Computer History Museum

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

THE COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM WILL IMPROVE THE DESIGN AND OUTCOMES OF ITS PROGRAMS BY DEVELOPING AN INSTITUTION-WIDE APPROACH TO EVALUATION. MUSEUM STAFF WILL RECEIVE TRAINING IN EVALUATION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES. ADDITIONAL PROJECT ACTIVITIES INCLUDE DEVELOPING A MUSEUM-WIDE EVALUATION RUBRIC ALONG WITH METRICS AND A DASHBOARD TO MEASURE OUTCOMES AND IMPACT. THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT IS INTENDED TO HELP BREAK DOWN EXISTING DEPARTMENTAL BARRIERS AND TO CREATE SHARED CROSS-INSTITUTIONAL EVALUATION OF BOTH DIGITAL AND IN-PERSON PROGRAMS. THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A HOLISTIC EVALUATION FRAMEWORK THAT INTEGRATES IMPACT, ASSESSMENT, AND LEARNING STRATEGIES THAT WILL INCREASE STAFF’S ABILITY TO ASSESS MUSEUM OFFERINGS ACROSS VIRTUAL AND ONSITE PLATFORMS FOR PLANNING, DECISION-MAKING, AND IMPACT.

TO SUPPORT THE PROCESSING OF AND THE CREATION OF FINDING AIDS FOR 12 COLLECTIONS, TOTALING 400 LINEAR FEET, RELATED TO SOFTWARE HISTORY. THE COLLECTIONS CONTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS AND PERSONAL PAPERS THAT DOCUMENT THE Y2K BUG, EARLY ONLINE SEARCH SYSTEMS; THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE TO RUN THE PORTABLE COMPUTER; THE RADIO SHACK HOME COMPUTER; SHAREWARE; AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES FROM APPLE, LOTUS, ELECTRONIC ARTS, NOVELL, IBM, AND OTHER COMPANIES. THESE COLLECTIONS WILL SERVE AS PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIALS IN THE STUDY OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY.

THE COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM WILL DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND TRAIN A CROSS-MUSEUM STAFF TEAM IN THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS AND PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY. A DIGITAL MARKETING EXPERT WILL PROVIDE TRAINING TO A ?SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM? OF STAFF MEMBERS FROM THE COLLECTIONS, DEVELOPMENT, GUEST SERVICES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, EVENTS, AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS. THE SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM WILL WORK WITH THE MUSEUM?S MARKETING STAFF TO PLAN AND IMPLEMENT A NEW SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY BY CREATING POSTS AND BUILDING THEIR OWN FOLLOWINGS. THE PROJECT RELIES ON A DIVERSE GROUP OF STAFF FROM ACROSS THE MUSEUM TO WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER, HELPING TO CREATE A MORE COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT. THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE ORCHESTRATED USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS THAT CAN REACH NEW AUDIENCES ACROSS DEMOGRAPHICS LARGELY UNTAPPED BY THE MUSEUM.

THE COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM WILL IMPLEMENT A PROJECT TO TEST THE UTILIZATION OF MACHINE-LEARNING TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THE MUSEUM?S DIGITAL COLLECTION CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR PATRONS. THE MUSEUM WILL USE A MACHINE-LEARNING SOFTWARE TO ASSIGN METADATA TO THE CONTENT, REPLACING THE MANUAL PROCESS CURRENTLY IN USE, AND CREATE A SAMPLE SEARCH PORTAL FOR USER TESTING AND TO EXPLORE WHETHER THE TECHNOLOGY IS READY FOR DEPLOYMENT TO THE FIELD MORE BROADLY. THE PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE COLLECTION CONTENT MORE EASILY SEARCHABLE ONLINE, ALLOWING IT TO BETTER SERVE EXISTING AUDIENCES AS WELL AS REACH NEW ONES.

IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR THE LONG-TERM PRESERVATION OF COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

THE COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM WILL CREATE FOUR ?SPOTLIGHT COLLECTIONS,? EACH CONTAINING 30 ARTIFACTS FOCUSING ON A SPECIFIC THEME RELEVANT TO THE MUSEUM?S ONGOING PROGRAMMING, TO IMPROVE ONLINE COLLECTION ACCESS AND EXPAND THE MUSEUM?S GLOBAL REACH. THE 30 ARTIFACTS IN EACH SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION WILL BE PROCESSED WITH MACHINE-LEARNING SOFTWARE, ENHANCING SEARCHABILITY AND DISCOVERABILITY WITHIN EACH SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION; USERS WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SEARCH BETWEEN SPOTLIGHT COLLECTIONS TO FIND UNEXPECTED CONNECTIONS AND LINKS. THE SPOTLIGHT COLLECTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH LINKS PLACED ON THE MUSEUM?S BROADER PUBLIC COLLECTIONS SEARCH WEBPAGE. THESE COLLECTIONS WILL ESTABLISH A GO-TO SOFTWARE PLATFORM FOR STREAMLINED DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE COLLECTIONS, AS WELL AS INFORM AN APPROACH AND PROCESS FOR EXPANDING THE USE OF MACHINE LEARNING ACROSS THE MUSEUM?S ONLINE COLLECTION ACCESS PLATFORM.