Program Line #2: Public 2.0
Four years ago NIMk (Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst) published the catalog of its collection online. Over the course of this time it became apparent that the catalog needs to be renewed. Necessary next steps for this revitalization include developing a business model, a legal and handling model, as well as embedded applications for different target groups. To increase public outreach, different user groups will be identified and examined. Experience gained in the GAMA project (simultaneous searches through/in various media databases, techniques for automatic indexing and user participation) is very useful here.
Questions
Questions in this program regarding cultural collections and the public are:
- What needs do users have in relation to the collection?
- Internal needs: information and records;
- External user groups are: education and research, collection holders, artists, the general public.
Specific example questions are:
- Is there a need for active user participation and how can this be fulfilled?
- What innovative applications (from tag clouds to mobile sites) are useful for end users?
- How can we learn from successful online initiatives and applications?
Goals
The ultimate goal is an online strategy for opening and distributing the collection, and applying this in the new platform for Media Art collection.
We will approach our goals in the following way:
- To map the needs of users;
- To evaluate during the development process;
- To generate ideas for meaningful user participation and active use of the collection by the target audience.
Activities
The program line Public 2.0 will do active research in the following areas:
a. Preliminary research by user groups (3 months, February-April), in collaboration with educators and researchers
- Professional online collection keepers and curators (with the other consortium partners who own a collection)
- Artists (from network of NIMk and Video Vortex)
- General public
b. Development process of a new online catalog (3 months, on account of NIMk)
c. Test phases during the development process (in collaboration with the MediaLAB for usability testing and user-defined groups)
Deliverables
- Final report of research – Activities within this program line consist of mapping tools and platforms for sharing expertise and materials with the public, user research and developing tools for sharing material and to facilitate public participation. This is done in close collaboration with HvA MediaLAB, where (graduate) students and teachers will work with the investigation.
- Reporting of interim evaluations and tests (including usability testing carried out by the MediaLAB)
- Presentation of the total research on the conference and in the Culture Vortex reader.
Program Coordinator and participants
Coordinator: Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst
Participants: MediaLAB, Video Vortex Research Network, Urban Screens Association, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, VPRO, Virtueel Platform and Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid.