more. Gift shops also allow us
to take home a piece of the museums and act as further promotion for the locality. This part of the
museums experience caters to tourists who want to take home a piece of their holiday, the
purchasing of gifts and impulse buys, it sells learning resources so that visitors can continue their
studies at home, all this makes money towards to cost of running a museum. The objects taken away
from the museum must also be representative of the values and prestige of the museums.
It is now common to find that a museum will also have a website containing a lot of the information
held at the actual location but It is important that museums as a physical location because this helps
to create the bonds and mythologies that we looked at in the beginning of this presentation, which
are essential to a community. Having a physical location has other benefits such as being a source of
income and employment and encourages the pubic to visit.
The future of the museum looks set to include a greater integration of digital technology and
emphasis on websites and virtual experiences. The shift may be one that requires more money than
current methodology, as IT specialists and web developers become an essential part of the evolution
and new hi-tech equipment replaces the old devices. It is important that museums do not lose their
focus of serving the immediate community and being a place of communal pride to become a
business with a focus on money making and profit margins.