I have to say that looking at the suggested sites didn't really do anything for me so I went on a quest to find out what museums are doing with wikis. The results are interesting.
One of the blogs I've stumbled on is Museum Next which is all about the use of technology in museums - yay. One post features an exhibition which uses ipads to provide information via Wikipedia on the featured artists. http://www.museumnext.org/2010/blog/what-can-the-ipad-do-for-museums. I really like this idea as its easily updated and can link to other sites if you want more information. Coincidentally I found another blog post about this same exhibition from the host museum - the Brooklyn Museum.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/2010/10/14/bklynflow-on-github/
Another museum with a more local focus is the Amersham Museum in England which wants people to add their information about the place much in the same way as wikipedia works, although this is controlled and you have to apply to get the password to upload information. I think this is a great idea which got me interested in wikis again as a tool to connect people and information. I'm finding professionally there are people in the community who know about objects in a museum/local studies collection that staff don't necessarily have the knowledge, so instead of putting in a can you help ad in a newspaper, a wiki could help to expand the knowledge of the collection, while making it digitally accessible. Also people contributing can also provide their own stories about using/seeing the object used or background information on a photo. The Science Museum had this in mind with their object wiki where you can look up an object in their collection for example: http://objectwiki.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wiki/Vespa_Sportique_Scooter
or this one where people have added their memories of using the object (might bring back some memories of people out there):
http://objectwiki.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wiki/Macintosh
A new site is www.nowandthen.net.au where Collections Australia Network (CAN) have teamed up with a local museum in Mallala, SA for a trial wiki which "utilises wiki technology to allow local communities to record, explore and share information about their history and life today. All members of the public are invited to contribute and edit entries on particular communities and the places, people, events, organisations and things that make them unique."
The Our Page In History run by the WA State Library Foundation is along the same lines as the now and then site as it is digitising the collection and asking people to contribute their knowledge. Or perhaps this is a little off the track of wikis?
Wow Alethea, you have found a lot of cool stuff here! I never even thought about how useful wikis could be to museums and heritage collections.
ReplyDeleteThe only concern I would have is that you would need to make sure the wiki is moderated and regularly checked by the moderators, just like wikipedia. Some people tend to go a little crazy when they think they can add things to a website without much consequence, and will sometimes put incorrect or offensive information in there just to taunt people (like the trolls GozzieHoon has mentioned when we've talked about web stuff at work).
Nice wiki finds. I agree with Saire that an open wiki needs to be moderated as there are a lot of Trolls out there that have nothing better to do than ruin other people work.
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