Thomas Söderqvist Lynn Bethke‘s MA thesis—‘Constructing Connections: A Museological Approach to Blogging’—from the Museology graduate program at University of Washington in Seattle (downloadable here) contains some interesting analyses of the benefits (and sometimes obstacles) of blogging for museums. “Museums and blogs have a future together”, she concludes her survey, “although the path is not yet clear”, and continues:
The potential and versatility of blogging is an excellent option for museums, which are often slow to respond to current events in their primary format of exhibits, to become a more relevant presence online. A blog can act as a supplement to an exhibit, an informational byline, or an announcement board. All options have both benefits and costs, and it will be up to each institution to determine if blogging is an appropriate course of action for it (p. 74).
A nice and carefully referenced study which gives food for thought for everyone engaged in museum blogging. Cf. also Jim Spadaccini’s Ideum-post last October on the rapid growth and diversification of museum blogging.
One question that Lynn Bethke does not address, however, is that which Camilla raised in an earlier post on this blog, namely what an exhibition would look like if it was organised as a blog? I haven’t found this question raised (or answered) anywhere. Maybe a topic for a PhD in museology somewhere?
