Download - Carolyn Royston on the NMOLP
National Museums Online Learning Project
MCG Conference
19 June 2008
Who we are
Carolyn Royston
Project Manager, NMOLP
Richard Morgan
Web Technical Manager, V&A
V&A
2
What we are going to talk about
Tell you more about the project
Focus on the technologies used to deliver the project
How they are deployed to maximise flexibility and encourage re-use
3
Who’s in the project?
British Museum
Imperial War Museum
National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Royal Armouries
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Tate
Victoria and Albert Museum
Wallace Collection
What is it?
3 year digital learning project funded by the Treasury
Sponsored by DCMS
Due to launch in March 2009
5
Aims of the project
Increase the use of the digital collections of the 9 museums
(no new website)
No new digitisation or curatorial content
Encourage a more creative and critical use of partners’ online resources
Increase confidence levels in the use of the collections
Create sustainable high-quality online resources for each of the partners (value added)
6
Copyright EDS
Partnership work
Spent time at beginning of project working specifically on partnership issues– Developed a common vision
– Set of principles for how we were going to work together
– Identified what partners could achieve through the partnership that may not be achievable otherwise
– Barriers to success – museums, departments, individuals
– What added value can we provide for our users as a result of the partnership
Many layers of complexity before you even talk about technology
What are we delivering for our audiences?
Resources for schools (WebQuests)
Resources for lifelong learners (Creative Journeys)
Federated search across 9 collections
Resources that can be used & shared across all 9 national museums
Popular and exciting ways of engaging new audiences
9
WebQuests
What is a WebQuest?
100 WebQuests will be created for pupils, aged 5-16
– An online learning challenge
– Flexible learning tool
– Involves use of at least 3 partner collections
– Mapped to curriculum
Users will be able to:– Complete learning challenges,
develop critical skills using the collections including research, analysis and synthesis of information
– Learn how to effectively use the collections in their research
Some of the challenges
Asking pupils to research content that is not written for them
Provide support for pupils when searching the collections
Partners working collaboratively to create meaningful collection links
Ensure that partners are left with a sustainable content authoring tool & process that will enable creation of future WebQuests, individually and cross-partner
12
13
14
15
Creative Journeys
What is a Creative Journey?
A space for users to document & share how partner collections inspire their own creative work and process
Users will be able to:– Create, post and share journeys on
partner museum websites
– Use different web technologies to present and author their journeys, and comment on others
– 30 videos showing a range of people who have been inspired by the collections
– Dynamic, changing user generated content shared and integrated across the partnership
18
What are our challenges?
How do we build & sustain our Creative Journeys communities – individually and as a partnership?
Challenge to curatorial authority and reputation
Work with the messiness and complexity around new ways of communicating and use of the collections
Copyright
Moderation
AND despite this…
Partners have chosen to engage with these issues & have a go!
Shared risk, shared success
19
Federated search
Not part of the original implementation plan
We have developed a cross-collection search because:– User need and usability: create a better user experience
– Content driven: the resources are designed to maximise use of the collections
– Partnership: add value to working together
This is NOT a cross-collection search project – this is a project that uses a cross-collection search
22
This is NOT a search project…
Technical solution driven by project objectives:– A multi-partner project, with widely different capability & capacity
– Needs to effectively serve WebQuests & Creative Journeys
– Can be implemented by each partner
– Must deliver by March 2009
23
Technical Solution
Potential legacy of NMOLP
Demonstrating a productive and effective partnership model
Innovative cross-departmental working – education, curatorial and technical
Building a sustainable and scaleable model with potential for future re-use and growth across the sector
A critical mass of high-quality digital learning resources using museum online collections
Linking national collections in meaningful ways
Powerful content creation tools that partners have developed together and available for future use, by each partner and for future partnership work
Incorporating existing popular digital tools to reach & engage audiences e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Flickr
Developing Copyright and Moderation policies available for sector to build on