Survey Results for Museums

Summary of the Survey Findings

Technology use: Eighty-seven percent of museums that responded indicated they currently use some kinds of technologies. The technologies most in use include desktop computers, access to the Internet, e-mail, standard office software, and Web sites. Among small museums (with budgets less than $250,000), the percentage that have these technologies are significantly lower than for all museums. Thirteen percent of museums, all of them small, reported that they have none of the technologies. While many museums reported using a variety of funding sources, almost 20 percent of them reported having 'no funding for technology.'

Digitization: A significant percentage of museums are involved in digitization activities. More than 30 percent of museums had digitization activities in the past 12 months, including 21 percent of small museums. A smaller number (18 percent) indicated that they plan digitization activities in the next 12 months.

Funding is the most-cited hindrance to digitization activities, though other institutional priorities and lack of staff expertise were also noted.

Museums that are not involved in digitization activities also cite the lack of funds and expertise as hindrances. Some, however, did not see a role for or usefulness of digitization in their institutions.

Only a small number of museums have digitization policies in place, though a number are in the process of developing them. Very few register their digital content in national registries like ARL or OCLC CORC.

Key Respondent Demographics
At the time the surveys were sent, there were 15,437 museums eligible for surveying. Surveys were sent to 1,558 museums, and 341 responses were received. The response rate was 22 percent.

The confidence level for the museum data is 90% (+/- 5 percent), which means the data are a reliable indicator of trends.

History museums, historic houses/sites, and art museums were the most numerous respondents. (see Figure 16)

Figure 16: Percent of Survey Respondents Compared to Museum Universe by Museum Type

• Eighteen percent of the respondents identified themselves as specialized distinct subject museums. The responses for other kinds of museums included general museum (4 percent), natural history/anthropology museum (3 percent), children's museum (2 percent). All other types (aquarium, arboretum or botanical garden, nature center, science or technology center, and zoological park) each represented less than 1 percent of the total of respondents.
  
  
• Annual budget size of responding museums breaks out as in Figure 17. Size descriptions were assigned to the various budget categories.
  
  Figure 17: Annual Budget Size of Responding Museums
  
  
• More than two-thirds of the respondents with the following museum types have annual budgets of less than $250,000: general museum; historic house/site; history museum; natural history/anthropology museum; nature center; and specialized distinct subject museum. All responding zoos and aquariums have annual budgets greater than $2,000,000. Budgets for the remaining types of museums (arboretum or botanical garden, art museum, children's museum) ranged across all size descriptors.

  Exemplary Project: Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a leader in providing information online. In its IMLS-funded project "What Clicks?" the museum will conduct an intensive audience research and product evaluation study. The results will help museums learn how to improve their digital products, including exhibitions, lesson plans, and image databases, to increase their accessibility to and use by the public. http://www.artsmia.org/

  The Status of Technology - Museums
  "What technologies (hardware and software) does your institution currently use for its day-to-day operations?" What technologies does it plan to acquire or implement in the next 12 months?
  
  Figure 18 lists technologies used by museums in descending order:
  
  Figure 18: Technologies Currently in Use in Museums
  
  
  
  

• Five "basic" technologies reported by museums are shown in Figure 19. Small museums report significantly lower usage.

• Thirteen percent of respondents, all of them museums with annual budgets less than $250,000, indicated that they have none of the technologies. Forty-two percent of this group of small museums reported that they have no plans to implement any of the listed technologies in the next 12 months.
• Fifteen percent of all museums (19 percent of the small ones) plan to add a Web site in the next 12 months.
  
  
• Very few museums (less than 4 percent) are using more specialized technologies, like 'Extranets,' 'Marketing and promotion software,' or 'Virtual reality tours.'
  
  
• In general, the larger the museum's annual budget, the more likely the museum is to use the listed technologies.
  
  

• Operating funds (57 percent)
  
  
• Gifts from donors (43 percent)
  
  
• In-kind contributions (23 percent)
  
  
• IMLS grants were identified as a source of funding by 2 percent of museums.
  
  
• Almost 20 percent of all museums report that they have no funding for technology.
  
  

• More than 54 percent of museums indicate that technology is currently used to support programming. More than 53 percent indicate they plan to use additional technologies to support programming in the next 12 months.
  
  
• Small museums are more likely (more than 60 percent) to respond 'Not applicable' to both current and planned technology questions than are larger museums.
  
  
• For those museums that use technology for programming, the most common kind is 'Information on exhibits is presented to the public via the Web' (37 percent). This is consistent across all museums, regardless of budget size.
  
  
• 'We provide programs and exhibits on our Web site' is the programming technology most often planned for the next 12 months (26 percent of all museums).
  
  

• Results of the question vary by size of annual budget. (see Figure 20)
  
  Figure 20: Technology is Useful to Your Museum Programming Because:
  
  
  
  

• 'Cost' was identified as the primary hindrance to the use of technology in programming (79 percent of all museums), closely followed by lack of expertise (63 percent). Lack of resources in general (money, people, time, etc.) was a common write-in response.

Digitization Plans, Practices, and Policies - Museums
In the past 12 months, have you been or are you currently involved in digitization, for example, current projects, funding, setting standards, implementing, etc.? (see Figure 21)

Figure 21: Digitization Activities in Small and Large Museums



What hinders your efforts at digitization?

Respondents were asked to rank their three most important responses from a list. The most important hindrances among museums that are currently digitizing or have plans for the future are ranked in Figure 22.

Figure 22: Ranking of Digitization Hindrances for Museums

Museums without digitization activities or plans frequently cited these hindrances:

• Lack of funds to support digitization
• Other projects have higher priorities
• Lack of available expertise
• Do not see a role for our institution in digitization

What are the primary goals for your institution's digitizing activities?

Respondents ranked their three highest priority goals, as shown in Figure 23. 'Not applicable' was highly ranked, a reflection of the large percentage of museums (68 percent) that are not involved in digitization activities.

Figure 23: Highest Priority Digitization Goals for Museums

Exemplary Project: Bronx Zoo The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bronx Zoo are developing two multimedia components to the Tiger Mountain exhibit of Siberian Tigers with the aid of an IMLS LSTA-funded National Leadership Grant. Available at interactive touch screen terminals within the zoo, the digital exhibits will provide visitors with both a behind-the-scenes look at modern zoo animal care as well as a snapshot of the state of tigers in the world. Visitors have the options of observing animal behavioral enrichment activities, watching digital video, reading journal entries, or viewing photos from researchers in the field. http://wcs.org/home/zoos/bronxzoo/

What materials has your institution selected for digitization?

Museums' current and future digitizing activities will focus on:

• Images of items in the collection (34 percent)
• Photographs (30 percent)
• Images of artifacts (24 percent)
• Historical documents/archives (21 percent )

Where do you currently obtain funds to support your digitizing efforts? (Check all that apply.)

Museums with funding for digitization activities or projects (13 percent) reported these sources:

• Operating funds (24 percent )
• Gifts from donors (14 percent)
• Foundation grants (11 percent)
• Sixty-four percent of responding museums indicated they have no funding for digitization.

Does your institution cooperate with other organizations to develop digitization programs, i.e. partnerships, consortia, etc.?

• Nineteen percent of museums currently digitizing are cooperating with other institutions' digitization projects. They report cooperating with a wide variety of institutions, including other museums and state agencies.

Does your institution have digitization policies in place? In development? (see Figure 24)

Figure 24: Digitization Policies in Museums

• Policies "in place" include: 'Digital formats,' 'Priorities for digitization,' 'Materials to be digitized,' and 'Access.'
• Policies "in development" are identical to the "in place" list, with the addition of 'Intellectual property issues.'

Does your institution allow access to its digital collection by the public?

• Forty-seven percent of museums that have some portion of their collection digitized allow public access to their digital collections. Those that do allow access primarily use the Web (76 percent), followed by their own computer network (52 percent). Very few (less than 7 percent) use a third party.
• Primary target audiences of digital materials, in order of priority, are: 'Anyone with Internet access' (61 percent), 'Researchers/scholars' (46 percent), and 'Staff members' (35 percent).
• Seventy-two percent of these museums that have some portion of their collection digitized give free access (no charge) to 'Anyone with Internet access.'

• Two percent of responding museums report that their digital products are listed with a registry outside of their own catalogs. Based on the names of registries that they provided (American Zoo and Aquarium Association, International Species Information System, EAD, American Memory (LoC), and the Museum Loan Network), it appears that there is not a standard definition or understanding of what a "registry" is.
• Nine percent of responding museums have digital products listed in their institutions' catalogs. Catalog tools include Access®, animal/medical records, Embark Collections Management®, Filemaker Pro®, the gallery Web site, and Past Perfect®.