The Museum of New Zealand  Te Papa Tongarewa is reinventing itself.  We are
building a large new facility and completely redoing our exhibitions.  We are
in the midst of developing the stories that we want to tell and looking for
the appropriate technologies with which to present them.
 
My query is about computer driven interactives.  As we consider using them
several questions arise.  Please let us know what your experiences have
been.
 
How does your museum decide which are the appropriate stories to be told on a
computer?  Have they been the right decisions?
 
What are the most (and least) successful uses of computer interactives in
museums?
 
Do you have any tips on hardware, scripting and user interface?
 
Are your museums generally pleased with the cost effectiveness and visitor
satisfaction of computer interactives?
 
Does it make more sense to develop an in-house computer interactives team or
use outside consultants?
 
How do maintenance requirements of computer interactives compare with
traditional museum techniques such as slide shows and mechanical
interactives?
 
What percentage of the time is your computer interactive down?
 
Will you do more interactives in your museum and if so, how will they be
different?
 
Thank you for any thoughts you have time to share with us.
 
Robin Parkinson
Head of Design
Wellington, New Zealand
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