Multimedia at the Gloucester City Museum & Art Gallery

MU301 Koré Mason November 2003

Agenda

• Web Presence• Multimedia in the Museum• Personalized Tours• Discussion Topics

Web Presence Part 1• Virtual Visit • Online Catalogue

Multimedia in the MuseumMultimedia Enhanced Exhibits

• A Mesozoic Scene – Jungle audio track creates ambiance.• The Birdlip Grave Group – Audio explanation of Birdlip Grave artefacts.• The Birdlip Grave Group – Reconstructed head, identified as that of the

central figure of the Birdlip grave. Sculpted by Lynne O’Dowd, using a 3d laser scan of the scull unearthed at the site.

Multimedia in the MuseumInteractive Games/Quizzes

• A Slice Through Time (Roman to Victorian) – Interactive game, users select ‘slices’ of earth to fill in a trench. Gives an insight into the layers of history underneath modern day Gloucester (batch file).

• Gloucester Folk Museum Quiz – Quiz questions based on exhibits within the Folk Museum. Reinforces exhibit specific information (batch file).

• Tour Back in Time – Tour shows images of Gloucester City Museum in ten year stages going back to the 1940s (Power Point).

• Gloucester Steeples and Towers – Interactive image, users click on steeples and towers within to view associated artwork including author and date (Power Point).

Personalized Tours

Hewlett-Packard iPAQ 5440 Pocket

PC MemPlug Dual-Slot Expansion Pack £35

Socket CompactFlash Card integrated with Welch Allyn's SCANTEAM™ 6180 bar code

scanner wand £339

BenefitsMuseum• Fast effective targeting for future events.• Monitors popularity of specific exhibits.• Builds a database of visitors.• Serves a wider audience (foreign speaking).• Utilizes resources already available online.

Visitor• Relevant depth of information delivery.• Access to further information on demand.• Follow up information sent directly to e-mail account (students).• Accessibility for foreign speaking visitors.• Fun way to interact for kids.

Discussion Topics

• Discuss the benefits and pitfalls of having this type of personalized tour as opposed to interacting with a tour guide.

• Discuss whether personalization of information delivery would encourage more people to regularly visit the museum? (e.g new exhibits)