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Goin’ Mobile?

By Philip Katz

According to some predictions, “by 2020, mobile devices will be the primary connection tool to the internet for most people in the world.” And a forward guard of museums is already adapting to this coming reality, according to a new …
Economic Change and the Future of American Museums

By James Chung and Susie Wilkening

Guest blog by James Chung and Susie Wilkening, Reach Advisors Over the summer, James was asked to speak at the International Council of Museums meeting about the current economic turmoil and the impact on American museums. Primed by our …
Building a Self-Study Course in Futurism

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of CFM’s major goals is to encourage museum practitioners to think and plan for a longer time frame (longer, that is, than the usual one to three-year plan.) In our rapidly changing, uber-connected world a plan that looks good in the …
Blog to keep an eye on: MuseumDesignLab

By Elizabeth Merritt

This blog documents the work of 18 students at the Parsons School of Design who will spend the next semester forecasting the future of 6 NYC-based museums: The American Museum of Natural History, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, …
Tomorrow’s News Today: The Evolution of Museum Photography Policies

By Elizabeth Merritt

Here’s an interesting item: This article talks about the decision of Seattle’s Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum to allow non-flash photography in their exhibits. One-off or trend? I think the latter—that this is an early …
Call for Papers: Involving Users in the Co-creation of Digital Knowledge

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of the trends being explored by CFM is the rising expectation on the part of users that museums provide avenues for them to contribute their opinions and expertise—to be co-creators, not just consumers. Some museums are harnessing …
Got Game? Another Opportunity for Museum Partners

By Elizabeth Merritt

CFM’s inaugural lecturer, Dr. Jane McGonigal, lobbed “brain grenades” at the museum field last December, challenging us to apply the principles of game design to museum practice. Why wouldn’t museums want part of the “heart-share and …
Oh Brave New Virtual World!—Explorers Wanted

By Elizabeth Merritt

Museum practitioners are energized, perturbed, or both by the prospect of a future in which people spend more and more of their time immersed in virtual worlds. After all, the virtual is the enemy of the real, right? Some counter that a …
Toward Multi-Museum Multi-Media Collaboration (in the IMMEDIATE future!)

By Bruce A. Falk

Guest post by Bruce A. Falk, Contracting Officer, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Imagine a paleontology team on a dig. The lead scientist narrates a video capture summarizing the day’s finds, which is then posted to a vlog (web-based …
Please Touch the Objects: The Future of Museum Accessibility

By Elizabeth Merritt

CFM Council Member Day Al-Mohamed and I recently led a forecasting session at the Leadership and Excellence in Accessible Design Conference at the Kennedy Center. (An earlier post on the CFM blog solicited your input for this session. …