1. Architectural Pasts in your
Palm:
A Mobile App Vision for Showcasing Brooklyn
Museum's Institutional History and Architectural
Image Collections
LIS 698: Practicum
Anna Rybakov Brooklyn Museum: exterior. 1909.
3. Processing in the Archives
inventory: boxes of 2 photo
collections
formats: prints, film & glass
negatives, transparencies, slides,
oversize
subject: interiors
general, gallery space, dept
offices & workspace, events,
construction, illustrative
materials
above: compact shelving in
the archive
4. Processing in the Archives
tasks: rehouse, relabel, identify,
preserve
research tools: annual reports,
quarterlies, press releases,
LUNA, BM libraries & archives
online, NYARC catalog, finding above: annual reports
aids, BM history books
from left to right:
original envelope, newly typed four-flap, 5x7 neg
5. Goals
PROJECT
-preserve & fully understand
collection scope
-prepare for digitization (Spring '13)
-upload images & metadata into
museum database to be shared on
website &/or institutionally, and on
the Brooklyn Visual Heritage
above: selection of boxing in various
collaborative website stages of processing
PERSONAL
-learn best processing & digitization
practices
where does this collection fit in? what makes it valuable?
6. Evolution of research project
Main question:
How do we bring these assorted interior images into a
broader, not solely visual context?
Primary solution:
mobile apps BUT
-what makes a good app?
-how can we test success?
-what platform do we design on?
-what device do we design for?
-benefits? limitations?
7. Mobile app Technologies
Trends:
AR, geo-locative, gamification, QR codes
Cons:
-AR indoors
--accuracy
--setup
-connectivity
-limited info
-navigation
-QR for crowds
--intrusion of space
Museum of London's StreetMuseum AR app
Image source: Flickr
8. Mobile app considerations
What type of app suits my needs best?
Smartphone vs. tablet
Tablet Pros:
-larger screen
-more robust info
-connectivity
-navigation
-data visualization
-preserve mobility
Use-optimized portrait & landscape views. Biblion mobile app.
Image source: Potion Design
9. Tablet vs. Smartphone
Tablet quick facts
-poised to reach saturation
-Apple dominates=1
primary platform
-average age 34
-even gender split
-tablet usage spikes during
non-work hours
-tablets used more for
entertainment/gaming &
media
10. Evolution of research project
Museum function has changed.
exhibitive experiential transformative
User needs & expectations have changed.
-sophisticated
-curious
-instant gratification
-unparalleled access
Response should change.
-offer comprehensive singular content w/ human element
PROPOSAL: Brooklyn Museum's Archmuse app
11. Archmuse-Overview
What is it?
A comprehensive multimedia experience linking library
& archives materials specific to Brooklyn Museum's
architectural history & puts them into evidence-based
historic context
Content
Images, press releases, letters, excerpts from annual
reports/quarterlies, newspaper articles, audio & video,
architectural plans, personal accounts, scholarly essays,
tours
A large permanent exhibition in digital space
open 24/7, wherever you are, no wifi needed
12. Archmuse-Concept
from building sketch to opening exhibition & everything in between
13. Archmuse-Inspiration
Digital Inspiration
NYPL's comprehensive iPad publications
-open access to legendary
collection
-non-linear navigation &
discovery in infoscape
-range of themes: varied
focus
-exploration
-immersive
-educational
-accessible
16. Archmuse-Features
iPad app + website
-dynamic, multimedia content
-bookmarking
-outside links & resources
-optimized views based on content
-virtual guided tour
-on site tour
-social features
-categorized, navigable but slightly
nebulous displays...artificially recreate
the "researching in archives" above: mock up iPad app featuring
experience Brooklyn Museum floor plan, c.1897
-more traditional, static website to
allow discovery
17. Archmuse-Sitemap
HOME discrete drop down
limited nav menu
begin with short exteriors
timelapse animation
TOURS STACKS concept-themed thumbnail clouds:
Origins, Cornerstone, Museum of
Everything, Modernization,
Extension, Master Plan, Museum as
Progenitor
HEADLINES
3D virtual
on-site each theme has its own
subsections containing
multimedia related to topic:
Origins: timeline, Brooklyn
Apprentices' Library, founding
documents, images,
discrete toolbar programming, members list, bios,
etc.
18. Archmuse-Goals
-permanent digital
"exhibition" unique to BM
-repackaging many existing
resources
-deeper understanding of
building & museum's past
-aggregate disparate
sources into 1 infoscape
-promote museum's
mission & its
library/archives
-partnership: scholars,
researchers, institutions
