Social Media

Social Media and Web 2.0 have been gaining a lot of momentum in recent years. While I was not (and still am not) an early adopter, I either have used or do use a variety of Web 2.0 tools, such as Facebook, Flickr, Blogger, and Twitter. For instance, I'm not a regular on Twitter but I do follow quite a number of museums to know what's going on.

These tools are perfect for non-profit organizations to use and to disseminate information about their activities and other events. In fact, The Junior League of Midland, Inc. is launching its own Facebook Fan page in order to announce and advertise upcoming community projects and fundraising events.

Yesterday, I registered for a series of webinars sponsored by IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) Connecting to Collections. One of the first sessions is called "Using Social Media to Tell Your Collection's Stories." Colleen Dilenschneider, one of the presenters, posted on her blog about museums and social media. Check it out here.

What is your favorite social media or Web 2.0 tool? How could a museum benefit from its use? Do you connect with any museum through social media?

Or is it weird that I'm using a Web 2.0 technology to discuss social media?

Digital Preservation Management

Last week I was in Austin for a two-day workshop on Digital Preservation Management.

I know what you're thinking ... "But aren't you really concerned with preserving 3D objects?" The short answer is yes and no. Yes, my role here at The Petroleum Museum mostly deals with the 3D objects in the Permanent Collection, as well as the 2D objects (documents, manuscripts, photographs) in the Archives and the books and periodicals in the Library.

However, with this Train to Share grant project well underway, I am increasingly concerned with the digital files created from scanning our photographs. How does an organization deal with all these digital "objects" and their relevant information? The Digital Preservation Management (DPM) workshop attempted to answer that question among others.

The biggest take-away for me from the workshop is the image of the three-legged stool. Digital Preservation relies on three elements equally: technology, organization, and resources; it cannot stand on a single leg.
If any leg is underdeveloped, or overdeveloped, and the stool is whobbly, digital preservation will not last for the long-term. DPM is something one has to carefully plan and invest in.

While The Petroleum Museum is not quite ready for long-term digital preservation, we are on our way, especially thanks to the Train to Share project. The worksthop provided tools so that our institution could invest fully in digital preservation in the future.