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The purpose of this self-study is to analyze my experiences learning in Poland, the country where Nazis imprisoned and murdered my family. I share findings from multiple museum locations, including implications for history teachers, teacher educators and visitors to Holocaust museums.

I participated in a ten-day professional development seminar designed for American teachers to visit Poland. To allow for self-study after the trip, I maintained a reflexive journal and photographic records of each day I was in Poland. I analyze these data in conjunction with publicly available data from the museums and historical sites I visited in Poland.

The findings suggest that teachers can face many challenges when learning in a land of traumatic absences. Many challenges stem from the absences of buildings and survivors, as those may be integral to place-based learning. Testimonies and first-person accounts may ameliorate these challenges for teachers engaging in place-based learning. Additionally, teachers may use these accounts to bring a pedagogy of remembrance from Poland to their classrooms.

This study is not under review with another journal.

This paper provides an overview of activities in the field of virtual museums and considers a number of issues for which there are parallels in the field of digital libraries.

Using a range of illustrative examples, we attempt to determine what defines a virtual museum on the one hand and a digital library disguised as a virtual museum on the other; when it makes sense for virtual museums to work in partnership with digital libraries, or draw on digital library research and development; and how the power of the digital environment might be harnessed to further the traditional values of the museum community.

Finds that virtual museums and digital libraries have much in common and the boundaries between them are increasingly blurred. The provision of object‐level metadata, needed to realise the wider potential of the digital environment to enhance and extend the traditional museum experience, gives rise to a number of issues which are shared by libraries and for which shared approaches would be beneficial. In particular, collaboration between the museum and library communities is essential if solutions to the problems of cross‐domain searching are to be found and its potential to facilitate new knowledge creation fully exploited. However, any collaborative approach must take into account the differences, as well as the similarities, between the two communities, as these differences are fundamental and defining.

The paper will be of interest to museum, library and other information professionals, and particularly those developing distributed and/or cross‐domain digital collections.

The purpose of this research is to assess trends in information categories featured on costume and textile collection web sites, and to assess differences in the online capabilities of these features between 1997 and 2006.

The instrument was a content analysis of costume and textile collection web sites developed from a study completed in 1997. The previous study identified information categories which included hyperlinks to other sites, events calendars and forms to arrange visits, FAQs, online tours, and discussion group links. Information about education programs, contacting staff, volunteering, membership, and museum purchases was also noted. Data were collected from the 60 web sites used in the original study.

The findings revealed that costume and textile museums were using web sites to stimulate interest in visiting the physical museum. A picture of the artifact does not show all the specific features of an actual costume and textile, and thus the audience needs to actually visit the museum in order to learn about costume and textiles. A comparison of the 1997 and 2006 data revealed an increase in the frequency of features with higher levels of interaction capabilities.

The research was limited to observing web sites and web site information categories documented in the original study.

The paper identifies the information categories that costume and textile museums find most useful to fulfill audience needs and describes trends in the use of information on web sites which can serve as a guideline in developing museum web sites.

This article describes an important project in the history of preservation of Egypt's culture heritage. Initiated by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and executed by the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC), the project involves the Cairo Egyptian museum that contains the world largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities (160,000 objects). A major problem in the museum is the lack of a standardised approach for registration, resulting in a variety of unrelated registration schemes and the non‐existence of efficient tools for information dissemination. This project aims to resolve these problems. A team of Egyptologists, museum curators and system analysts, designers and developers defined the basis for work and specified project challenges which included the indexing of all museum objects ensuring cross‐referencing between already used registration schemes. The result has involved the use of multimedia computer technology to establish a complete database of museum objects (text, image and sound) and various cultural products, in addition to the establishment of required procedures and standards to organise the internal museum workflow and the provision of training programmes for staff. The outcome of the project is expected to be profound in enabling researchers and curators to have instant access to any object in the museum and providing the museum's visitors and public with a wealth of information about ancient Egypt.

This study aims to provide an overview of the dimension of stored collections displayed in visible storage and to indicate the main factors which hinder their accessibility.

This study is based on quantitative analysis: a survey was conducted through the offices of International Council of Museums and direct invitations to 2,558 museums located worldwide.

The study estimated 32% on average the share of stored collections displayed in visible storage. The analysis provides a picture of how many stored items are made accessible in visible storage across the continents, according to the collection’s type and size and the museums’ legal status. In addition, several aspects of visible storage are investigated to highlight whether or not it truly enables museums to achieve accessibility of their stored collections and which factors might hinder the accessibility. Amid them, the foremost factors involve the inadequacy of resources, such as the lack of staff (71%) and poor budget (68%). Because of it, museums are prone to setting up offsite storage (37%), often 16 km far from the city centre, thereby questioning the concept of accessibility itself.

One major limitation of this study is that it does not consider people’s standpoints. Therefore, the author recommends that future studies focus on what people opine on visible storage, such as their appreciation of the display format, the behind-the-scenes, their need for interpretation and the degree of satisfaction with their information needs, as well as their perception of the size of stored collections.

These findings suggest that museums could take action in areas whereby the data demonstrated weaknesses in terms of accessibility. For instance, museums could set up a shuttle service or arrange public transportation service to allow people to visit offsite storage. Additionally, financial accessibility might be achieved by not charging some groups (elderly, students, etc.).

The topic of stored collections and their accessibility has crucial social implications because not displaying collections triggers inequality amid social groups of excluded people and a small elite.

This study focuses on visible storage as a possible solution to enhance the accessibility of collections and indicates to what extent visible storage provides this accessibility. On the contrary, previous research did not estimate how much visible storage impacts the accessibility of stored collections.

This exploratory research seeks to clarify the role of cultural organisations as knowledge-intensive public organisations (KIPOs) and the trend of digital content creation in museum sectors and national strategies through a country case study. It aims to provide a deeper understanding and analysis of museums' roles as KIPOs, specifically focusing on their digitalisation and digital content development for service delivery. Digital technology utilisation in the museum sector has amplified the significance of digital content, not only because of the increasing use of digital technologies among the public but also because it provides attractive new content to appeal to customers, as well as more efficient knowledge management and knowledge reproduction tools for KIPOs. Thus, this paper analyses digital content creation in the museum sector and policy frameworks to provide insights into the role of museums as KIPOs by utilising digital technologies.

We conducted literature review on six keywords, combination of “cultural institution”, “museum”, “digitalization”, “digital content”, and “ICT” to understand the digitalisation of museums amongst academic papers, then used a case study to figure out the common issues as well as case-specific features of these digital offerings through analysis of the digital platforms of museums. Specifically, we choose the case of South Korea, its national strategies and budget allocations and the museum sectors in the country. Thus, the secondary data analysis was provided by the official channels, such as documents from government agencies, media sources, such as articles from newspapers and magazines and academic works of literature, such as papers in scientific journals.

This paper reveals the research trend in museums' digitalisation, especially through the case study, how the South Korean government has argued digital content development in museum sectors through their national strategies and budget allocations, and the trend of museums' digital offerings since 2021. This paper thus presents a novel contribution to the field by delving into the research trend in digitalisation and digital content development in the museum sector and analysing the South Korean government's national strategies and budget allocation in this context. The literature review shows that the digitalisation of museums has increased research interest in the last few years in limited areas. South Korea has allocated budgets and policies to encourage digital content creation in museums, and this study identifies an increase in digital content creation in the museum sector.

The paper chose one-country case study, that of South Korea; thus, there are representative limitations and thus in terms of generalisation of the results. Further research with case studies from other countries and comparative studies are required.

This study highlights the importance of digitalisation and digital content development in the museum sector through government policies, strategies and financial investment.

It highlights the importance of digitalisation and the introduction of digital contents amongst museums to gain new visitors and change the relationship between the institutions and the customers.

It deals with the digitalisation of museums as KIPOs and it is a new and relevant topic per se. This study enhances the understanding of the museum sector’s digital content development and national policies to support its activities. It provides insights into the utilisation of digital technologies in cultural institutions for digital service delivery in public organisations.

This article examines curatorial practices, both traditional and digital, in the Guizhou Provincial Museum’s ethnic exhibition to assess their effectiveness in representing ethnic minority cultures, fostering learning and inspiring curiosity about ethnic textiles and costumes and associated cultures. It also explores audience expectations concerning digital technology use in future exhibitions.

A mixed-methods approach was employed, where visitor data were collected through questionnaires, together with interviews with expert, museum professionals and ethnic minority textile practitioners. Their expertise proved instrumental in shaping the design of the study and enhancing the overall visitor experience, and thus fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of ethnic minority cultures.

Visitors were generally satisfied with the exhibition, valuing their educational experience on ethnic textiles and cultures. There is a notable demand for more immersive digital technologies in museum exhibitions. The study underscores the importance of participatory design with stakeholders, especially ethnic minority groups, for genuine and compelling cultural representation.

This study delves into the potentials of digital technologies in the curation of ethnic minority textiles, particularly for enhancing education and cultural communication. Ethnic textiles and costumes provide rich sensory experience, and they carry deep cultural significance, especially during festive occasions. Our findings bridge this gap; they offer insights for museums aiming to deepen the visitor experiences and understanding of ethnic cultures through the use of digital technologies.

An increasing number of immersive technologies have been adopted in museum tourism in response to shifting consumer habits in the digital era. In contrast, the authenticity experience of museum tourists relies on genuine relics, the environment and activities, which are ancient or traditional. This raises the question of whether tourists can perceive authenticity in immersive technology-based museum tourism. To address this question, this study aims to explore the impact of virtual reality (VR) attributes on tourists’ presence, tourism authenticity and subsequent behavioral intentions in virtual museums.

Data were collected via scenario-based surveys of participants who had taken virtual museum tours based on VR. A total of 174 effective questionnaires were collected for exploratory factor analysis via SPSS 25. Afterward, 597 questionnaires were obtained for confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis via Mplus 7.4.

A conceptual model of how VR attributes influence presence, authenticity and visit intention was developed. There is a chain intermediary between presence and visit intentions, from original authenticity to interactive authenticity and then to emotional authenticity. Technology readiness and museum familiarity moderate some relationships between VR attributes and presence.

The findings can guide museums in improving the use of VR. For example, managers can improve the quality of virtual systems and adopt various interactive forms to enhance tourists’ participation experiences.

These research findings contribute to the research area of immersive technology adoption, enhance the understanding of tourism authenticity in the new context of technology application and extend the presence-emotion-intention theory.

Due to the impact of the pandemic that enforced mass closures and lock downs, galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] institutions around the world were required to re-think how they interacted with the public. As a result of the measures that enforced isolation, distancing, and increased hygiene requirements, the usefulness of virtual technologies as a storytelling medium has come into sharper focus. This chapter will explore the emergence of augmented reality as a viable post-COVID-19 solution to meaningful digital narrative creation and user interaction in the museum environment. This chapter will concentrate on the development of a project between the University of South Australia [UniSA] and the South Australian Museum [SAM] to explore how it might be possible to create sustainable immersive stories within this environment.

Purpose: In the experience economy, the main challenge for museums is not only to attract visitors but also to preserve artworks. Given this circumstance, this chapter aims to offer an overview of how these cultural organisations have emerged as labs of the future culture, where all kind of technological experiments are tested so as to fulfil their mission.

Design/methodology/approach: This chapter is based on extensive literature review on issues related to robots, artificial intelligence and service automation (RAISA) in the museum sector. Examples illustrate the role of technology in the experience design and preservation of cultural resources.

Findings: 1) A chronological framework of museums’ orientations is established to understand the evolution toward the technology-driven present period. 2) Robots, artificial intelligence and service automation have a meaningful contribution to make in guaranteeing visitor arrivals. 3) This technological phase requires a tourism workforce with new skills.

Research limitations/implications: Few academic studies concerning to the use of robots, artificial intelligence and service automation in the museum sector were found. Hence, more empirical studies are required to completely corroborate the chapter’s suggestions.

Practical implications: An enlightening path for the service design of multisensory and participatory is proposed, as a useful guide for heritage managers, marketing practitioners and tourism planners.

Originality/value: Museum management has been always receiving the attention of managers, policymakers, scholars, among others. Insights of how technology enhances heritage preservation and the improvement of museum services throughout numerous examples can direct them to increase knowledge and adopt these practices.