Digital Challenges for Small Museums: The Digismall Approach
摘要
The new definition of ICOM on what constitutes a museum stresses the notion of education and communication that forms part of a museum’s core activities. Unfortunately, in many -particularly remote- areas, museums and collections remain often mute, as they have but limited access to their audience throughout most part of the year. Many museums remain isolated, secluded and not in contact with each other. Run by individuals, associations or municipalities, these museums sometimes face threats of existence, as their resources are limited. Having considered the needs of rural cultural heritage for over a decade and grasping the opportunity of our collaboration with Alonissos Museum of K. and A. Mavrikis on the one hand, and the DOORS call for pilot museums to expand their digital transformation for museums techniques, we set off and developed DigiSmALL, a Digital Curator for Small Museums. DigiSmALL offers small museums the basics and beyond: a web page, a digital, easy-to-use database, a collaborative space, contact with museum experts, consultancy on digital issues and funding opportunities. More than anything, DigiSmALL offers museums networking and the potential to be extrovert. It is not a “product” in the strict sense, but, rather, a starting point for exploring new potential for and with small museums. DigiSmALL was born in Greece, but not only for Greece. Hence, we hope that within a few years’ time, we will be able to cover the needs of small museums in Europe and beyond, thus preparing the soil for transnational cooperation.