Ross Parry
Lecturer in Museums and New Media
University of Leicester
Department of Museum Studies
103-105 Princess Road East
Leicester
LE1 7LG
United Kingdom
http://www.le.ac.uk/ms/
Dr. Ross Parry has been Lecturer in Museums and New Media at the University of Leicester since 1998, and in 2005 was made a HIRF Innovations Fellow for his work on developing in-gallery digital media. He is Programme Director for the campus-based Masters course in the Department of Museum Studies, chair of the Digital Heritage Research Group (DHRG), and currently supervisor to a number of PhD students. Since 2001 he has convened Leicester's 'Spring School in New Media', an annual three-day event for museum practitioners and researchers to reflect upon the impact of digital technology on their work. He also leads the development of an innovative new postgraduate degree programme in 'Digital Heritage''. He continues to sit on the committee of the Museums Computer Group, since 2004 he has co-convened the annual UK Museums on the Web Conference, and since 2003 has been on the judging panel of the Jodi Awards (the UK's national award recognising museum, gallery, library, archive or heritage websites that demonstrate commitment to meeting web accessibility standards). With the 24 Hour Museum and MDA, he is also leading the 'Semantic Web Thinktank' (funded by an AHRC research workshop award) investigating the impact of semantic web technologies on the UK museum sector. His research is interested in the relationship between new technology (including pre-digital technology) and the ways memory institutions such as museums manage information and display knowledge. His historical study (with Andrew Sawyer) of the development of in-gallery digital interactive design recently appeared in 'Reshaping museum space: architecture, design, exhibitions' (Routledge), as has an article on the rise of cultural theory in museum computing (Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship), and (with Nadia Arbach) an investigation into the emergent space of museum on-line learning environments, within a book from MIT called 'Theorising Digital Cultural Heritage'. He has also compiled a new addition to the series of Leicester Readers in Museum Studies entitled 'Museums in the Digital Age' (2008) His main project, however, is a book ('Recoding the Museum') on the theories and histories of museum computing, published with Routledge in late 2007.
Ross will present How Shall We Label Our Exhibit Today? Applying The Principles of On-Line Publishing to an On-Site Exhibition. [Paper]
