The Digital Museum: From Strategy to Implementation

MSL2335H — The Digital Museum: From Strategy to Implementation

Digital technologies present exciting new opportunities for interaction with museum objects. They help forge unique and novel paths of meaning, and facilitate the creation of new museum publics. But they also unsettle the foundation of stability, materiality, and temporal order upon which many museums reside. This course explores the role of new and emerging digital technologies in the context of the contemporary museum experience. It is intended to provide students with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions regarding opportunities and challenges afforded by digital technologies. Students in this course will investigate the impact of digital technologies on museums, their staff, their audiences, and their value propositions. They will explore the adoption of user-centred, multi-channel approaches to content creation and distribution, and will consider the requisite digital skills and literacies that can inform responsible digital adoption, development, and transformation. From digital strategy to the practical aspects of project management and development of digital experiences, students will gain an overview of processes related to the use of digital technologies by museum professionals. To develop this overview, students will participate in collaborative prototyping of digital experiences with our partners at the Ontario Science Centre. The development of these experiences will be supported by readings, case studies, planning exercises, technical demonstrations and tutorials, and guest speakers.

Notes: Previously MSL2303H: Special Topics in Museum Studies: The Digital Museum: From Strategy to Implementation. It is a regular course effective September 1, 2021.

• Syllabus Winter 2023