Thursday, October 11, 2012

Oct. 11 Essay

David Glassberg has trouble defining what the role of the new generation of historians would be. I believe it is very simple. It has been simple for some time. The basic role of a historian should be to educate. To the point of this assignment, if technology can help us, as historians, to do that job we should embrace it.

Museums have had a huge downturn in visitation. Some ardent museum directors believe that if we use technology in such capacities as putting our collections online, then everyone will simply sit on their computers and the museum's lack of attendance will be perpetuated further. But, at least by putting an object online it can be viewed by a plethora of persons. The story of that object has, when placed online, is then disseminated even further. By using technology we are meeting our goal of education. If we had not put that object online, fewer people would have seen it and our goal of educating would be lessened. We can not and should not restrict access to the knowledge that museums hold only to those who are so bold to enter our doors and peer through the glass of our exhibit cases.

We have to roll with the times. We can not just hold our breathes and wait for the public to realize they have been neglecting us. We have to embrace the times for what they are and try to reach out to the public in new ways. Our generation and the next generation are tech savvy. So why not make our museum tech savvy? Who really wants to read the titanic amount of text that would be necessary to read when looking at objects in our collections? Why can't we "reboot" our exhibit labels? If museums can install screens, especially interactive screens, wouldn't that make the museum experience ten times better? I think so. Let's take, for example, a train engine on display. Can a text label do it justice? I'm inclined to say no. Now, imagine we put a screen or a hand held device that shows what train engines can do. Now that would get some attention and may actually be a tool for teaching!

Technology is a great forum, and an essential forum, for us, as historians, to use, both to collaborate and to interact with our audience. The pages and programs shown to us in class absolutely blew my mind. We have the ability to upload videos, share our research, make historic interactive games, and give virtual tours of our facility all at our fingertips. Yes, we still have to figure out how to use them, but taking that initial hour or day to become familiar with this technology will allow for months or even years of extended use.

Finally, I would like to point out the fact that technology will not stop the flow of visitors into our museums. I think the use of technology is akin to marketing your institution. By using your facebook page, website, online exhibit site, etc. you show the general public what you have to offer. Yes, some people may say "Oh, yeah, I saw that Civil War kepi on that museum's website," but there will be several others who say "Oh cool., look at that Civil War kepi! We totally have to visit that museum." I think technology can expand the audience base we are able to reach.

To conclude, technology has the ability to build our audience. Additionally, it can enhance the museum experience for many. But, most of all I think that technology can help us to educate more people than we could ever do, at least nowadays, by just placing the open sign in our museum's window. Surprisingly, Mike Wallace even agrees with this.

We are public historians, after all. If the public has become tech based we should become tech based.

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