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Technology
Meet Patrice, the Spy Museum robot who is opening a secret world to hospitalized kids
Patrice is a small, sleek robot that is opening up the International Spy Museum to hospitalized children and young adults who can’t physically get to the building. This has proved to be …
Pivoting to Virtual Field Trips and Education Programs: Advice from The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
At The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, our mission is to teach history in order to impact behaviors today. With students in particular, we want them to encounter the history of …
Inviting Engagement: Front-of-House Workers Become Online Content Creators
After announcing our free admission initiative in January 2020, MOCA’s lobby was a bustling hive of activity. Visitor engagement staff welcomed attendees by scanning their tickets and …
Thriving as a Virtual Museum: The National Museum of American Jewish History’s Playbook
Like many museums, the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH)’s doors have remained closed to the public since March 2020. Our physical doors, that is. Our museum is very much …
How to Procure Digital Services with Accessibility in Mind
As you commission a website, mobile app, experiential multimedia piece, or other digital interactive, it is critical to incorporate accessibility and inclusive design considerations …
Evaluating the Impact of Augmented and Virtual Reality
“I am perfectly astonished at the effect.” “The thrilling scenes therein depicted are beyond description.” “It is true and really wonderful.” These are reactions from visitors to the …
The Rijksmuseum Had Its Lowest Attendance Last Year Since 1964. But Its Digital Audience Has Grown by Leaps and Bounds
Amsterdam's famed Rijksmuseum, which was closed for much of last year, had its lowest attendance in decades in 2020. At the same time, the museum experienced a 23 percent increase in the …
10 Best Practices of Accessible Museum Websites
This article explores ten high-impact areas you should consider to enhance your website’s accessibility and bring it into conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), …
For Post-Pandemic Success, Get Creative with Distributed Museum Models
As the global pandemic has put a halt to in-person visitation for much of 2020 and brought long-held planning and operational models into question, museum leaders across the country have …
Digital Tools for Pandemic Times
Almost all US museums closed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. While a few reopened by summer, many decided to remain shuttered for the entire year, and often …
The Keys to Sustainable Online Programming? Partnerships and Professional Development
Recently, I’ve been analyzing the efficacy of museum-developed digital programs over their thirty-year history, and I’ve noticed a common theme: Every study extols the benefits of such …
Don’t Be Surprised, Be an Ally: Better Security Planning for Virtual Programs
It was my ninth virtual program of the COVID era that prompted this essay. The first eight had gone relatively well. After some low numbers and awkward silences early on, later events …