Heritage in lockdown: digital provision of memory institutions in the UK and US of America during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

As the impact of COVID-19 emerged in early 2020 and physical movement was restricted as a public health measure, digital media consumption behaviour changed dramatically. The accelerated move to online consumption increased the urgency for memory institutions such as museums to introduce new ways to digitally experience cultural collections. This research aimed to understand how memory institutions adapted during COVID-19 lockdowns by surveying the existing and novel digital resources that enabled access to cultural heritage organizations. The research was conducted during the UK lockdown period (April-July 2020) when we collected and analysed data from 83 heritage institutions in the UK and in the USA regarding the number, type, format, intended audience and intended aims of digital engagement opportunities they offered. The analysis evidences how different types of memory institutions responded to social need during the lockdown by supporting online visitors with resources such as educational material, live events and creative activities, and highlights where museums have acted effectively and where changed approaches are indicated.

Educommunication and Archaeological Heritage in Italy and Spain: An Analysis of Institutions’ Use of Twitter, Sustainability, and Citizen Participation

“…Purely analytical studies indicate that without metrics to measure the capacity and results achieved by institutions regarding engagement, it is clear that British and American institutions have made a concerted effort to provide a larger quantity, higher quality, and greater variety of content for their followers, as well as for future visitors [29].…”

“…Social networks offer an increasing number of ways to consume museums' cultural offering [14] as a means of sociocultural construction and as a tool for media coverage of cultural and historical heritage [15]. There is over a decade of work in this line of research in Spain [16][17][18][19][20][21], but web 2.0 heritage educommunication is a topic of international interest, as shown by studies from Italy [22][23][24], Denmark [25,26], Portugal [27], Greece [28], the United Kingdom [29,30], and the United States [31,32]. Likewise, there are world-renowned institutions that have produced various reports [33][34][35][36] that represent a starting point for this research.…”

The impact of COVID-19 on digital data practices in museums and art galleries in the UK and the US

“…This has necessitated changes in internal processes, increasing focus on data cleaning, cataloguing, or getting collections online (Art Fund, 2020). There has been a rapid assessment of the rationale and purpose for digital engagement not as an enhancement of usual delivery but as its core, not solely for entertainment, but to provide other societal bene ts and public services, such as research and knowledge centres (Agostino et al, 2020;Samaroudi et al, 2020) and as resources to promote wellbeing and combat anxiety, mental health issues, and loneliness (Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, 2020). Whilst being valuable contributors to society, museums are facing uncertainty and frustration over whether they will be able to deliver their services in the future.…”

2020: heritage, the pandemic and the journal

“…No contexto Europeu e Norte Americano, várias associações e instituições têm procurado quantificar este impacto. O inquérito da Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) [5] dirigido a profissionais de museus no contexto Europeu, o inquérito Britânico e Norte Americano sobre recursos digitais para o acesso ao património [6] e, em Portugal, o inquérito levado a cabo pela Associação Profissional de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal (ARP) a profissionais conservadores-restauradores [7], são disso exemplo.…”

“…In the European and North American context, several associations and institutions have sought to quantify this impact. The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) survey [5] targeted to museum professionals in the European context, the British and North American survey on digital resources for heritage organisations [6] and, in Portugal, the survey carried out by the Professional Association of Conservators-Restorers of Portugal (ARP) targeted to conservation-restoration professionals [7], are examples of this kind of analysis. Still, and despite the strongly unfavourable global context, 2020 was a very positive year for Conservar Património.…”