An excellent, intriguing read. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jeff Doyle <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 2:44 AM Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Comments on your collections online To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <[email protected]>
Registered users can comment on Open Museum objects, chat on museum walls, and even create their own walls to communicate with other users. We've found that people comment less frequently on objects than we expected, but are nevertheless interested in content-centered and creative interactions with other visitors. On of the big challenges we are interested in is trying to influence the general quality of comments. This has led us to provide common spaces for interactions (e.g. walls in addition to object comments) to give users other venues for socializing, hopefully preserving object comments for more content-focused interactions. However, and this may seem kind of counter-intuitive, comments aren't visible to non-registered users. One of the problems of scaling social networking is deciding how to provide the gradients of intimacy the people need to feel a sense of place. Nina Simon talked recently about the appeal of secret places in museums. We've been thinking a lot about how to provide that kind of intimacy in an online museum setting. (Other than just not having very many visitors - which clearly doesn't scale.) Because we are focused on using web exhibits for digital outreach and community building, we are putting a lot of energy into trying to optimize the experience of repeat visitors: friending individual museums, favoriting objects, commenting, rating other comments, and even playing educational/creative games. If a comment on an object is really good, the museum curator can "promote" the comment to the status of a contribution - it becomes visible to unregistered visitors, and a mention is added to the user's profile. Users can also rack up "kudos" (represented as gold stars) for comments that other visitors deem valuable. It provides fairly low-key but gratifying recognition for particularly valuable participation. Here's a comment that was posted on the Strafford ARTWORKS wall<http://www.openmuseum.org/museum/wall/29>today that pretty much sums up what we would like to be for more of our visitors: *"Open Museum ma**y **save** **my** **creative** **life. I work alone in the studio listening to **NPR** or to Balkan or Gypsy music.It can get a little lonely. Now I allow myself breaks to see what is happening on Open Museum. Thanks for the interactions."* Our user numbers are still pretty low (We are in alpha, entering beta around the New Year) so it will be interesting to see how the "gradient of intimacy" theory stands up to increasing traffic. We read today that Facebook is trying to force everybody OUT of the closet, so it may sound insane to be heading in the opposite direction, but our sense is that more is not always more. Lets keep in mind that, much as we want to pump up visitor numbers at the brick and mortar museum, most of the support (financial and moral) that museums receive comes from a pretty small slice of the community. The 90-9-1 rules holds in the real world too. There may be something to be said for catering to the nines and the ones. Jeff Doyle www.openmuseum.org @jeffdoyle > Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:15:55 -0800 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: [MCN-L] Comments on your collections online > > Hi everyone: > > I'm preparing a lecture (tomorrow) about collections access and the > creation of wonder and discussion. I know I've seen some museum > collections online that allow for comments on their site, and have > generated some great discussions between users. Aaaand, of course, I > can't seem to remember which sites those were. > > SO! Do any of you know/have collections online that allow for user > comments? Have you seen some great discussions between users that have > served to enlighten the staff and public alike? > > Thanks in advance and hope y'all are staying warm. > > Best, > > ~Perian > > Perian Sully > Collections Information Manager > Web Programs Strategist > The Magnes _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: [email protected] To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
_______________________________________________________ fluid-work mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe, change settings or access archives, see http://fluidproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fluid-work
