EMMS Report
February 2015
Derby – Digital Nature
Twitter - @DMNature #DMNature #NoticeNature
Our Twitter feed is going from strength to strength with followers, reach and engagement
increasing all the time. We have seen that the most effective outcome of the Twitter feed is
engagement between our volunteers in the nature gallery, conversations between nature
specialists and other museums and staff sharing what they are doing in the space. This has
proven to be particularly helpful to not only share the developments of the gallery, but to
create an excitement for the launch of the new gallery. From @DMNature and some of our
volunteers we’ve built up an audience who share with us their #noticenature and specimen
identity questions.
Tweet Wall to Tweet Table
In the early stages of the project we looked at adopting a Tweet Wall in the space to
encourage visitors to share their #noticenature tweets but this idea has no moved on to a
Tweet Table. It’s been wonderful to see so many people sending in their #noticenature
photos via Twitter so plan to project a slideshow of the photos on a table in a seated area of
the gallery, with info of how visitors entering the gallery can get involved encouraging them
to notice nature and interact with the space digitally.
Tumblr site
We now have a volunteer who has been documenting the gallery development and updating
the Tumblr. This has been a great platform for us to document the progress of the project
and share updates with digital audiences.
Sound Map
Through sound walks and encouraging our digital and non digital audience to send in sounds
of their natural world, the sound map has grown!
This has then gone on to inspire commissioning a sound artist to create a soundscape for the
space.
We are going to be using NFC (near field technology) that has a chip embedded in the card
and hosts content through a link to a website which could be YouTube, Tumblr, anything you
like. We would like the cards to become sound cards, hosting the soundscape piece and
other animal calls/noises. We would like these available in the gallery for visitors to use and
hear nature sounds using devices in their pockets!
We will also be running a series of workshops and sound walks with our visitors using mobile
recording equipment to build the Sound Map.
Digital Evaluation
We have been working with Derby University to design an evaluation and a series of games
to evaluate how connected our visitors are to nature. There will be two screens both hosting
a ‘before you visit the gallery’ questionnaire and an ‘after you visit the gallery’
questionnaire, asking them how connected to nature they feel before visiting the space and
a comparison as to how connected to nature they feel after visiting.
This is in the final stages of development with the students, so can update when more
information and visuals comes through.
Digital Microscope
One of the fixtures in the space will allow visitors to look at specimens and objects close up
using a digital microscope. We have also purchased one that it wireless, working on the WiFi
that can be used in presentations, talks and handling events with our visitors.