Curating for Broadband

Tilly Blyth, Science Museum, United Kingdom
http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/

Session: Broadband and Beyond

With the number of UK households and small businesses adopting broadband now passing the 3 million mark, museums need to consider the approaches they can use to present curator's expertise to new audiences in engaging ways for broadband. Whilst these impressive statistics represent a strong picture in the technological rollout of broadband, they do not reveal the social innovation occurring through the development of truly broadband sites. Too many Web sites claiming to be 'broadband' offer little more than video on the Web, and many fail to construct sites that socially engage users in on-line activities. The paper will argue that in order to create appealing broadband Web sites, producers need to bring together the skills and quality of television production with the active participation of the Web. In this way the creation of broadband Web sites presents new opportunities for museums to deliver public service values.