ABSTRACT
New digital tools and technologies create an opportunity for history museums to personalize visitor experiences, reach new audiences, and increase their relevancy by including visitors’ historical narratives in museum content and programming. By adapting to the shift in social narrative prompted by digital media advancements, museums are discovering opportunities for engaging an expanded audience – rethinking what a visitor is, what defines a museum visit, how history is interpreted, and the breadth and depth of the community they serve – as evidenced in the Bullock Texas State History Museum’s “Texas Story Project.”
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
About the author
David Munns is Director of Web and Digital Media for the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas. He oversees museum technology initiatives, leading digital efforts to deepen and broaden visitor engagement. He heads web and interactive development projects, design, and content development for exhibition technologies, online publishing initiatives, video design and production, and directs the museum’s digital outreach programs.
Notes
1. Solomon, “How Big is Texas, Compared to Other Land Masses?”
2. “Downtown Developments.”
3. http://newsroom.fb.com/company-info/ (accessed May 11, 2016).
4. Griffiths, “Media Technology and Museum Display.”
5. Institute for Museums and Library Services, Museums, Libraries and Comprehensive Initiatives.
6. Washburn, “Education and the New Elite.”
7. Google Analytics, http://www.google.com/analytics (accessed May 13, 2016).
8. Kaplan, “Innovation Lifecycles.”
9. Texas Association of Museums, http://www.texasmuseums.org/.
10. Visser, “Museums, Stories and the Collective Process.”
11. Roussou et al., “The Museum as a Digital Storyteller.”
12. Conway, “Preservation in the Digital World.”
13. McAleer, Crumlish, and Jones, “Tablet First Design.”
14. Milligan, Wadman, and Collins, “Connecting Learners and Museums through Educational Metadata Initiatives.”
15. Cioffi, “The Argument of Style,” 149–71.
16. Rutter et al., Web Accessibility.
17. Bullock Texas State History Museum, TheStoryofTexas.com.