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

The podcast of Newsweek Magazine, for example, offers an interesting solution
to this question. Here, one can either listen to the complete forty-two minutes
show, or one could retrieve and listen to the five individual eight minutes
segments. Providing this kind of flexibility seems to be particularly relevant for
the museum context, as not every visitor is taking the same path through the
show, and not every one wants to listen to the entire tour.
The comparison and contrast of different approaches to using podcasting as
audio guides revealed that there are many different ways people can make use of
them. Some, e.g. the Met’s audio guide, are more dependent on a visit than
others, e.g. the Freud Museums. The latter has also shown that podcasting might
be particularly appropriate for exhibitions in public space, as visitors do not
come to the museum to pick up a guide. In terms of content currently available
podcast vary greatly. They range from a simple conversion of the conventional
audio guide files to exploring non-verbal approaches and the Soundscape
produced for the Dan Flavin Retrospective has been named as an interesting
example. Other than having curators or directors speak on their audio guides,
some museums have explored ways of integrating the artist’s voice into the
guide. This is of course, only possible for living artists, however, one could also
have an actor read out some archival material, or letters as was the case in the
podcast of the Met.
Looking at all these different approaches of using podcasting as a means to
enhance the visitors’ onsite visit, it seems to be coming down to the following
key points: A successful audio guide type podcast is about selecting appropriate
content and choosing a speaker with excellent communication skills, be it an
artist, a curator or indeed any other person, who knows how to speak in simple
terms even about very complex subjects. In terms of content approaches range
from the very conventional ‘explaining’ the works on view to more experimental
approaches that aim at inspiring the visitor to experience the works in novel ways
(e.g. Hayward Gallery podcast). However, for a successful podcast, it is
important that the producer has a profound understanding of how to best
communicate the works of art that are the subject of the programme. This in turn
requires a great understanding of the works of art in question, as well as an
179