Thank you Jeremy, but who is to say that 'unauthorized' tours don't already
occur, and have for the entire history of museums?

Person A brings her family to the museum, and rather than take a tour with
someone 'authorized' to give tours, leads her children through the museum,
telling them about her views on the objects. She relates to them stories
about her grandmother who helped make the butter on the family farm. She
tells about her grandmother's youth, and how she used to climb trees where
the local mall now stands. A few months later, her husband takes the
children through the same museum. His stories and how he relates to the
collection is going to be different than his wife's. The children each will
synthesize the two presentations into their own unique method of interaction
with the collection, which they will share with their classmates at future
visits to the museum. 

I can see museums offering a recording/downloading site upon entering the
museum eventually. Who cares if the tour is 'authorized'? Who gives museum
professionals the right to say they are the only people with valid views
about the meaning of the collection? The curator is there to facilitate the
community's discussion around its history and culture, not indoctrinate what
the community's beliefs about their past should be. How can a curator, who
might often come from outside the community, say that they have a better
understanding of the community's past and tell them how they should be
relating to that past? I suppose my views about museums are different in
that I see them as a community space for sharing stories. They are the place
where the community can develop a shared sense of identity, and the more
safe the community feels in being able to share those thoughts, the more
healthy the community becomes as it faces common problems in the future.

Darryl


-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Jeremy
Sent: March 5, 2006 2:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] "community curators"

--- Darryl MacKenzie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> A type of community curatorship that I have heard
> about as well is the use
> of iPods as interpretive tour guides through a
> museum.

These links all relate to 'unauthorized' audio guides
of museum collections. They are mostly about
interpretation by 'outsiders' rather than
collaboration between curators and others.

The initial hype about this started last year, however
a big problem is that users need to download the
recording before visiting the museum, and it seems
that very few are organized enough to do this. The
idea doesn't seem to have taken off yet.

Network technologies will in the future mean that
unauthorized guides will be downloadable to phones or
PDA's while in the museum (linked to the museums
location via GPS) which should make them much more
accessible.

Actual tours:

smARThistory
http://www.smarthistory.blogspot.com/

MoMA 'unofficial' Audio Guides
http://homepage.mac.com/dave7/ArtMobs/FileSharing52.html

Take One Museum - BBC museum audio tours
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/take_one/downloads.shtml

Gallerycast directory
http://www.gallerycast.com/directory

Articles about tours:

Introducing Slate Audio Tours (July 26, 2005)
- The commentary museums don't want you to hear.
http://www.slate.com/id/2123266/?nav=ais

ArtMobs
- Art Mobs to Remix MoMA (With Your Help)
http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs/

New York Times
- With Irreverence and an iPod, Recreating the Museum
Tour
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/arts/design/28podc.html?ex=1275019200&en=4
da0e3ceb749d4e6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Walker Art Centre Blog
Podcasting museum audio tours – the sanctioned and
unauthorized
http://blogs.walkerart.org/newmedia/?p=81

Jeremy.

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