Back to the Explorer Site. How do I map the metaphor?

One of the things that have been commented on is how the site was developed, and the need to understand the background behind it. I think several of us have found it difficult as Nardi and Day's approach is about being holistic and systematic. So I started systematically to ask all the questions about, around and behind the site.

I tracked down some more about the history of the Monticello Explorer in this online book Museums and the “Digital Curb Cut” (2007), and I am glad I did as it gives a whole new technical dimension. This gives an excellent guide to how the site was created, the tools used and why, and how they adapted the technology to make it more accessible and useful. It is quite remarkable to see how much thought has gone into the design so that it can be used in a variety of ways. From using GPS data from the Foundations archaeologist to map the plantation terrain and laser scanning of architectural drawings by an engineering firm to recreate the buildings architecture through to adapting technology to work with Flash and make the site more intuitive. There is also a lovely article about the site at Conserving our Cities .

So, they wanted the Monticello Explorer to be a visual model of the history of Monticello and its grounds. A virtual museum is how I am seeing it, and so I asked myself what do I expect in a museum, and does the Explorer create the same environment and experiences?

My experience of museums

Mostly when I visit a museum I am either with my partner or my niece. My niece is now 9. I have taken her to the Natural History Museum (NHM my personal favourite ) and the National Gallery. At the NHM we go for the dinosaurs - because they are cool, and the human body, because of all the interactive stuff - which actually means it's hard to leave at closing. The National Gallery is different because it is art. It calls for quiet contemplation. Tell this to an 8 year old! We looked for the paintings that looked good to her. I also gave her running commentaries about pictures based on the descriptions on the wall. (My favourite was the series of paintings about a man who had been unfaithful to his wife, gets syphilis, and dies, which for some reason she got particularly fascinated by. It's very difficult to explain that the man was poorly because he was naughty.)

I first went to NHM when I was 10, and living in London now, I often go to the NHM on my own, and for a few years I was a member, and used to attend lectures and behind the scenes tours.  When I go with my partner, we like to walk around together and sometimes talk about the things we see, other times we have our own personal contemplation even if we are side by side. NHM has lots of information if you want it, but you can just look at the specimens! We actually visit lots of museums together, so I have a wealth of experience to draw from about museums visits.

So how does the Monticello Explorer compare? It doesn’t quite give you the same experience as a face-to-face experience would, but it many ways gives a better, different experience. There is space for an individual to move around, to look at things and explore. Indeed, the Explorer allows you to explore areas that aren’t open to the public in real life. However it is a database of images and objects connected to an interactive map. It does allow for visualisation, interpretation and navigation and has a number of guided tours, but doesn’t quite live up to my experience of a museum. I am unsure if the site is evolving, or if this part is the outcome, one device within many. However…the Monticello Explorer’s main audience is secondary school peoples, and young people engage in museum space in a different way. There are a wealth of lesson plans and activities available on the main site.

I was reminded of a very basic text programme that we used in primary school. (This was my only involvement with computers until University, I was 10, so obviously made an impression.) We were studying ancient Egypt. The programme was designed to get us to go on our own archaeological digs to find buried treasure! We would type in co-ordinates and then dig.(It really was, looking back, a rubbish programme, there were no graphics at all) It was pretty basic, and most of the time we found nothing, but for 15 minutes every day, a group of 3 of us could go looking for Egyptian mummies!

I think the Monticello explorer could be used like this, and indeed it features within the Schools and parents resources, alongside suggested activities.