Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Technology Tour 2/25/2007 - 3/7/2007

A couple of bits from the Museum and technology worlds...


  • Sting Uncovers Illegal Military Equipment Sales … to Museums - File under oops. When making acquisitions, be sure that your F-14 is catalogued and registered with the government. An ironic twist on cultural patrimony. The New York Times makes some observations regarding the use of military equipment in air and space museums.

  • The Nelson-Atkins Museum highlights its new rollout of kiosks. As the article states, aside from standard transactions, visitor will also be "looking up certain works of art". Funny that this press release is also a marketing message - "Members will be able to experience this new technology at upcoming member preview events. If you're not a member, join today and be part of this historic moment at the Museum." They have more notes and specifications on their technology here.

  • The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has an open proposal to study the cost and benefits of free access to computers, the Internet, and wireless services. Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it sounds like they are looking to really measure whether technology access through public institutions is worth is philanthropic weight. Though it is specifically focused on libraries, I'll be curious to see how this plays out and whether any museum libraries or museum-affiliated archives respond.

  • Tangentally related, a research article on non-profit benefits of wireless access was recently posted by NTen.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The article on the kiosks at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was not a press release. It was from the Museum's blog. Which is created by the marketing department. Therfore, the marketing message is valid. But thanks for mentioning it.