5 Case Study 1 - Leicester Research Archive - University of Leicester

saw the Web as a means to integrate the user into processes of museum practice
that are usually left to experts. Even though it was argued that museums have not
really exploited the possibilities of integrating the user into meaning making
processes on a large scale, the idea was there right from the beginning. Now,
within the context of the Web 2.0, museums are experimenting with new ways of
integrating the user in the museum. ‘WikiMap Linz‘ and ‘Every Object Tells a
Story’ were two examples named. Again, it is only the technologies used and the
technological tools to realise such projects, which are new, not the call to
integrate users more closely into the museum. An important question that was
identified in this context had to do with trust and reliability. In other words, how
sustainable is people’s trust in museum’s online resources, if users are getting
involved in content production? The research argued that while this is an
important question it is impossible to evaluate it further at this point. We are only
beginning to see what is made possible with technologies such as Wikis and
blogs.
However, what this research suggests is that one has to take a more differentiated
approach to the idea of ‘fostering user participation’ in the museum. This must
not be restricted to projects around the ideas of ‘user-generated content.’ Rather,
it was proposed that research on how people make meaning of exhibitions in
museums, suggests that a more informed visitor will have a much more valuable
experience. Therefore, it is suggested that audiovisual media might help to
provide visitors with the intellectual tools that allows them a more engaging,
participatory and accessible experience of the museum.
What also becomes clear, therefore, is that there are some regional differences in
terms of what people working in museums see as the key rationale behind
museum websites. Museums in the German speaking countries of the EU still
focus more on using the Web as a way to publish collection information or as
marketing tool, whereas in the Anglo-Saxon world the emphasis has clearly
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