The rather intimidating call to presentation at this year’s Canadian Museums Association conference challenged speakers to boldly propose new ideas and attendees have not been disappointed.  It has so far included sessions that touch on all of the challenges facing our museums today: reductions in government funding; meeting the needs of visitors; and rising expectations for integrated use of multi-media both onsite and to extend the reach of the museum.  But the overarching message is that museums, long understood to be the “last word” on heritage and culture in most communities, must adapt to become more participatory and interactive or risk becoming a dead end.  

Janet Carding, the new Director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum, opened the conference “speaking for the last time about her experiences as head of Australia’s national museum.  After this, she assured conference goers, “it is all about the ROM and Canada.”  Her presentation included a number of examples of technology influencing more two-way communications with visitors.  The Atlas of Living Australia uses GPS to map the country’s natural history specimens in their museums collections, so Australians can locate species within their neighborhood, as well as add new specimens and sightings to the online collection.  The Pacific Collection at the Museum now features interviews with Aboriginal elders who describe some of the intangible cultural objects they hold providing a better understanding of their cultural importance. 

The greatest impact of technology Carding explains, is that visitors are no longer dependent on the curatorial interpretation of a museums’ collection.  Visitors can (and are) “googling” the museum to get other perspectives and interpretations of the collections, and when they complete their visit, they too can use blogs, social media, and other means to provide their own tours, perspectives and interpretations. The advent of smartphones is only accelerating the speed and reach of these alternate interpretations.   

Her advice for museums is to embrace the opportunity, rather than trying to compete to restore the traditional top-down approach. To achieve this museums need their leaders to adapt, they need to be better communicators, have more collaborative, and engaging management styles, and they themselves have to be life-long learners, ever curious to contemplate the ways technology can help enhance the value and appreciation for the museum and the museum experience.