Platform selection will influence decisions about site organization and design, among other things. You may or may not start out knowing what platform you want to use, or you may change your mind about the chosen platform based on the way you want to organize your exhibit, the way you want visitors to interact with it, and whether you want to have the object available in digital collection form as well.

Some considerations that should be made when considering platforms include:

• Ease of use and customizability

• Whether there needs to be a searchable collections component

• Whether exhibits should be navigable linearly, non-linearly, or both

• The types and level of interactivity desired

• Accessibility for the disabled

Some common platform options:

• Omeka ( and ) []

• - []

Digital Collections

Digital collections are an organized and described (using metadata) group of media objects. Objects can be digitized or “born digital,” media of various types, and are usually searchable and/or browsable. Digital collections can be included in digital exhibit sites--platforms like Omeka lend themselves to this as they allow for the creation of both.

Metadata

Metadata is information about different types of data, which includes media objects. Some types of metadata are descriptive, which explains characteristics of data/media objects, administrative, which explains things like resource type and copyright, and structural, which explains things like the version of the data/media object and the relationships between different objects within the collection.

Digitization

Digitization is the act of making a digital version of analog media. It involves the scanning of a physical photograph and transferring of an analog audio tape to a digital audio format, for example.

Born Digital

Born digital refers to media that is digital in its original form, e.g., a Word doc, a photograph taken with a digital camera, and a Photoshop file.

Introduction to Digital Exhibits explains fundamental concepts that inform digital exhibit creation. Much of the information here originated with an introduction to digital exhibits workshop (see slides), which also resulted in the Getting Started with Digital Exhibits tutorial.

Contents

• Racing to Change - An exhibit that focuses on the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s and 70s Oregon. Platform: A developer customized site

• Japanese Digitization Project - An exhibit about Japanese nationals and Japanese American WWII internment. Platform: Scalar

• - An exhibit about Dr. Hilla Sheriff, a pioneering crusader for the public health system in Progressive Era South Carolina. Platform: Wordpress (. and .)

• - An exhibit about the use of costuming in mid-century illustration. Platform: Omeka ( and )

• - An exhibit about dubious "cures" and patient care in the mid-19th to early 20th century. Platform: A developer customized site

• - An exhibit that examines historical, literary, and cultural events presented in the show Love Craft Country with published and primary source materials. Platform: Wordpress (. and .)

Before starting the exhibit creation process, you need to closely consider your topic, desired effects, and objectives with the understanding that these decisions might change as you progress.

1.) Determine the Topic

What is the main focus or theme of the exhibit?

• Some examples: a historical period or movement, an event, a person's biography, a process or technique (e.g., silk screen printing), an idea or concept (e.g., the law of gravity), an industry (e.g., whaling), a single object (e.g., a specific book, painting, or musical instrument)

2.) Determine the Desired Effect

Effects to consider (as cited in Barth, et al. 2018):

• Aesthetic: organized around the beauty of objects

• Emotive: designed to elicit an emotion in the viewer

• Evocative: designed to create a specific atmosphere

3.) Determine the Objectives

What do you want people "walking away" with? This means considering things like:

• What is the motivation for creating the exhibit? (Why this exhibit?)

• What are the intended learning outcomes?

• How do you want visitors to be able to apply what they learn beyond the exhibit?

4.) Creating the Exhibit

Once the above considerations have been made, it is time to begin the exhibit creation process. See our for more information.

References

Barth, G. L., Drake Davis, L., Mita, A. (2018). . Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Technical Leaflet Series no. 12.

Digital exhibits are a form of online exhibit that, like physical exhibits, use objects to tell stories, make arguments, and demonstrate ideas. Attributes include:

• Objects can be digitized or “born digital” media of various types (e.g., digitized photographs, rare books, and films or born digital government documents)

• Special attention is given to the organization of both the objects and the site in which the exhibit lives.