Just listened to an excellent podcast of a talk given by Dr Angelina Russo on Social Media & Museums. I was inspired to think of similar patterns and practices that could apply to the world of scientific research. Dr Russo presented a very nicely structured analysis of much of the chaos  I have observed from blog posts, podcasts etc about museums. Her explanations of the practices and experiences behind the examples given were excellent and well worth a listen.

4 themes: [include content sharing, co-creation ...]

Several examples including:

• powerhouse museum search (opac2.0 / seb chan) 4% users create tags which account for 50% of all search terms
• Picture Australia site and flickr

Alchemy? (artistic co-creation, deep site, screen wallpapers …)

Engaging With Social Media in Museums

The Engaging with Social Media in Museums research project is prototyping the use of social media such as blogs and wikis in museums to produce a new source of high-quality cultural information, and to link regional, rural and international users with city-based institutions.

Chief Investigator Dr Angelina Russo discusses the project and its examination of the impact of social media on museum learning and communication.

This forum was held at the State Library of Victoria on 5 February 2008.

ref: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/ltf/forums/digital_forums/2008/050208.html

Fang – Mike Seyfang

Note to self, re-listen, take notes and look for patterns in the world of science…

http://delicious.com/mseyfang/slv08