Tag: news

Digital transformation for museums is often reduced to a question of technology. Should a museum build a new website, move its collections online, invest in a new collection management system, introduce artificial intelligence, or create more digital experiences for visitors? These are important questions, but they are not where digital transformation begins. For museums, digital transformation is about how technology, information, content, and processes work together to support the institution’s mission. It can influence how…

AI or Artificial intelligence is changing how people find information, including how they discover places to visit, research topics, and find answers to questions. Instead of scanning a long list of search results, people increasingly encounter summaries, recommendations, and answers generated from information that AI systems consider relevant and trustworthy. For museums, this shift creates a different kind of digital challenge. The question is no longer only whether a museum has a website or whether…

A museum website can contain an extraordinary amount of knowledge. Collection records, exhibition pages, educational resources, research, institutional stories, visitor information, and marketing content can all help audiences understand the museum and the subjects it represents. Yet publishing valuable information does not automatically create a useful digital experience. When these resources exist as separate destinations, visitors may find one relevant page without discovering the wider knowledge that gives it context. This challenge becomes more important…

A collection management system and a museum website serve different purposes, even when they share the same collection information. A collection management system helps museums document, manage, preserve, and organize information about objects and other collection holdings. A public-facing museum website helps people discover that knowledge, understand its significance, and engage with the institution online. The distinction is easy to overlook because the two systems are often closely connected. A museum may publish collection records…

Digital transformation for museums can feel overwhelming, particularly for small and mid-sized institutions with limited staff and competing priorities. Collections may need to become more accessible online, websites may require improvement, and new technologies continue to create opportunities and questions. At the same time, the people responsible for these initiatives are often managing collections, exhibitions, education, communications, and the day-to-day work of running the museum. The challenge is not usually a lack of ideas or…

Museum SEO is often misunderstood. Some assume it means adding more keywords to webpages or trying to rank higher on Google. Others believe search optimization only matters for commercial businesses, not museums. In reality, museum SEO is about helping people discover trustworthy knowledge. Every online collection, exhibition, educational resource, and research publication contains information that someone may be actively searching for. They might be researching local history, exploring an artist’s work, preparing classroom materials, or…

Museum discoverability has become increasingly important as museums expand their digital collections and online experiences. Through digitized collections, online exhibits, educational resources, research publications, and searchable collection databases, institutions can reach audiences far beyond their physical walls. Visitors can now discover museum collections through websites, search engines, and increasingly, AI-powered search experiences. As museums continue expanding their digital presence, however, publishing more content is no longer the biggest challenge. Much of the knowledge museums create…

For decades, museum metadata has been created to support one primary goal: documenting collections accurately. It records provenance, identifies creators, tracks conservation history, and provides the structure museums need to manage objects responsibly over time. Without metadata, collection management would quickly become inconsistent, making it difficult to preserve information across generations. Today, metadata serves a much larger purpose. As museums publish more digital collections online, metadata has become the language that helps people discover those…

Putting museum collections online has become a priority for institutions of every size. Over the last decade, museums have invested significant time in digitizing collections, photographing objects, improving collection management systems, and making records available through their websites. These efforts have expanded access in important ways, allowing researchers, educators, and the public to engage with collections beyond the museum’s physical walls. Yet many museums are discovering an unexpected problem. Despite having thousands of digital records…

For many small museums, digital exhibits still feel like an “extra.” Something to build after the physical exhibition is complete. Something experimental, temporary, or secondary to the in-person experience. But visitor behavior has changed. For a growing number of people, a museum website is no longer just a place to check hours or directions. It is part of the museum experience itself. In many cases, it is the first interaction someone has with an institution,…