Hi there:
I'm interested in getting feedback from information professionals in the
museum sector about how they feel they are faring with the new technology.
I hope to present a paper at a conference next month about how museums are,
or aren't, handling their information. The abstract I have proposed and
details are below, but I'd like to ask some basic questions. I won't be
publishing those answers, just using them as a resource to get a feel for
how people are thinking and what they are experiencing. I'd really
appreciate your thoughts fairly swiftly and I'm more than happy to e-publish
the paper once it's written for people to read if you're interested.
Questions:
1. What sort of handle do you have on the new technology, i.e. collection
systems and web interfaces.
2. Do you discuss the technology issues you face with other information
professionals in your organisation?
3. What sort of formal/structural relationships do you have with other
information professionals in your organisation?
My answers fyi:
1. Continually struggling, continually learning, and need more technical
training
2. Yes, more and more as we recognise the shared issues or benefit from each
other's knowledge
3. I work within a division made up of IT, Library, Imaging, Records, and
Website people, and have informal working relationships with curatorial,
educational, archival, registration people
Conference:
Museums Documentation Association
Provisional Title:
Information management and the knowledge industries: museums, libraries and
archives.
Abstract:
Museums are paying significant attention to their website images and
offerings, libraries are channelling their energies into web based
catalogues and the delivery of electronic information and archives are
publishing their research guides and series databases on the web. How are
the different knowledge industries managing their information? Where are
they focussing their efforts and why? Are museums really managing their
information technology? Are they racing to maintain their visitors'
expectations and interest? Are museum practices coping with the information
deluge and the shift to electronic information keeping practices? Are the
slick and glossy museum websites and cutting edge interactives in museum
exhibitions matched in their sophistication by the information management
practices within the museums?
Ingrid Mason
Reference Librarian
Powerhouse Museum Research Library
P O Box K346, Haymarket, Sydney, NSW 1238
Harwood Building, 84 Mary Ann Street, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW
AUSTRALIA
Tel: 61-2-9217 0258
Fax: 61-2-9217 0433
Em: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.phm.gov.au
..knowledge, as opposed to information is more personal, less easy to pass
around and requires understanding...
Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed in this email are those
of the author only and do not represent the official view of the Powerhouse
Museum or the New South Wales Government.
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