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Building a Matrix Exploiting Narratives 11 April 2006. Julian Tomlin Head of Administration. Building a Matrix. Contents. Publishing collections Publishing exhibitions A new website and narratives The Textile Gallery What’s next and the future. What do users want?. Research
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Building a MatrixExploiting Narratives11 April 2006 Julian Tomlin Head of Administration
Contents • Publishing collections • Publishing exhibitions • A new website and narratives • The Textile Gallery • What’s next and the future
What do users want? • Research • Manchester Museums Unwrapped website • Feedback - mostly informal • Stories not (just) objects • What’s on Show • By room • By exhibition • What does the Gallery look like? • Where to start? • Expectations
Starting with Narratives • Bewilderment phase • Exhibitions • Earlier experience with pdfs • Opportunity to publish stories - 100 collection exhibitions over 12 years - DCF project • Archiving research, integrating with KE EMu • Value for museology students • Then biographies • Watercolour artists - loaded via a script
The Whitworth’s website • http://www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth • Publishing • Objects and related multimedia • Exhibitions • Narratives
A new website and narratives • Value from KE EMu • Easy to link to objects • And multimedia • Arrange in hierarchy • Updates easier than using the cms • New website • Browsing not just searching • Collection themes - collection level information • Photo history of the building • Technical terms • Press releases • http://www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth
Theme - J M W Turner Links to other narratives Links to objects Links to exhibitions
The Textile Gallery - Questions • Could the interpretation in the display be replicated using KE EMu? • Not strictly an exhibition as objects change • Complement limited information in room
Content • Introduction to the collection • Text panels for the themed twelve cases • Labels for the objects, linked to detailed catalogue information • Technical terms, interviews with makers
Implementation • Master narratives for gallery • Introduction to textiles at the Whitworth • Information on the display • Sub-narratives for the cases • Sub-narratives for the labels, linked to catalogue information • Audio/Video as multimedia, linked to University’s streaming server • http://www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth/exhibitions/byroom/gallery1-textilegallery
Object display (Catalogue) bottom Link back to narratives
Public computers and paper • On-line in the gallery • Fact files, laminates • produced from KE EMu using Crystal Reports
Next with narratives • School sessions • Pre-visit • Post-visit • Searching narratives and objects, offering both in results as ‘Spinning the Web’ • Joint narratives on Manchester Museums Unwrapped • Single theme, merged narratives, different objects • Reusing the portal?
Book-browsing • Thomas Wardle pattern books • Starting point is ‘Spinning the Web’ • Reference to British Library ‘Turning the Page’; Amazon • Proposed solution • No Flash • Use PHP tailored web pages • Allow for different layouts - cover, left, right page, page spread • Use narratives to explain pages
Looking to the future? • Web pages - better design!, improved functionality • Formatting in narratives eg bold, italic, hyperlinks • Supporting different learning styles • Text v. Icons • Podcasts, interactivity • Technical issues to overcome • My EMu • Web 2.0 - Blogs, Flickr, Wikipedia • Users to write and submit their own stories • ‘Write your own label’
Thank you Julian.Tomlin@manchester.ac.uk http://www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth