Museum informatics[1] is an interdisciplinary field of study that refers to the theory and application of informatics by museums. It represents a convergence of culture, digital technology, and information science.[2] In the context of the digital age facilitating growing commonalities across museums, libraries and archives, its place in academe has grown substantially and also has connections with digital humanities.[3]
In all ages, museums are responsible for obtaining, storing, and exhibiting objects of different kinds of objects from art, cultural heritage, natural history, science, to technological inventions. However, modern museums are not only repositories of objects; they are repositories of knowledge.[1] They are more like an information service organization, store information and share knowledge.[1]
After years of studies, the museum professionals and visitors have found their understanding of roles museums play largely changed by the introduction of new information technologies in museums.[4] Today's visitors to museums expect instant access to a large amount of information about every object in the museum's collections.
As the needs and expectations change, the users of museum information resources are galvanizing museums to make appropriate changes.[4] Besides, museum researchers and professionals have begun to explore the impact of information science and technology on the people who use museum resources.[4]
- ^ a b c Marty, Paul F. (2011). "Museum Informatics". Florida State University, USA. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ^ Cultural informatics, School of Library and Information Science, Pratt Institute, New York, USA.
- ^ Digital humanities.
- ^ a b c Marty, Paul (2010). Museum Informatics. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Third Edition.