Museum Informaticist Dr. Marty Keynotes in South Korea

Posted by Kate Blosser on

MartyFSU

iSchool Professor Paul Marty recently delivered a keynote lecture at a symposium on museum informatics hosted by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Seoul. Librarians, archivists, and museum professionals attended this symposium from cultural heritage institutions across South Korea.

In his talk, Museum Informatics: Technological Innovation and the Future of Digital Culture, Marty spoke on the sociotechnical interactions that take place between people, information, and technology in museums. Marty argued that the future of digital culture depends on museum professionals’ use of innovative technologies.

Museums struggle with reaching two different groups of people – those who believe museums are for them, and those who believe museums are for someone else. Marty believes that innovative technologies can help bridge the gap between these two groups.

Marty also gave a workshop at MMCA, titled The Invisible Work of Museum Information Professionals. This workshop looked at how the traditionally invisible work of information professionals in museums can be made more visible. The job of museum information professionals is paradoxical – the better job they do, the harder it is for patrons to understand how much work goes into making their resources available.

He should know – Marty served as the Director of Information Technology at the Spurlock Museum before joining the faculty at Florida State University’s School of Information. Part of Dr. Marty’s research looks at how to make the contributions of museum information professionals more clear, while simultaneously making more information accessible to audiences that increasingly want unlimited, anytime, and anywhere access to museum resources.

palaceWhile abroad, Marty met with Drs. Kathy and Gary Burnett, who are on sabbatical in South Korea. The group had a chance to do some sightseeing, including visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace, built in 1395.

Dr. Marty is Professor in the School of Information, focusing on museum informatics, technology and culture, information and society, and innovation and design. This Fall, he’s teaching Usability Analysis and an E-Series course on “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” He plans to teach UX Design in the Spring, as well as an E-Series course on Emerging Technologies. He encourages students interested in museum informatics and the future of digital culture to drop him a line.