Doing digital … together

My suggestions of how to improve digital literacy from the MWXX session

I’m having a very stimulating time here at MWXX. Meeting new people, catching up with old colleagues, many who have become good friends, and reflecting on where we’ve come from and where we’re going.

 

One of the (many) sessions that really got me thinking and reflecting (and left me somewhat frustrated) was It’s All in the Confidence: Co-designing the Future of Museum Digital Literacy, an exciting initiative designed to both study and skill up museum staff in digital literacies across the UK and the world.

While sitting there and listening to others talk about the many ways they are working with staff to get the conversation going in their organisations about digital, I got to thinking about some of the early work we were doing at the Australian Museum to skill up staff and encourage them to move from a web 1.0 to a web 2.0 mindset, while sharing what we were learning. In 2009.

If you’re interested, this blog post, How do I incorporate the web into my daily work practices? reminded me of how far ahead we seem now in trying to get staff on board with a new vision and a different mindset. I recommend also reading the comments section as you can see a bunch of staff really giving it a go and being very thoughtful about their experiences and learning while posting, what now seems seamless and easy, one comment to the new website! I was also delighted to be reminded that our very own Nancy Proctor even chimed in, realising how long we have known each other – one of the highlights of my time working in digital.

The other (related) post I suggest is The Museum’s Social Media Strategy, where we were co-designing the strategy with the staff who, at the end of the day, would have to be implementing social media in the museum. Some nice work there (even if I say so myself…). I would also like to acknowledge the advice and efforts from two special colleagues I was working with at the time: Russ (Mr 20% different, not 20% more) Weakley and Dr Angelina Russo, who led the ARC-funded project, Engaging with Social Media in Museums.

So, here’s hoping that the brave folks taking on this project in 2016 take the time to look back and reflect on much of the good work that has gone before, and build on that rather than re-invent the wheel.

The full MWXX program can be found online here. A further post is in development with my learnings from the conference.

If you’ve come this far then thanks for taking the time to read this – any comments of course are welcome!