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This study aims to provide an overview of the usage of stored collections in museums located worldwide. To achieve this purpose, some results gathered across five continents through a survey conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 are set out.

Museums hold collections so that people can benefit from them. Items need to be preserved as well. To achieve this purpose, a considerable portion of museum collections is kept in storage. Consequently, museums that can show a significant part of their whole collections are few and far between. This scenario implies collections, the “very heart” of museums, are not accessible to the general public. In addition, the lack of space and the poor documentation exacerbate the scenario in terms of accessibility. This study aims to provide an overview of the usage of stored collections in museums located worldwide. In order to achieve this purpose, some results gathered across five continents through a survey conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 are set out. The research figures show that only 5% of museum stored collections are accessible to the general public. To enhance the accessibility of stored collections, museums have been adopting some strategies. Amongst them, some museums have opened up visible storage, lent or exchanged their items. Despite their contribution to overcoming the burning issue related to the accessibility of stored collections, these strategies imply a physical presence of visitors so as to enjoy collections. Digitization of collections is one alternative strategy adopted by a plethora of museums to increase the accessibility of collections. This solution boasts many advantages inasmuch as it overcomes many of the typical disadvantages of the other strategies, such as geographical constraints. Moreover, people can enjoy collections, and museums can ensure the adequate preservation of them. Thus, the digitization of items is the epitome of accessibility since, potentially, all collections can be made accessible, and museums can take care of them simultaneously. The study highlights the benefits of digital access and compares it with physical access. In addition, the research sheds light on how documentation supports collection management and increases accessibility.

The research figures show that only 5% of museum stored collections are accessible to the general public. To enhance the accessibility of stored collections, museums have been adopting some strategies. Amongst them, some museums have opened up visible storage, lent or exchanged their items. Despite their contribution to overcoming the burning issue related to the accessibility of stored collections, these strategies imply a physical presence of visitors so to enjoy collections.

The findings of this study are based on quantitative analysis. Therefore, this study might be integrated with interviews' with visitors. It would be interesting to shed light on people's opinions concerning what museums are doing in the digital realm, such as the digital content in terms of the number of items, quality of images and ease of searching.

This study might provide practical implications for museums and people. One important contribution is the awareness of how the appropriateness of collections management plays a crucial role in preserving collections and making them accessible to the public. Another possible implication is that museums can enlarge their visibility through digital content, both because they have not digitized and due to the dimension of their digital content. This goal might be achieved by sharing the staff with specific expertise with other institutions or recruiting volunteers and involving local communities in common tasks (so that professionals could dedicate themselves to more skilled undertakings). An alternative might be to network with local universities so as to benefit from practitioners in the digital field. Last but not least, these findings could raise the awareness that museums are facing the problem of making stored collections accessible, thereby increasing the trust in museums from the general public.

Digitization of collections is one alternative strategy adopted by a plethora of museums so to increase the accessibility of collections. This solution boasts many advantages inasmuch as it overcomes many of the typical disadvantages of the other strategies, such as geographical constraints. Moreover, people can enjoy collections and museums can ensure the adequate preservation of them. Thus, the digitization of items is the epitome of accessibility since, potentially, all collections can be made accessible, and museums can take care of them simultaneously.

The study highlights the benefits of digital access and compares it with physical access. In addition, the research sheds light on how documentation supports collection management and increases accessibility.

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN, National Archaeological Museum of Naples) is one of the most important archaeological museums in the world. In 2017, MANN launched several projects, such as Father and Son, the first video game made by an archaeological museum, and Ancient Present (Antico Presente), a series of five short films produced by the museum in five different languages and based on different artworks selected from the museum's permanent collections. The idea behind these projects was to ‘bring the museum outside the museum’, with the assumption that some tools may improve the museum's ability to speak and interact with its audiences, both in the spatial sense (outside its physical perimeter) and the temporal dimension (not only during the visit experience, but also before and after it). We have studied these two MANN projects, as this museum has explicitly targeted audience development as one of its main objectives (MANN, 2016, p. 72) and these projects are important examples of how to use new ‘languages’ (the digital and the cinematographic) to start a dialogue with new audiences and to address museum accessibility in a new way.

This paper aims to report the findings of a systematized literature review focusing on participatory research and accessibly in the context of assistive technologies, developed for use within museums by people with sensory impairments or a learning disability. The extent and nature of participatory research that occurs within the creation of technologies to facilitate accessible museum experiences is uncertain, and this is therefore a focus of this paper.

This paper is a systematized literature review and subsequent thematic analysis.

A screening of 294 research papers produced 8 papers for analysis in detail. A thematic analysis identified that the concept of accessibly has nuanced meanings, underpinned by social values; the attractiveness of a technology is important in supporting real-life usability; and that the conceptualization of participation should extend beyond the end users.

The argument is made that increasing the participation of people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities in the research process will benefit the design of technologies that facilitate accessibility for these groups.

An original notion of participation has emerged from this review. It includes the participation and goals of disabled people but has expanded the concept to encompass museum personnel and indeed the physical and social spaces of the museums and heritage sites themselves. This constructs a broad of participation, with different aspects being reflected across the review’s research papers.

This paper describes visitors' reactions to using an Apple iPad or smartphone to follow trails in a museum by scanning QR codes and draws conclusions on the potential for this technology to help improve accessibility at low‐cost.

Activities were devised which involved visitors following trails around museum objects, each labelled with a QR code and symbolised text. Visitors scanned the QR codes using a mobile device which then showed more information about an object. Project‐team members acted as participant‐observers, engaging with visitors and noting how they used the system. Experiences from each activity fed into the design of the next.

Some physical and technical problems with using QR codes can be overcome with the introduction of simple aids, particularly using movable object labels. A layered approach to information access is possible with the first layer comprising a label, the second a mobile‐web enabled screen and the third choices of text, pictures, video and audio. Video was especially appealing to young people. The ability to repeatedly watch video or listen to audio seemed to be appreciated by visitors with learning disabilities. This approach can have low equipment‐cost. However, maintaining the information behind labels and keeping‐up with technological changes are on‐going processes.

Using QR codes on movable, symbolised object labels as part of a layered information system might help modestly‐funded museums enhance their accessibility, particularly as visitors increasingly arrive with their own smartphones or tablets.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new management approach to analyse the processes of museums in the experience logic and, on the basis of such a model, to study the management processes of the National Gallery of the Marches in Urbino, one of the most important museums in Italy.

This study adopted a qualitative methodology and a descriptive-exploratory approach. The proposed model, which aimed to create and manage experiences and transformations in museums, was tested in the National Gallery of the Marches by adopting the case study method.

The empirical research underlined the partial application of the proposed model in the museum under examination and the potential for the museum to improve the offering value to its visitors.

Although a single case was investigated, the present work offers a preliminary theoretical contribution, which is useful for perfecting the conceptual framework and applying it to a wider number of cases.

The management of the National Gallery of the Marches should first plan a greater number of more detailed experiences and transformations around the theme of the Renaissance, and promote the active role of visitors. Second, it should improve the communication of the offer, especially through social networks. Third, personnel (especially front office) should be motivated and trained to create value for visitors.

The paper aims at developing a new management approach for the museums to create value for the visitors and museums by bringing the insight of the experience logic into the field of cultural heritage management.

The Jodi Awards exist to promote digital access to culture. This paper aims to give some background to the Awards and to profile the 2011 winner and commendation.

The Jodi Awards are annual awards given to celebrate the best examples of using technology to make culture and cultural institutions accessible to people with a disability.

Much has already been achieved in using technology to widen access to museums, galleries and heritage venues but there is clear potential for more development, given the appropriate political will and policy change.

The Jodi Awards are unique in celebrating the use of technology in this way.

The purpose of this study is to affirm that it is possible to segment visitors of cultural heritage into homogeneous groups according to a series of characteristics to detect the variables that have statistical significance to identify visitor clusters.

Four case studies were selected, where a total of 500 questionnaires were made to visitors. The authors proceeded with cluster analysis using SPSS software to differentiate visitor segments. Four groups of visitors were first identified and which have subsequently been reduced to three, according to several factors.

The main contributions of this paper are: (1) the segment to which each one of the determinants of the cultural tourism product is dedicated; (2) the variable object of the analysis, i.e. the formation of visitor segments; and (3) the inclusion of less studied variables such as type of accommodation contracted, treatment offered in the museums or entrance price.

The analysis has been developed in different museums, with different management models, in a specific place. However, the results are generalizable to other places and to other institutions that manage cultural heritage. The implications are management strategies for a sustainable cultural development in institutions of tourism and heritage.

From a practical point of view, the results are useful for cultural managers, travel agencies, tour operators, tourism companies or political offices, among others, because they generate new ideas and strategies focused on maximizing the use of the resources of cultural institutions.

For both local and non-local agents, the knowledge of the factors that make up the groups of visitors in the heritage sites represents a strategy in aspects of marketing, promotion and distribution, thus generating capacities for the different intermediaries, and the possibility of negotiating lower prices with better benefits. It is also possible to create new products destined for other publics.

The study is original because this has not been published.

This paper compares the web accessibility of Indian museum websites assessing the level of compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). The study aims to assess the accessibility of Indian museum websites in terms of their severity.

The accessibility evaluation of 11 Indian museum websites was conducted using Siteimprove Accessibility Checker (SAC), an automated website testing tool.

The study results indicate that the mean conformance score for the Indian museum websites for level A was 19.27, while for level AA and AAA, it came out to be 2.63 and 4.09, respectively, with the highest severity scores for error (16.3) followed by review (5.81) criteria and warning (3.81). The major findings indicate that the websites of Indian museums poorly conform to web accessibility guidelines.

The study's findings will assist the museum's website creators, managers and administrators in determining the level of conformity as per standard accessibility guidelines helping them make strategic decisions to improve the accessibility.

Most of the studies available in the field of website accessibility range from the web accessibility of educational institutions, tourism websites, municipal websites and ministerial websites, but there are very few studies investigating the accessibility of museum websites. A quantitative evaluation of different aspects of accessibility was conducted in the study, which can pave the way for the better design of web sites by addressing deficiencies.

This study aims to explore the strategies that service providers use to facilitate marketplace accessibility, and identify the key challenges in that process. The authors do so to develop a roadmap towards improved accessibility and disability inclusion in the marketplace.

The authors conducted eight semi-structured interviews with service providers (curators, visitor service coordinators and access managers) at museums who run access programmes for customers with visual impairment (VI), along with an embodied duo-ethnography of those programmes.

Service providers foster autonomous, embodied and social access. Resource constraints, safety concerns and exposed differences between customers compromise access. To overcome these challenges, service providers engage in three inclusionary strategies – informing, extending and sensitizing.

This service provider- and VI-focus present limitations. Future research should consider a poly-vocal approach that includes the experiences of numerous stakeholders to holistically advance marketplace accessibility; and apply the marketplace accessibility findings upon different disabilities in other marketplace contexts.

This study offers a roadmap for policymakers and service providers on: which types of access should and can be created; what challenges may be encountered; how to manage these challenges; and, thus, how to advance accessibility beyond regulations.

This study contributes a service provider perspective on marketplace accessibility that goes beyond removing “disabling” barriers towards creating opportunities for co-creation; an approach towards marketplace accessibility that fosters inclusiveness while considering the inherent challenges of that process; and an illustration of posthumanism’s empirical value in addressing issues of accessibility in the marketplace.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of public value in the context of Swedish public museum management and how it is created.

The museum context is introduced, and assumptions and principles underpinning new public management (NPM) and public value management, along with examples of applicability and implementation in museums, are presented. Three key issues of convergence and divergence within the theoretical framework – strategic orientation, accountability and performance – are identified and introduced as a gateway to the empirical findings and the ensuing discussion.

NPM-oriented values have become part of the strategic orientation of the museum sector. The results of this study show that there exist at least three conceptions of museum management that are based on two different strategic orientations, that is, accessibility and conservation, which also point to different conceptions of value.

Museum management can be seen as the management of tensions between conservation and accessibility and between customer orientation and stakeholder orientation towards the creation of museum value.

The findings will assist museum management determine not only what value is but also for whom it is valuable, taking into account both present and future generations.