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MoKnow your museum: Using simple websites for internal resource-sharing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2019

Lucy Hawthorne*
Affiliation:
Library Assistant and Curatorial Research Assistant, Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), Main Road, Berriedale, Hobart 7011, Tasmania, Australia Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper will demonstrate the way low-cost WYSIWYG websites can be used as a method of storing and disseminating information in a museum context, as illustrated by the internal website – MoKnow – developed by the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) library. Websites like Google Sites can be used to share resources with a range of in-house users – from curators to front of house staff – in an easy-to-access manner. Quick to set up, these sites can be used to share text and bibliographic information, store PDFs and other documents, and link to images, videos and websites, thereby providing users with an intuitive and quick method of accessing information relevant to the institution and its collection. As Mona library manager, Mary Lijnzaad notes, the website MoKnow, “started as a digital version of the old school vertical filing cabinets… it was simply a way of not having to store vast amounts of physical information.” However, six years after the original site's creation, the website's purpose and scope continues to evolve in response to the changing nature of online resources and the demands of the institution. The paper will also examine some of the challenges and restrictions associated with using such sites, including copyright, ownership, changing technologies, and confidentiality concerns.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© ARLIS, 2019 

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References

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