Redefining the Notion of the Museum in the Digital Age: Web 2.0 Technologies and Contemporary Museum Theory

Originally published in The International Journal of the Arts in Society (Volume 4, Number 3, 2009.)

Abstract

The introduction of digital media and the Internet in the early 1990s into the mainstream cultural landscape prompted new considerations and opportunities for museums to develop and engage with audiences using novel forms of didactic experiences. During this time, both museums and media encountered a paradigm shift in which the notions of accessibility and participation expanded their definitions respectively. Using digital media and, more specifically, Web 2.0 technologies, the museum may not only enhance its ability to act as a mediator between object and audience—allowing for visitors or users to learn, question and engage in ways that have not been possible before—but it also changes the notion of the museum from a material complex to that of an interface in which the museum becomes a communicative device. Within this context, this paper will draw from contemporary museum theory and recent experimentation in social media and virtual construction to explore this changing notion of the museum in the digital age.

Keywords: Museums, Web 2.0, Social Media, Website Design

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*Please note that since the writing of this paper, the Indianapolis Museum of Art has updated its website and many of the recommendations within this paper have been addressed and implemented. (April 22, 2010)