Enhancing user involvement with digital cultural heritage: The usage of social tagging and storytelling

Abstract

This paper focuses on the use of online social tagging and storytelling to enrich digital collections of cultural heritage. Together with several Dutch museums, we examined the question of whether and how social tagging could benefit these museums in disclosing specific digital collections. This led to the development of a social tagging tool (www.ikweetwatditis.nl) as a means of researching behaviour when tagging cultural objects. The results show that tagging and storytelling can help museums enrich their collections and involve their audiences.

The online appeal of the physical shop: How a physical store can benefit from a virtual representation

“…They also studied whether the richer medium leads to a more positive attitude towards the museum, a stronger motivation to visit the museum, a higher engagement and stronger emotions. Van Vliet et al (2012) did find a positive effect on attitude and motivation, but not a significant effect on emotion, engagement and experience. One explanation they gave for these findings was that the actual subjects − i.e.…”

“…Experience: Van Vliet et al (2012) are some of the very few who have researched the effect of different media on the receiver’s experience. In their research ‘Public Annotation of Cultural Heritage’, they studied, among other things, the level that the presentation of a story through video (a rich medium) leads to a stronger experience with museum visitors than when the story is presented through audio or text (poorer media).…”

One object many stories: Introducing ICT in museums and collections through digital storytelling

“…An effective storytelling does not only relate the events, but is also per se a memorable performance and gives visitors a chance to experience a variety of emotions [6], combined with a genuine interest in the objects on show [7]. In this context, researchers argue that viewing, listening, and reading stories with the use of ICT solutions could change users' attitudes towards museums in a positive way and, as a result, motivate them to visit memory institutions for leisure purposes [11].…”

Total Recall: How Cultural Heritage Communities Use Digital Initiatives and Platforms for Collective Remembering

“…Thus, the conceptualization of cultural heritage as arbiters and keepers of memory must undergo further expansion as digital heritage initiatives create ‘cultural exchanges’ and ‘knowledge-sharing networks’ to curate, archive, and allow for the sharing of personal and cultural experiences that are more audience-centric (Garduño Freeman, 2010; Jensen, 2013; Russo, 2011; Russo et al, 2008; Simon, 2010). This requires further appraisal of the complexities of user orientation, engagement, participation, and digital content interwoven with how heritage practitioners and participants use these digital technologies (Bearman & Geber, 2008; Marty, 2014; Oomen & Aroyo, 2011; Oomen, Baltussen, Limonard, Brinkerink, & van Ees, 2010; Owens, 2013; Parry, 2010; Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt & Aljas, 2009; Suh, Shin, Woo, Dow, & Macintyre, 2010; Van Vliet & Hekman, 2012).…”