digitisation in scottish museums: a user impact evaluation dylan edgar ict adviser, smc making an...
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Digitisation in Scottish museums:A user impact evaluation
Dylan EdgarICT Adviser, SMC
Making
an impact
Aims of the project
• Develop case studies for museum digitisation projects that exhibit current best practice in terms of user impact
• Identify common success factors: what makes a “good” digitisation project?
“Best practice” criteria
• The overall objectives of the project are relevant to this study• The project objectives relate to clearly defined user groups and
are “SMART”• Data is available to measure the impact of the project on user
groups• RGA can access end users if the existing data is not sufficient• Contact details are available for the project manager• The establishment and project manager have the time to meet
and provide the relevant data• The project is recent
Measuring impact
• Project objectives• Web site statistics• Enquiries and feedback from users• User consultation• Revenue generation• Requests for prints• Logging query terms• Direct end user research
Am Bailewww.ambaile.org.uk
“85% said that
Am Baile would
improve their
understanding
of Highland
culture.”
“Nearly two thirds said it would help
them improve their Gaelic language skills.”
Aberdeen Museum & Art Gallery: Explorerwww.aagm.co.uk
“The total number
of visits to the Art
Gallery and to the
web site has
increased since
Explorer was
launched.”
Hunterian: Pilot Whistler Projectwww.huntsearch.gla.ac.uk/whistler_blue/
“Almost half of
respondents were
not aware of the
Hunterian before
they visited the
web site.”
“75% agreed that visiting the web site made them more likely to visit the Hunterian for themselves.”
Shetland Photographic Archivehttp://photos.shetland-museum.org.uk/shetlands/app/
“The web site receives high ratings from users, with an
average score of 4.6 out of 5.”
“72% said that
viewing the
collection online
would encourage
them to visit
Shetland Museum
in the future.”
Digital vs. physical collections
“It is easier to use a web site like this than to go to a museum directly”
3.9
“This web site makes me want to visit the museum and find out more”
3.8
“Using web sites like this is better than visiting museums”
2.6
5 = “Agree strongly”1 = “Disagree strongly”
Common success factors
• The digitised material is relevant to the audience
• Some monitoring of impact on end users took place
• User comments were acted upon
• Skill retention and project sustainability were addressed
• Positive impacts were reported on internal users
“Best practice” checklist
• Clearly define user groups and objectives
• Involve all museum staff
• Test with end users
• Promote the project to drive interest
• Monitor and evaluate properly
• Don’t just rely on web site hits to measure impact
• Be flexible
• Keep the content relevant
• Plan for the future
