Democratising the Museum: reflections on participatory technologies

Runnel, P., Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, Pille (2014). Democratising the Museum: reflections on participatory technologies. Peter Lang Verlag.

Abstract: Democratizing the museum is a collection of articles reflecting upon the problem of how participation, technologically mediated or not, can support the museum in the process of becoming more open. The open museum shares power with its visitors while negotiating professionalism and the role of the museum in a modern society. We hope that this book will be read and appreciated both by academics and professionals working in the museum field. The book looks at the roles and struggles of audiences/visitors and professionals, and the role of digital technologies in supporting the participatory museum. While different chapters draw on a variety of empirical examples, the main analytical backbone of the book comes from an extended participatory action research study conducted at the Estonian National Museum.