Annual Report 2010-2011 - Western Australian Museum

Western Australian Museum ANNUAL REPORT 2010/2011
To further promote online audience engagement, the Museum released an Internet Provider Television (IPTV) channel
through iinet (http://freezone.iinet.net.au/) that allows downloading and viewing of a range of films and vodcasts of
Museum fieldwork, floor talks, exhibition launches and curator lectures in iinet Freezone.
The Museum also participated in the x|Media|Lab (Cross Media Lab) international conference held in Perth in April.
x|Media|Lab is Australia’s most prestigious think tank and workshop for professionals in the digital media industries.
The Museum submitted two interactive storytelling proposals for the conference’s ‘Storytelling in a Digital Age’
competition, and one of these – ‘Bone Diggers’, based on the Museum’s exploration of extinct Megafauna in the
caves of the Nullarbor – was selected for one-on-one mentoring by international media professionals. It was also one
of only three projects to be hot-housed by the Lab and the Museum will work with specialists to develop the concept
further. This development is currently underway, with further outcomes depending on future funding availability. This
experience has provided invaluable learning for Museum staff as to how new and interactive story experiences can
be created for a multitude of audiences.
COMMUNITy
Strong respectful and mutually beneficial relationships will be developed and maintained with communities across
the State to achieve the purpose of the Museum, support community aspirations and build community capacity.
LINK TO GOVERNMENT GOALS
Goal 3: Outcomes Based Delivery. Greater focus on achieving results in key service delivery areas for the benefit of
all Western Australians.
Goal 4: Stronger Focus on the Regions. Greater focus on service delivery, infrastructure investment and economic
development to improve the overall quality of life in remote and regional areas.
Goal 5: Social and Environmental Responsibility. Ensuring that economic activity is managed in a socially and
environmentally responsible manner for the long-term benefit of the State.
OUTCOMES
• The Museums Development Service (formerly the Museum Assistance Program) continued to deliver collecting,
conservation, management and development outreach support to communities across the State by responding
to 1,017 requests for advice and information. The Development Service works closely with local authorities
Statewide, conducting business with 39 different local authorities this year.
• The Western Australian Museum’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee is the organisation’s key advisory body on
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) matters. It met three times during the year and continues to provide
highly valued strategic, policy, exhibition and collection content and program advice to the Museum.
• The Museum continues to support communities to engage with their local history and natural environment through
the loan of objects and specimens from the State’s collections for display and exhibition in their communities.
ACHIEVEMENTS
BACK CONTENTS FORWARD
Collections are dispersed amongst communities throughout Australia. As part of the National Conservation Strategy,
and as a partner organisation of the National Standards Taskforce, the Museum extends services to organisations that
care for collections. The Museums Development Service is the primary means of delivering these services to local
government, historical societies, Aboriginal cultural organisations and other community groups as well as universities
and government agencies.
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