Digital museum mediation

Digital museum mediation in Denmark: a critical evaluation of its implementation, affordances, and impact

1 August 2016 - 31 July 2019

Digital museum mediation has developed quickly over the last three decades propelled by the development of digital technologies, culture policy requirements, public and private project funds, and public-private partnerships. Many projects and practices of digital museum mediation are based on the belief that digital technology can advance cultural mediation with enticing, user-led experiences as well as in-depth knowledge. Yet, there is neither a systematic overview nor evaluations of the many digital activities and their impact. This project aims to address this situation. We study the ways in which digital mediation has entrenched itself into Danish museums by asking: in what ways does digital museum mediation promote the sharing of knowledge, user experience, and participation? The empirical part of the study is a survey of all grantees of public and private digital project funds. Survey results are analysed and contextualised in relation to existing studies, a mapping of specific digital project reports, and in-depth qualitative interviews with key stakeholders.