The Web Presence Of House Museums. Network Opportunities The Case Museo in Italia network and website Luisa Mich, University of Trento, luisa.mich@unitn.it Rosanna Pavoni, Case Museo in Italia, rosanna.pavoni@casemuseoitalia.it Roberto Peretta, University of Bergamo, roberto.peretta@unibg.it Strategie comunicative per i musei. Opportunità di crescita page 1
What Are We Talking About? 1. Networks 2. Web Presence 3. House Museums 4. Methodology 5. What Was Considered 6. Results 7. Conclusions Logo of the Case Museo in Italia network page 2
Networks Networks has become a buzzword. Yet a network approach to everything has its theoretical basis. House Museums have their official global network : DemHist. But networks may refer to something more specific in digital times. How do House Museums actually manage their web networks? The Page Rank algorythm image credit to 30cc page 3
Web Presence The web presence of something has always been evaluated in terms of quality of the official website. The quality of the official website, however, cannot be considered the only parameter any longer. Digital networks increasingly a component of real networks now include social networking activities, and User Generated Content. Web presence, today. 1. The official website 2. Semi-official pages on social platforms 3. Uncontrolled User Generated Content page 4
House Museums Real Presence A House Museum is a place where someone lived kings, artists or fishermen, any would do still bearing signs and forms of the culture and society they belonged to. image credits to Andrea Palladio page 5
An Intangible Presence, Too House Museums in different styles, forms and size are scattered throughout the Italian regions. The royal palaces and patrician villas, collectors palazzi and artists homes, urban flats and rural dwellings still reverberate with the voices of those who wanted, inhabited or even built them. House Museums narrate personal tales and illustrate the history, the social changes, the dynasties and economies, the collections and enterprises, and use a language that everyone understands the language of living. page 6
House Museums Web Presence Do House Museums take care of their web presence? Do they care about the quality and the visibility of their websites? Are House Museums active in social networking, to improve their web presence on social platforms? Do they act as networks in digital terms? To begin answering we started from some basic, yet sound criteria, namely Page Rank and the number of Facebook followers. image credit to javatpoint image credit to Buyfok page 7
Measuring Web Presence The Page Rank algorithm, devised at the Stanford University and adopted by Google, is a basic unit to measure the importance of a website. Page Rank is a simple 0 to 10 scale. We took Page Rank as a basic standard measure, and adopted the number of Facebook followers as a similarly simple unit to deal with the social component of web presence. The Page Rank algorithm page 8
Evaluating Quality Then we moved to evaluate the quality of web presence. The 7Loci meta-model is a benchmark methodology to evaluate the quality of web presence. It refers to the loci in classical rhetoric from ancient Roman times. A model based on 7Loci was adopted for this research. The 7Loci 1. Identity 2. Content 3. Services 4. Individuation 5. Management 6. Usability (Mobile friendliness) 7. Feasibility page 9
House Museums Selection We selected twelve leading House Museums in four countries, checked their Page Rank, counted their followers, and evaluated their web presence thanks to 7Loci. We finally considered their networks, if any. Our aims were start a discussion gather and share reliable data identify best practices promote networks page 10
Regions Considered UK USA Australia Italy Top countries where many House Museums have been established from time immemorial. page 11
House Museums Considered Sources for our initial selection: DemHist Unesco Heritage Sites Smithsonian Institution The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC, USA Wikipedia: Historic House Museums item Google, global edition: House Museums keyword Criteria: 1. Select House Museums mentioned in at least one of the listings above; 2. consider whether they have an unequivocal tourist appeal; 3. keep the number of selected House Museums at a maximum of twelve. page 12
Results. Leading House Museums as on October 6, 2018 tourist appeal PageRank Facebook Followers 7Loci Quality Score Link to a Regional Network Link to DemHist Sir John Soane s Museum, London, UK architecture 0 12,108 30/30 NO NO Leighton House Museum, London, UK art 0 12,663 12/30 YES N0 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MS, USA art 7 66,204 30/30 NO NO The Frick Collection, Boston, MS, USA art 0 114,791 30/30 NO NO The Paul Revere House, Boston, MS, USA history 6 7,392 20/30 NO NO Gropius House, Lincoln, MS, USA architecture 0 (as HNEng) 16,725 22/30 YES NO George Washington s Mount Vernon, VA, USA history 6 208,192 26/30 NO NO Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, USA history 7 71,168 30/30 NO NO Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, CA, USA architecture 3 16,622 20/30 YES NO Elizabeth Bay House, Sydney, NSW, Australia history 0 50,364 24/30 YES NO Villa Emo, Fanzolo di Vedelago, Italy architecture 3 5,806 24/30 YES NO Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, Italy art 0 21,217 26/30 YES NO page 13
Results. Regional Networks as on October 6, 2018 PageRank Facebook Followers 7Loci Quality Score House Museums Linked Link to DemHist Historic Houses Association of Great Britain, UK 0 7,299 26/30 443 NO Historic House Trust of New York City, USA 0 2,925 22/30 23 NO Historic New England of Boston (Massachusetts), USA 6 16,725 28/30 38 NO The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, USA 0 2,690 20/30 79 NO Save Our Heritage Organisation of San Diego, CA, USA 0 0 14/30 9 NO Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, NSW, Australia 0 0 24/30 7 NO House Museums of Milan, Milano, Italy 0 5,172 24/30 4 NO Case Museo in Italia, Italy 0 1,990 26/30 70 YES page 14
Conclusions Of course, this initial research has weaknesses. The regions considered are just a few. E.g., no France! The sample is limited, and the difference between an historic house and a House Museum is sometimes unclear. Yet, some stimulating provisional conclusions can be drawn. 1. Leading House Museums and regional networks rarely overlap. 2. Some leading House Museums do not care enough about their web presence. 3. Some House Museums, instead, make good use of social networking. And it shows. 4. Regional networks provide basic visibility to minor House Museums. 5. Regional networks happen to provide more visibility to leading House Museums. page 15
Key Points 1. Networks Is More Than A Buzzword 2. Web Presence Is Crucial Today 3. House Museums Can/Must Be More Than Cinderellas 4. Web Presence Is Measurable 5. Existing House Museums Networks Are Weak 6. House Museums May Improve Their Web Presence 7. This Research Provides A Replicable Methodology image credit to Compendio Garibaldino di Caprera page 16
Thanks For Your Attention Luisa Mich, University of Trento, luisa.mich@unitn.it Rosanna Pavoni, Case Museo in Italia, rosanna.pavoni@casemuseoitalia.it Roberto Peretta, University of Bergamo, roberto.peretta@unibg.it image credit to Casa Alfredo Oriani page 17