Open Forum

So I have a donor who is questioning whether digital images of the collection on the museum's website will increase or decrease visitation. We're in a research university, so we value evaluation and research studies. Is anyone familiar with a report on the affect of collection photos on visitation? Thanks.

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Lin Nelson-Mayson
Director
Goldstein Museum of Design - University of Minnesota
Saint Paul MN
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As it happens, I've been looking into that precise question. Try these resources. I would love to read about others' research on the topic.

Paul F. Marty's "Museum Websites and Museum Visitors: Before and After the Museum Visit", obtained online at http://marty.ci.fsu.edu/preprints/marty_mmc_2007.pdf

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/griffiths/griffiths.html#ixzz3mbd0z72c

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2007/papers/griffiths/griffiths.html#ixzz3mbcUCE5I

"The Use, Usefulness and Value of Museums in the U.S." by Jose-Marie Griffiths, Donald W. King and Sarah E. Aerni, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented at the Museums and the Web conference in 2007

e Digital Museum: A Think Guide, edited by Herminia Din and Phyllis Hecht; American Association of Museums. 2007. pp. 59-60.

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Patricia Partnow
Owner, Partnow Consulting
Anchorage AK
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