How Shall We Label Our Exhibit Today? Applying The Principles of On-Line Publishing to an On-Site Exhibition 
Ross Parry, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Mayra Ortiz-Williams, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Andrew Sawyer, Simulacra, United Kingdom
http://www.le.ac.uk/ms
This paper reports upon the findings of a seven-month project (funded by a HIRF Innovations Fellowship award) to build, demonstrate and evaluate a prototype of an editable, wireless, in-gallery digital label system that uses a Web-based authoring tool. The partnership between the University of Leicester and Simulacra worked with three UK museums to test the viability of building and sustaining such a system. The paper places the use of such dynamic 'labelling' in the longer historical context of museum interpretation and the relationship between museums' on-site and on-line channels. It considers the findings of both visitor observation and the impact of different 'generators' (authors) and 'triggers' (events) of the labels' live content. However, what is brought into particular relief is the range of assumptions made by the curators involved – assumptions with particular implications for the way both Web-based and gallery-based content and interpretation were seen to be valued within the respective institutions.
Session: Enhanced Galleries [Exhibitions]
Keywords: authoring, label, wireless, on-site, user-generated, gallery, exhibition
