Art museums have been utilizing mobile in the form of transportable audio programs to support exhibition content since the earliest documented audio tours in the 1950s. Those early initiatives set the foundation for many of today’s mobile websites and applications for museums. The Museum of Modern Art’s own mobile program was launched after the onsite wand-based audio program was made free in 2004, providing a core content base upon which to build. Throughout subsequent projects that include various apps and mobile websites, MoMA has striven to support the educational mission of the museum, which is focused on encouraging an ever-deeper understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art by the diverse local, national, and international audiences that the museum serves.
This session will explore how the various mobile apps and websites support, enhance, and extend the interpretive programs of the museum. Integral to all of MoMA’s projects has been an ongoing research effort that analyzes visitor behavior, knowledge, and interests, combined with continuous monitoring of best practices in the fast moving and ever-changing mobile landscape. Undeniably, mobile has become integrated into our everyday lives. We find directions and answers to questions that arise in casual conversation; we communicate with friends and family; we share images, links and news items; we read magazines, books, and blogs. Mobile has untethered us from our desktops and laptops and enabled us to be digitally connected at all times. The question for museums and cultural organizations is what role do we play in this new mobile landscape? How do we use these new tools to support the museum’s curatorial goals and programs? And how do we organize ourselves to undertake these new initiatives?
