Museums and the Web 2014 How-to Session Darren Milligan, Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access, USA Melissa Wadman, Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access, USA James Collins, Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access, USA Published paper: http://mw2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/connecting-learners-and-museums-through-educational-metadata-initiatives/ Personalized learning involves standardizing and harnessing data being created about specific student learning strengths and weaknesses, and connecting those needs with appropriate learning content. To achieve this, galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs), as well as scientific institutions like zoos and aquariums, which already produce open educational content, need to improve the discoverability and retrieval of their digital resources. We must develop complete learning-appropriate descriptions of what we have and share this descriptive language with users in many settings. Two of the most promising programs to address this challenge are the schema.org metadata project, called the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative, and the Learning Registry, a federally created technology infrastructure for the distribution of such metadata and the consolidation of information about its usage. We discuss the history and impacts of both programs, share our methodology for implementing and evaluating a Smithsonian project in progress, and propose recommended next steps for GLAMs.

1. Connecting Learners and Museums
through Educational Metadata
Initiatives
Museums and the Web
April 4, 2014
Paper: bit.ly/edumetadata
Darren Milligan
Senior Digital Strategist
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
@darrenmilligan
Melissa Wadman
Manager of Program Evaluation
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
James Collins
Digital Media Project Manager
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
@jamescollinsjr

2. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

3. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

4. Pew Research Teachers Survey Report
February 2013
92%: Internet has “major impact” on their ability to
access content, resources, and materials for their
teaching
90%: use search engines to find info
84%: use Internet weekly to find content that will
engage students
80%: use Internet weekly to help them create
lessons

5. Pew Research Teachers Survey Report
February 2013
83%: teachers agree that “amount of info online
today is overwhelming for most students”
71%: teachers agree that “digital tech discourage
students from finding and using a wide variety of
sources for their research”
60%: teachers agree that “digital tech makes it
harder for students to find and use credible
sources of information”

6. LRMI Educators Survey Report
August 2013 Update
44%: search online several times a week
31%: search online daily
65%: report “irrelevant results”
87%: more satisfied if they could filter

9. 1995
23.6 million non-digital visits to museums
72,942 digital visits

10. 1995
23.6 million non-digital visits to museums
72,942 digital visits
2013
30 million non-digital visits to museums
140 million digital visits

11. 1995
23.6 million non-digital visits to museums
72,942 digital visits
2013
30 million non-digital visits to museums
140 million digital visits
Non-Digital: 30,000,000-23,600,000 /
23,600,000 X 100 = 27.12% increase
Digital: 140,000,000-72,942 / 72,942 X
100 = 191,833.32% increase

12. 1995
23.6 million non-digital visits to museums
72,942 digital visits
2013
30 million non-digital visits to museums
140 million digital visits
Non-Digital: 30,000,000-23,600,000 /
23,600,000 X 100 = 27.12% increase
Digital: 140,000,000-72,942 / 72,942 X
100 = 191,833.32% increase

13. Why Internet for Edu. ( Everything) ?
Reporting
Year
Smithsonian
Non-Digital
Visitors
(in millions)
Smithsonian
Digital Visitors
(in millions)
Global
Population
using Internet
(% of
population)
Developed
World using
Internet
(% of
population)
1995
23.6
0.1
<2
<11
2005
24.0
59.3
16
51
2010
30.2
97.2
30
67
2013
30.0
140.0
39
77

14. Audience Participation Time
Image
adapted
from
the
Department
of
Educa3on,
h5p://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/9602545478/,
used
under
a
CC
BY
2.0
license.

15. Survey
responses
from
educators
indica3ng
the
rela3ve
importance
of
descrip3ve
metadata
for
learning
resources
(LRMI
Survey
Report
August
2013
Update,
Ease
and
Discoverability:
Educators
and
Publishers
on
the
Search
for
Educa3onal
Content).
How Can We Make Search Easier?

16. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

21. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

22. LE
LRMILearning Registry Interfaces (ISLE, BoE, etc.)
Image
adapted
from
the
Learning
Registry,
h5p://www.learningregistry.org

24. Image
adapted
from
the
Learning
Registry
Technical
Specifica3on,
h5ps://docs.google.com/document/d/1msnZC6RU9N72Omau0F4FNBO5YCU6hZrG1kKRs_z42Mc/edit?hl=en_GB

25. Image
via
the
San
Diego
Zoo,
h5p://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/fishing-­‐cat
Newspaper
clipping
via:
h5p://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

28. PARADATA

30. http://jimklo.github.io/EasyPublish/

31. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

32. based
on
The
Content
Developers
Guide
to
the
Learning
Resource
Metadata
Ini3a3ve
and
Learning
Registry,
2013

34. Train and Share
Training Workshops
Training Video
Virtual Tag-athons
LRMI Guide

36. Game Plan
Why Digital?
Let’s Take a Look at Metadata
Share It: Metadata Distribution
Case Study: Smithsonian
Create It: Tag-athon

37. Audience Participation Time, Part II
tagger.inbloom.org
Image
adapted
from
the
Department
of
Educa3on,
h5p://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/9602545478/,
used
under
a
CC
BY
2.0
license.

38. tagger.inbloom.org

39. Recommendations
GLAM educators can:
● Create LRMI metadata for their existing resources
● Work with Web staff to embed LRMI metadata on resource HTML pages
● Develop LRMI for emerging resources as they are developed
GLAM technologists can:
● Assist GLAM educators in utilizing tagger tools
● Work with GLAM education staff to embed LRMI metadata on resource HTML
pages
● Publish LRMI metadata to the Learning Registry
● Play an active role in the LRMI and the Learning Registry communities to ensure
that the needs of their institutions are well represented as these initiatives
continue to develop and mature

40. Thanks!
Connecting Learners and Museums through Educational Metadata Initiatives
Museums and the Web
April 4, 2014
How-to Session
Paper: bit.ly/edumetadata
Darren Milligan
Senior Digital Strategist
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
@darrenmilligan
Melissa Wadman
Manager of Program Evaluation
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
James Collins
Digital Media Project Manager
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Learning and Digital Access
@jamescollinsjr