General resources on museums

This page contains a list of sources of information about museums, and their relationship with information technologies and the web.

Organizations

  • 24 Hour Museum
    UK National Virtual Museum. "Thousands of UK museums, galleries, archives and libraries, all in one place".http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/
  • American Association of Museums - Museum Assessment Program
    "The American Association of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community".http://www.aam-us.org/museumresources/map/index.cfm
  • Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)
    "ASTC provides professional development for the science center field, promotes best practices, supports effective communication, strengthens the position of science centers within the community at large, and fosters the creation of successful partnerships and collaborations".http://www.astc.org
  • Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)
    "CHIN's Mission is to promote the development, the presentation and preservation of Canada's digital heritage content for current and future generations of Canadians".http://www.chin.gc.ca
  • Center for History and New Media (Collecting + Exhibiting)
    "CHNM uses digital media and technology to preserve and present history online, transform scholarship across the humanities, and advance historical education and understanding".http://chnm.gmu.edu/category/collecting-and-exhibiting/
  • Ecsite- The European Network for Science Centres & Museums
    _"Ecsite facilitates cooperation among Europe's science centres - establishing standards, sharing expertise, disseminating best practice for communication of science, encouraging collaboration and developing training programmes"._
    http://www.ecsite.net/new/links.asp
  • ExhibitFiles, Association of Science-Technology Centers
    "ExhibitFiles is an online community of exhibit practitioners building a shared collection of exhibition records and reviews".http://exhibitfiles.org
  • MCN Museum Computer Network
    "MCN supports museum information professionals and the greater community by providing opportunities to explore and disseminate new technologies and best practices in the field".http://www.mcn.edu/index.asp
  • Muséolab
    "Le Muséolab est un espace de maquettage et d'expérimentation autour du numérique et de la muséographie au sein du centre Erasme".[http://reseau.erasme.org/-MUSEOLAB]
  • Museum Documentation Association (MDA)
    UK organisation for collections. "Our aim is to improve the quality of life by ensuring that cultural collections are available for use and enjoyment by everyone, now and for the future".http://www.mda.org.uk/
  • The International Committee for Documentation of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-CIDOC)
    "Provides the museum community with advice on good practice and developments in museum documentation".http://cidoc.mediahost.org/
  • The National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage (NINCH)
    "A diverse nonprofit coalition of arts, humanities and social science organizations created to assure leadership from the cultural community in the evolution of the digital environment".http://www.ninch.org
  • UMAC
    "The UMAC Worldwide Database of University Museums & Collections with currently 2570 published records aims at providing a global Directory of University Museums and Collections to be used by UMAC, researchers, students, and the general public world wide".http://publicus.culture.hu-berlin.de/umac/database.html
  • Virtual Museum of Canada
    Engaging audiences of all ages in Canada's diverse heritage through a dynamic Internet service freely available to the public in French and English.http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/

Thematic websites

  • Ariadne
    "Web magazine for information professionals in archives, libraries and museums in all sectors. Since its inception in January 1996 it has attempted to keep the busy practitioner abreast of current digital library initiatives as well as technological developments further afield".http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/
  • Musemastic (blog)
    "Rants and raves on the latest trends in the world of museum informatics and technology".http://musematic.net/

Online documents

  • Logging On. Culture, participation and the web
    John Holden | 2007
    "In the brief history of the internet, the cultural sector has followed two related paths: on the one hand, the digitization of content and provision of information and, on the other, interactivity and opportunities for expression..."http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Logging%20On%20-%20web.pdf
  • Technology brings context, a presentation for history museums
    Mike Kuniavsky | March 26, 2007
    "About the role that technology can play in helping history museums communicate their core competitive advantage".http://www.orangecone.com/ohmf.ppt.pdf 
  • Experientia talk: "Innovation in Museum Design" by Arch. Stephen Rustow
    July 27, 2006
    "From 1999 Rustow led the work on the renovation and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in association with Taniguchi Associates in Tokyo. He is now the founding principal of SRA, a specialised multidisciplinary consulting practice working with museums, private collections and architects to plan, programme and design the presentation of cultural collections."http://www.experientia.com/blog/innovation-in-museum-design/