The Museums Computer Group ‘UK Museums on the Web’ Conference 2010

hosted by the Museum of London

Including a joint evening session with Wikimedia UK

hosted at the British Museum

The hashtag for this event was #ukmw10.

Themes of the day:

The UK cultural heritage sector is entering a turbulent period. The policy landscape is being reshaped, funding streams renegotiated and portfolios of responsibility changing hands. The challenge we have been set is to think creatively about the future, to show courage and ingenuity, as well as share illustrations of what we do well.

Confronting head-on our immediate digital challenge, this year’s ‘UK Museums on the Web Conference’, convened by the Museums Computer Group, will explore the ways digital heritage can respond to these difficult times. As well as decoding what the recent policy and funding announcements will mean for you and your institution, and for our community of practice as a whole, the conference will highlight four clear and distinct ways in which, together, we can engage with the challenges ahead: through smart aggregations of our digital collections; open-source tools and methods for designing our systems; creative approaches to collaborative working; and new and imaginative models for funding our work.

The day will aim to highlight how these open, creative and smart approaches might allow us to rise to the digital challenge … and, crucially, do more with less.

For over six years the annual UKMW conferences have been the place for high quality presentations and discussions on the matters that are shaping museums online today. By remaining in touch with the leading edge of research, the politics of policy, as well as the day-to-day realities of professional work, UKMW continues to appeal to practitioners and academics, technologists and curators, policy makers and the commercial sector – with over 100 delegates from across the sector attending each year. And the event has built a reputation for the calibre of its speakers, the affordability and accessibility of its content, as well as the focus of its debate.

We very much look forward to welcoming you to the Museum of London on 26 November, and to UKMW10.

The event was held in the Weston Theatre, Museum of London, 150 London Wall, LONDON, EC2Y 5HN

Programme

Time Topic
9.30am-10.00am Registration and coffee
10.00am-10.10am Welcome

Ross Parry (Chair of Museums Computer Group; Academic Director, School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester)

Cathy Ross (Director of Collections and Learning, Museum of London)
10.10am-10.30am Keynote address‘Rising to the digital challenge in difficult times’Nick Poole (Chief Executive, The Collections Trust)
10.30am-11.15am Fund imaginitivelyOur funders and policy makers have begun to stress what they see as an importance in being entrepreneurial in this new climate of public finances. We are hearing more reference to corporate sponsorship and to philanthropy and the increasing roles, it is said, that these might play in all of our museums. From online fundraising to new cultures for financing institutional websites, this session will explore some of the new business models that are coming to shape our digital heritage practice.Including contributions from: Alex Morrison (Managing Director, Cogapp)John Stack (Head of Tate Online)

Martin Bazley (Online Experience Consultant, Martin Bazley & Associates)

Peter Pavement, (Director, Surface Impression)
11.15 a.m. – 11.45 a.m. Mid-morning coffee
11.45 a.m. – 12.30p.m. Collaborate creativelyHow strong is our instinct for partnership in the digital heritage sector? And how do difficult times such as these cultivate new and creative ways for us to collaborate? With invaluable perspectives from one of the UK’s Research Councils, as well as individual researchers and the MCG’s own experience of working collaboratively over the last year on its collaborative ‘LIVE!Museum’ networking project, this session will look to explore some of creatively collaborative ways in which museums, the commercial sector, and knowledge-based institutions (such as universities) are finding to work together.Including contributions from: Joanna Pollock (Knowledge Transfer Strategy and Development Manager, Arts and Humanities Research Council)

John Seton (Head of Regional Strategic Partnerships, BT Innovate and Design)

Kevin Walker (Research Officer, London Knowledge Lab)

Angelina Russo (Associate Professor, Media and Communication, RMIT University)
12.30 p.m. – 1.00 p.m. Museums Computer Group AGMDownload AGM Agenda 2010 – Museum of London

Download Draft MCG Constitution V1.6b 21NOV10

Download AGM Minutes 2009 – Sackler Centre V&A

1.00 p.m. – 2.30 p.m. Buffet ‘networking’ lunch provided
2.30 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. ‘Open mic’ session, curated by Mia Ridge
 It is a UKMW tradition to have an energising session in the day where, through a series of super short ‘micro presentations’, members from the floor have just 4 minutes to update on a project, call for partners, pitch an idea, ask for support, highlight a new initiative, or just contribute to the event and the life of the MCG more widely. (Details on the ‘Open Mic’ slot will be advertised closer to the event.)
3.00 p.m. – 3.45 p.m. Aggregate smartly Just as these difficult times might bring us together in more creative ensembles (convergence between museum institutions but also with the creative industry sector more widely), so we might also harness the potential of aggregating our online collections in more strategically intelligent ways. Drawing upon the experience of the Culture Grid and Europeana over the last year, this session will look at the opportunities open to institutions to link their data in efficient and effective ways and with the greatest public benefit.Including contributions from:Jill Cousins (Executive Director, Europeana)

Adrian Cooper (Intelligent Heritage)

Linda Ellis (Project Manager Online Collections, Wolverhampton City Council / Black Country History)

James Grimster (Director, Orangeleaf Systems Ltd)
3.45 p.m. – 4.15 p.m. Mid-afternoon tea
4.15 p.m. – 5.00pm Build openlyAs well as being smart, creative and imaginative, our digital heritage community may also need to look at what tools and platforms it uses to develop its resources and services. Difficult times may require fresh strategies in both procurement and software choice. With this in mind, this final session of the day will draw upon the experiences of a range of practitioners who have made positive decisions to use open source solutions in their work.Including contributions from: Paul Clifford (Programme Manager (Digital Learning), Museum of London)

Trevor Collins (Research Fellow, Knowledge Media Institute, Open University)

John Lea (Open University)

Mark Polishook (Open source artist)
5.00 p.m. – 5.30 p.m. Final words and take-homes
7.00 p.m – 8.45pm. A Wikimedia UK – Museum Computer Group joint event At the end of our main programme, delegates will have the opportunity to make their way across town to the British Museum, where we will host a joint session with our friends in Wikimedia UK.‘The free-conomy & the cultural sector’BP Theatre, British MuseumFree admission for GLAM-WIKI & MCG conference delegates.

Keynote:

Kenneth Crews (Director, Copyright Advisory Office of Columbia University)

Panellists

Paula Le Dieu (Director of Digital, British Film Institute)

Gilane Tawadros (Chief Executive, Design and Artists Copyright Society [DACS])

And in recognition of the MCG-Wikimedia partnership this year, UKWM10 delegates were able to register for a preferential (half-price) rate for Day 2 of the GLAM-WIKI:UK event (27 November).

RT @ ukmcg UK Museums on the Web conference programme and registration now live at http://bit.ly/ukmw10. Hope to see you all there! Pls RT!