Why do we use IT in Museums?

We use IT is museums for a wide range of potential reasons:

1. To manage the 'back office' - office tasks, email, risk management, finances...
2. To manage collections
3. To manage volunteers - rotas, training, skills records
4. To manage Friends - subscriptions, donations, newsletters
5. Pre-visit information, website and social media, trip adviser etc
6. The Visit itself – the Museum, exhibitions, information, surveys...
7. Shop, reception, stock, book-keeping, financial planning and monitoring
8. Post-visit, feedback, follow ups, surveys
9. For Friends and volunteers - additional content, training courses...

The Potential Problems

There are many possible problems relating to IT use in a volunteer led environment:

1. I.T. can be expensive
2. Lack of suitable Hardware
3. Lack of suitable Software
4. I.T. can require expertise beyond most volunteers or
5. There are not enough volunteers with the right skill sets to manage all of the I.T.
6. I.T may have to be outsourced which can be a large expense (so good I.T. management and upkeep may not happen)
7. I.T. is often not maintained in volunteer environments
8. Which can introduce security risks
9. Leave out of date content etc

So…

1. There are Challenges due to limited budget and resources
2. There is a need for affordable and simple I.T. solutions
3. Some training may be required

The Potential Benefits

The potential benefits of doing some work on your I.T. systems could be:

1. An Improved visitor experience
2. Streamlined administrative tasks
3. Enhanced accessibility for online audiences including sharing internally
4. Cost-effectiveness and ease of implementation