Technology & Culture

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2007-05-16T09:46:00.001-04:00

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Apple "Computers"

2007-01-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

Apple Computers dove into the mobile phone market last week with the release of their latest gadget, the iPhone. The iPhone boasts decent technical specifications (which you can read about from the link below) and combines iPod functionality with web browsing capabilities in a mobile phone.

What intrigues me most, however, is that Apple officially dropped "Computers" from their corporate name with this launch. While, technologically speaking, the iPhone is not going to be the greatest, most robust mobile phone on the market, it won't need to be. The same way many of the iPod's competitors often offer more memory, more features, and more "more", the iPod remains the most popular portable personal music device and this is largely due to it's design.

The company that developed the desktop metaphor for human computer interaction (later copied by Microsoft and released as "Windows") has continued to produce exceptional interface, interaction, and industrial design across all their products. As Apple continues to expanded beyond computers and into gadgets, this core ideology has become all the more important. The latest Mac computers now use Intel processors, however, they and the suite of software they possess, are far more usable than their Windows PC counterparts.

While their competitors throw more bells and whistles into less usable products, intelligent, sophisticated design, with a focus on usability (and inherent learnability), will result in Apple's continued success.

For more on the iPhone, please see this link
http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Best of Web 2.0

2006-11-01T07:58:00.000-05:00

Here is a very interesting list (grouped by category) of the the best Web 2.0 applications. This is a very useful list and I will keep any eye out for updates by the authors.

Technology Trends for NonProfits

2006-10-30T10:55:00.000-05:00

I came across a very interesting compilation of resources on technology trends for non-profits. I am still working my way through these documents but thought I would share.

Create and Publish Podcasts Free

2006-10-18T10:12:00.001-04:00

Odeo Studio is a tool that lets you record and post podcasts. I will be giving this free online tool a trial and will post my review here. This is potentially an excellent tool for museums who wish to create podcasts to accompany items or an exhibit in their collection.

Create and Publish Podcasts Free

2006-10-18T10:12:00.000-04:00

Tools to help you track traffic to your Web site

2006-10-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

Watching what visitors do at your physical museum can be done in a number of straightforward, inexpensive, but time consuming ways. Determining exactly what visitors do at your museum Web site is a bit trickier, but it can now be done in a way that is very inexpensive and takes very little time. The author of Four Must-Have Web Stat Tools » SOME RANDOM DUDE has provided some excellent reviews of tools that you can use to keep track of the number of visitors to your Web site, as well as determine what they do once they get there. Most of these tools are either free or inexpensive.

Enterprise Level Applications are Moving to the Web

2006-10-12T15:22:00.000-04:00

Web 2.0 meets the enterprise | CNET News.com

This is a very interesting article that talks about enterprise level applications adopting a Web 2.0 feel. This is happening at the same time that productivity applications that were traditionally installed on a users` desktop are enjoying growing popularity in online form. Thanks to "Web 2.0" applications being offered by Google and others, you can enjoy free access to applications online that cost hundreds of dollars to purchase.

In a sense the adoption of Web 2.0 at the enterprise level -- which is by no means complete -- is a significant transformation of enterprise applications.

Why is this important to museums? It holds out the promise of the blending of more traditional business applications, with some of the newer, Web 2.0 technologies. It offers the possibility of lower cost and greater interoperability among these products. Stay tuned!

BBC NEWS | Technology | Digital archiving gains new tool

2006-09-26T15:15:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS | Technology | Digital archiving gains new tool
From the article:

A tool that makes it easier to gather and store digital archives has been developed by the National Library of New Zealand and the British Library.
As more and more information goes online the race is on to create meaningful digital archives.

The web curator tool automates the process of collecting and storing information.

It will become a key part of the British Library's existing digital preservation programme.

The Future of the Internet....

2006-09-26T10:45:00.000-04:00

... according to Pew Internet, as examined in their document Future of the Internet. This document contains many interesting insights into future trends on the internet, as expressed by experts and users alike. This is an important document for cultural institutions who have or would like to have an online presence. It contains insights that will help in planning for future directions in IT for institutions.

Web 2.0 Powered Brainstorming

2006-09-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

wridea is a Web 2.0 tool that powers brainstorming on an individual or group level. As with most Web 2.0 technologies, it is freely accessible and fairly simple to use. wridea allows you to create pages with ideas that are grouped in a bubble type of format. It is essentially a visual aid to collaborative or individual brainstorming.

This tool is still under development, but is very promising and definitely worth checking out.

Study on Vodcast User Experience at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

2006-09-12T15:50:00.000-04:00

IMPACT Communications | Video iPod Pilot Study

This is a terrific summary report on users experiences with a Video iPod at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The study found that using video on an iPod ("vodcasting") enhances the museum visitor experience. The researchers say that they will next look at the use of vodcasting for museum pre-visits. The findings of this research project are very encouraging for museums who are contemplating implementing their own vodcast tours.

Find Museum Blogs all on one site

2006-09-12T15:28:00.000-04:00

MuseumBlogs.org is a terrific Web site that features...well, museum blogs. It is a wonderful way to peruse museum blogs. If you are the author of a museum blog, be sure to add yours and help the community grow!

Facebook: An Overview

2006-09-01T10:36:00.000-04:00

Facebook - The Complete Biography - Mashable!

If you have heard of Facebook but are not sure exactly what it is, here is an overview and history of this online phenom. If you have not heard of Facebook, please take a moment to have a look. This is the second most popular social networking site on the Web (behind only MySpace). Some museums are now experimenting with Facebook in an effort to reach youth, who dominate this space.

eLearning Technology: Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 Start-Up Guides

2006-08-30T15:42:00.001-04:00

eLearning Technology: Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 Start-Up Guides

Tony Karrer has highlighted some terrific starter Web 2.0 resources in his blog, eLearning Technology. These are highly recommended if you are new to Web 2.0 and want to get up to speed quickly.

eLearning Technology: Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 Start-Up Guides

2006-08-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

Social Tagging for Museums

2006-08-23T13:45:00.001-04:00

www.steve.museum - Researchers

Social Tagging refers to group meta-tagging of online resources such as newspaper articles, academic papers, images and entire Web sites. It is a natural fit for museums, who have expertise in meta-tagging artifacts. A colleague directed me to the Steve project, as I was proof-reading a paper she is writing on this topic. If you haven`t heard about this project, or don`t know anything about social tagging, please spend some time on the Steve Project site.

Social Tagging is perhaps the most productive, and easiest way to participate in the "social web", or Web 2.0. If you are not comfortable participating in the Steve Project, try using del.icio.us as a social tagging tool. I use it daily and see great use and potential for this tool.

Social Tagging is cool and fun. It`s easy and fast as well. Tag -- you`re it! Now go tag something on the Web!

Social Tagging for Museums

2006-08-23T13:45:00.000-04:00

Flock: THE Browser for Web 2.0?

2006-08-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

Joan Vinall-Cox :: Weblog :: Flock - Outside (and Above) the LMS ?Patent?

For those of you who are interested in learning more about Web 2.0, and making use of Web 2.0 tools, Flock is a Web browser that yo may want to consider. In her edu-blog, Joan Vinall-Cox tells us why she is going to encourage her students to use this browser. According to Vinall-Cox, Flock does an excellent job of providing tools for the social user. Navigation for this browser includes support for Flickr and Photobucket, social tagging with del.icio.us, and blogging, among other features.

I will be trying out this browser myself and will post my findings here.

Trends and Common Practices in University Web Sites

2006-08-21T08:21:00.000-04:00

PebbleRoad: The Changing Face of University Websites

This is an excellent article on recent trends and good practices adopted by Universities in Web site design and re-design. There are many useful -- and I might add important -- tips in here for museums who are contemplating making changes to their own Web sites. The sections on Information Architecture and the page description diagram contained in the section entitled "Homepage, News & RSS" are particularly relevant and important.

Wireless Access Becoming the Norm

2006-08-18T08:04:00.000-04:00

Plans for a wireless campus in the works : The University Daily Kansan

Hot on the heels of reading a 2005 study by public opinion pollsters Ipsos-Reid that 72% of Wireless Internet users intend to access the Internet wirelessly from a location outside their homes by 2006 (hey that`s right now!), I came across this story about a University of Kansas student president elected on a platform of increasing wireless access on campus. Student body president Jason Boots ran on a platform to make wireless Internet available throughout campus.

What does any of this have to do with museums? It suggests that wireless is fast becoming the norm in public spaces, which includes museums. We now have a generation of University students who are used to having wireless access in their learning environments (wireless access is fast becoming the norm in Canadian institutions, as well as those in the United States). Naturally, they adapt by using wireless devices that make use of this technology. What happens when they go to a museum? My guess is that in a few years, they will simply expect to have wireless access, perhaps to look at the museum`s own online information, or to find supporting material via a search engine (see my post on "Google jockeys", below). This is an issue that we will continue to follow in this forum.

By the way, the same Ipsos-Reid poll found that 14% of Canadians said that they would spend more time in their favourite Coffee Shop if it Offered Wireless Internet Access.

Coming Soon to a Conference Near You: Google Jockeys

2006-08-18T07:40:00.000-04:00

Coming Soon to a Conference Near You: Google Jockeys

Here is a very thoughtful blog entry by ACR Log (Association of College & Research Libraries) on the upcoming use of "Google Jockeys" and Mind maps at the upcoming Masie Center Learning 2006 conference. Google Jockeys, who are being used in some classroom settings, are assigned the task of conducting real time searches during a classroom lecture that are displayed to all students, real-time. The idea is to share information relevant to the lecture with the class.

I have to agree with the blogger (StevenB) that this would prove incredibly distracting for me. Not only does this smack of gimmickery, it raises the question: shouldn`t a lecture stand on its own? If I have to see google search results during a lecture to make it a complete learning experience, has the instructor really done their job of preparing a complete lesson? Can you imagine trying this kind of a thing in a work setting, much less in medical school?

Free real-time web voice communication tool

2006-08-17T09:05:00.000-04:00

Gong is a potentially useful tool for museum educators to employ. The creators of this application describe it as follows:

Gong is a free system for voice communication on the Web. It allows groups of people such as students and teachers to participate in discussion groups using their computers, using both synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous chat. It is commonly used by schools and universities for providing a 'voice board' for teaching purposes.

Museum educators could potentially use this tool as a means to participate in "pre-visit" sessions with classrooms (even multiple classrooms in a single session) via computer. Travelling to a classroom to do this is not a viable option, but imagine Web-based voice communication to communicate with a classroom and perhaps even surf portions of the museum`s Web site together before a visit to prepare (and excite) students.

Gong is not only free, it is targetted toward classroom use.

Design Desk: 01 - Remember The Human User

2006-05-23T10:47:00.000-04:00

In this day and age of increased internet savy there is a continually growing push towards global accessibility and search engine optimization for web sites. Browsers (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Safari, Opera, etc), platforms and operating systems (Mac OS, Windows, etc), Plug-Ins (Flash, Quicktime, Real, WMV, etc) - all of these technical specifics can shape and determine how a user accesses the web, as well as how on-line information and services are displayed. As more organizations follow W3C standards for accessibility and usability and concurrently push for search engine optimization (so as to be better found and ranked in search engines) it's important that the overall experience not be forgotten. Anyone can create a white web page with plain black text and hyper-blue links. This web site would be perfectly accessible across platforms, browsers, screen readers and printers, and it would be very easily accessed by search engine crawlers. The question of experience, however, needs attention and is increasingly being pushed aside. If, for example, the goal is to create an on-line museum exhibit, then although it's important for screen readers to be able to access the web site, and for search engines to be able to index the web site, it is also equally important to create some kind of deeper experience ("museum exhibit" - like) for the majority of the users that will visit this web site.

Designing for search engines and accessibility doesn't have to mean forsaking all sense of style and design. (see previous entry The CSS Solution, for example). While SEO (Search Engine Optimization) might suggest greater use of plain text, less images, or rich media, a rich and punchy user experience might contradictorily call for more rich media, alternative navigation schemes, etc.

I would suggest that accessibility and SEO rules are not absolute but should be taken in balance with consideration given to the experience you want your users to have. Informed decisions can then be made in support or in contrast to suggested rules and guidelines for specific purposes. As we strive to have our web sites be optimized for search engines, and be fully accessible to the various technical specifications of users, it is also important not to forget the quality and richness of the human user experience that we want to provide.

Tagging the internet with del.icio.us

2006-05-09T07:19:00.000-04:00

Here is an excellent article that introduces delicious, a social tagging and online bookmarking application. The real power of delicious, as explained by the author, is that you can find sites based upon tagging done by others. The idea behind community tagging is that Web sites will be more effectively searchable as they will be indexed by interested individuals. What does this mean for the cultural community? It means that we can effectively index our own corner of the internet. It means that we can identify resources that we feel deserve the attention of our community rather than leaving it to traditional search engines, which rely upon robots rather than people to index. As delicious grows in popularity (and it is already huge), the ability to index online resources of interest to our community will be firmly in our hands.