Digital

Revolution

in Museums

Kamani Perera

Sri LankaMartin Wickramasinghe Museum of Folk

Culture, Koggala, Sri Lanka

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Digital revolution has

made dynamic

change in museums

in the recent past

with the dawn of

information

communication

technologies in the

21st century.

Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Museums face new

challenge to provide

efficient service to the

wider community

while enhancing the

human interaction

with the new

technologies.

Museums have

created golden age of

opportunity for

everyone who access

information.

Physical places

makes us see

things in new ways

Buildings are not

just buildings,

streets are not just

streets – they carry

stories(Sandvik,

n.d). Bibliothek Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

They carry cultural

meaning which

audiences through the

interplay between

physical locations

Mobile media may

acquire, discuss,

investigate and relate

to in playful and

creative ways

(Sandvik, n.d). Bibliothek Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Users can

freely move

around in

museums while

consulting

detailed

multimedia

content such

as video,

audio, images

on various

artifacts. Bibliothek Museum – Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Museum is an

inviting place for

effective learning.

It connects human

experience, culture,

history, science and

art via its objects.

Bibliothek Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

People can share

information, learn

more; make

decisions due to this

digital revolution.

Museums are the

places where we can

preserve our material,

digital objects and

link us with our

history. Kitchen Utensils, Bibliothek Museum

Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

It promotes human

curiosity, empathy,

tolerance and

understanding.

It supports human

brains to acquire

skills such as critical

thinking, problem

solving and

information literacy. Natural History Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

It plays a vital role to

provide critical

learning experience

by making accessible

to its objects virtually.

Therefore, museums

can be defined as an

audience oriented,

multi-directional

place where we

preserve tangible

and digital objects.Martin Wickramasinghe Museum of Folk

Culture, Koggala, Sri Lanka

Photograph by Kamani Perera

Digitizatio

n can

allow

museums

to

preserve

their rare

and fragile

material

and

facilitates

to access

those

materials

virtually.

Bibliothek Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Not only that, lesser known museums can raise awareness of their collections in a way never before possible.

More prominent museums can benefit from digitization by providing virtual access to the objects in their

Bibliothek Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Digital revolution facilitated online access of museum objects, images and records attracting more audience virtually as well as physically and reaching out millions and millions of people who cannot visit physically.Natural History Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

New technologies

have dramatically

changed the

traditional concept

of museums by

facilitating to

interact with the

community beyond

their physical

walls.

Natural History Museum, Gorlitz, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Digital revolution

helps to

decreases the

knowledge gap by

increasing the

opportunities for

participation,

entertainment and

motivation.

Military History Museum – Dresden, Germany

(Photograph by Kamani Perera)

Museums are rich

in genuine

content,

knowledge stuff.

Military History Museum – Dresden, Germany

(Photographs by Kamani Perera)

Digital

revolution

facilitates to

reveal the

hidden stories

of the museum

artefacts.

Vasco Da Gama’s Coffin, Lisbon, Portugal

Photograph by Kamani Perera

Museums stimulate

people’s hearts and

they feel more and

more closer to the

museum

environment.

Once they visited

virtually, they really

feel to visit the

location physically.Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal

Photograph by Kamani Perera

People can access

museum collection

via social media

tools and at the

same time they

can share their

stories.

That helps to

bridge the gap

between

information rich

and information

poor by reaching

Martin Wickramasinghe Museum of Folk

Culture, Koggala, Sri Lanka

Photograph by Kamani Perera

Thank You

Martin Wickramasinghe Museum of Folk Culture, Koggala,Sri Lanka

Photograph by Kamani Perera

Thanks to Digital Revolution

We share our stories online and first we

make virtual visits to museums

worldwide and then make it physical.

Yes, of course we are lucky

spirits from Sri Lanka who

get the maximum benefit

from Digital revolution in

Museums.