I attempted to write a post about
an article I did not like, but I was not fully aware of why it left me with a
sour taste. The article’s basic argument was that museums should digitize their
collections, (make them available online) which is a great idea, and their exhibit,
which is a nice thing to do….to attract visitors, (ughh).[1]
The last ingredient is what
annoyed me, blistered my tongue even. Digital collections help people do
research. I understand that tourist could see the collection and pick out what
they wanted to see in person, which is great. But arguing that on-line
collections and exhibits are for tourists obscures the fact that digital
collections help researchers and that museums and their holdings have a lot to
offer academics.
I understand if the article was
written attempting to sell digitization to museum boards who are concerned with
funds and visitors. But when it is written in an academic journal for public historians
it sounds like even academics don’t want to associate themselves with
academics.
The current climate in this country
is unfriendly and at times downright hostile to individuals in higher education,
as we saw in the clip of Reza Aslan on Fox.[2]
When this article heralds the emergence
of on-line access to museums and collections as tourist attractions it confuses the
very action of looking at documents or exhibits on-line. Here is an example: someone goes on-line and
looks up the collection at WXY Museum. What did they do? They just did
research. Why then do we need to confuse
this action with tourism? Digital tourism is the same as Arm Chair Tourism.
They are both someone reading about a topic that interests them. They are both
research. Rejecting the term research in favor of tourism distances museums
from academics. And that is generally depressing.
I understand museums need to
attract and keep donors to fund their projects and existence. It is important
for museums to have a supportive community of funders, but when it comes to
not-for-profits, as many museums are, why are we trying to focus on getting
people in the museum rather than what the museum does for the people? The
museum is a collection, a space to construct meaningful and intriguing
exhibits. A place where people can
connect to whatever definitive importance they have with objects, places, or
people. An entity that advances education,
thought and knowledge. Everything else should be understood as providing for
those ends. When we say that something that is so clearly for academics, for research,
is for attracting tourists or promote
donations, it cheapens the relationship that museums and their collections have
with the rest of the world.
