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Introduction
To new readers unfamiliar with TrendsWatch,
welcome! This report is our annual overview of trends observed
in the course of a year producing Dispatches from the Future of Museums, CFM’s
free e-newsletter. Each week in that communiqué, we compile a dozen or so stories from across
the Web, drawing on a variety of mainstream news sources, blogs, research reports, pop culture and
writers from the fringe. Outside the museum field, we look for news and commentary on culture,
economics, policy, technology and the environment that signal where we may be headed in coming
decades. Inside the field, we look for examples of museums and other cultural and scientific
organizations testing innovations that may prove to be successful in our swiftly changing environment.
For returning readers: welcome back! The content of the report is much the same as our first two
years: I summarize how each of six trends is playing out in the world, offer some observations on what
this means for society and for museums, share a few examples of how museums are engaging with
this trend, and suggest how any museum might like to respond. The major change this year is format.
In addition to the free, downloadable PDF, we are offering print copies of TrendsWatch through the
AAM Bookstore. There is discount pricing on bulk orders, which we hope facilitates use of the report
for discussions with staff, committees or the board of trustees. (I recommend you use the print copies
in conjunction with the PDF, to take advantage of the many embedded links in the digital version.)
Also through the Bookstore, we are experimenting with an enhanced digital edition, formatted to read
more cleanly on a tablet or other e-reading device, and with embedded videos to complement the
text. I look forward to hearing whether you find this format makes the report more enjoyable to read
and use.
Apropos of two of the trends covering in this year’s report—big data and privacy—the free PDF is different
in a subtle but important way. Embedded in the document is a tracking code (or, as it has come to
be affectionately referred to by Alliance staff, “the magic chip”) that counts when the report is opened
or printed, and reports these stats back to CFM.
Why have we chipped the report? The PDF is free to users thanks to the generous sponsors listed on
page 2. Their ROI is exposing readers to their brand and helping to share the content of the report.
The more people who read TrendsWatch, the higher its value to sponsors, but we can’t quantify that
value without being able to track and report on how it is used. Hence the chip. In fact, the report isn’t
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