MUMMI

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MUMMI - Workshop for Museums and Design-for-All 2004

Target group: MA in Mew Media, New Media Professionals, UIAH -students, students of Museology from University of Helsinki - video exchange lectures from Bradley University (Illinois)

Credits: 2 cr
Precondition for accepted and passed workshop active participation and minimum 70 % presence.

Term: fall 04
Organisers / Teachers:
Media Lab, UIAH: Marjo Mäenpää, Antti Raike, Lily Diaz
http://mlab3.uiah.fi/www/
Virtual University Unit, UIAH, Leena Koskinen http://www2.uiah.fi/virtu/english.html
Finnish National Gallery: Sari Salovaara
Bradley University http://www.bradley.edu/ Robert Rowe
Schedule: week 45 - 8.11.-12.11.2004 13-19

Course language: English

Means: Lectures and a group assignment, a short video production and peer evaluation via videoconference with Bradley University.

Perquisites: non

Objectives: To understand the processes for designing for large audience, the user centred design principles and importance of usability when designing technology for museums.

To understand the opportunities of using new technology in museums and presenting cultural heritage

To study different kinds of user interfaces - as well multimodal as attentive and emotive interfaces

Produce material for upcoming cultural historical and museo-pedagogical DVD-project (See ACCU-project below)

To know:
- how to improve access to cultural heritage
- how to improve usability in Web/digital media -design
- how to utilise various interfaces in designing for large audiences in the cultural heritage field, for museums
To create accessibility / Design-for-All toolkit for designers
During the workshop students make an accessibility survey of two - three museums in Helsinki (and in Illinois) and an inquiry among visitors to find out the critical issues when accessing cultural heritage assets. Both students evaluate their findings in a videoconference with the students from Bradley. After the workshop the DVD-project continues as a MUMMI-studyproject in Media Lab, coordinated by Finnish National Gallery and Media Lab.

Program

Mon. 8.11.
13-14 Briefing to the workshop, Marjo Mäenpää
14-15 Lecture: Antti Raike: What is Design for All - Introduction to the theme
15-19 Workshop work starts, planning
Tue 9.11. 13-19
13-14 Helena Hyvärinen shooting a documentary video film
14-17 Workshop work
17.00 -18.00 Sari Salovaara - Accessibility in museums (video-conference with Bradley)
(Students from Bradley University recently completed some concepts for the Peoria zoological park, and these can be previewed on line at
http://gcc.bradley.edu/students/rowe/bradley_Zoo.ppt.htm)

Wed 10.11.
13-19 Workshop work, discussion
Thu 11.11.
13-18 workshop work - video edit
17.30-18.00 Peer evaluation of students assignement
18.00-19.00 Lecture: Betty Davidson, Boston Museum of Science (video-conference with Bradley)
Best practices for design of museums for accessibility to the vision, hearing and mobility impaired http://www.mos.org/exhibitdevelopment/access/
Fri 12.11
13-14 Lily Diaz - Visualisation and cultural accessibility
14-19 Finalizing and presentation of the workshop work, evaluation

Workshop tasks

Mon - Tue 8.-9.11 . Students choose a museum for their case study.
(Work will be done in be 4-5 persons groups) The accessibility study is done with a person who has "disadvantages" i.e. a mother with a child, an old person, visual or hearing impaired person etc.
Planning task: The first questionnaire (short!) for the test person the find out his/her background (how often visits a museum? education etc). Another final questionnaire after the museum visit (what kind of difficulties there was, was it easy to access.) Both questionnaires will be documented (by video).

Wed 10.11.: 13-16 A museum visit - each group visits the museum they selected with the test person. Interviews will be recorded - also other things if necessary.
16-19 Video editing - each group sends their video to Marjo (or brings the tape)

Thu 11.11 13-18 Video edit and short evaluation of the asset - with whole workshop group.
18-19 Video conference with the Bradley

Fri 12.11. 13-19
Finalizing the workshop - picking up the questions that should be taken into a consideration for the ACCU-project.

ACCU-project:

How to Improve Access to Cultural Heritage

A description
ACCU is a European-vide Culture 2000 project. One of the aims is to a publication in DVD format. The aim of the DVD is to create an advisory tool of how to make exhibitions, cultural events and historic sites accessible. The DVD demonstrates the very discourse on which the larger ACCU-project is based, the new aspects brought to it by the different actions included in the project, and the models found for best practices to be applied by all actors in the field of cultural heritage. The DVD will use images and video material about all activities of the project, and unite their results to a shared experience. The main target groups of the DVD would be museum and historic site professionals and students of museum studies and other relevant fields. The DVD demonstrates also good practices and principles for the accessibility of a DVD product. The DVD is a high-quality-product which lives as an effective educational tool after the project.

Objectives:

• to create an easy to use, high quality advisory tool in a DVD format
• the DVD format in itself is made a showcase of good access to information
• to show models and give clear instructions with help of illustrations and video material
• to disseminate best practises

Involvement of the ACCU project partners in five European countries
• the contents of the DVD consist for the most part of the contribution and materials produced during this project by each partner and their associates in each country
• each co-organizer nominates a person to the steering group of this sub-project
• each partner is involved and contributes to the planning of the manuscript and structure of the DVD

During the workshop the students will start to plan the manuscript for the ACCU-DVD-publication.