1. Problem Statement Museum curators convey stories through exhibits imposed with personal bias. A more inclusive narrative of museum artifacts can be conveyed with the incorporation of user feedback accomplished via user supplied descriptive tags. This project will explore the effect of context on learning experiences by studying the use of museum artifacts in two different settings: 1)Artifacts in the traditional museum environment; and 2)Artifacts in the three-dimensional digital environment created using Arius3D technology. Research Questions Museums act as a control mechanism in deciding what exhibit the visitor will see and the context within which one will see it. A more holistic approach is needed in constructing cultural narratives. This research is going to investigate the similarities and differences in user supplied descriptive tags by answering the following questions: 1)What curatorial descriptors define the onsite artifact? 2)What curatorial descriptors define the 3D digital artifact? 3)What user descriptors define the onsite artifacts? 4)What user descriptors define the 3D digital artifacts? Does the Construction of Personal Meaning from Museum Artifacts Change with Contextual Variation? University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science Presented Feb 8 - 11, 2009 By Christine Angel, Ph.D. Student IMLS Grant # RE-02-06-0069-06 THE ISSUECONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK HOW MUSEUMS CONNECT VISITORS TO ARTIFACTS Curator Interview Structured Interview with Museum Personnel Analysis of Descriptive Metadata Elements for Onsite Artifacts Analysis of Descriptive Metadata Elements for Online Three- Dimensional Artifacts Museum Exhibit Construction of Onsite Exhibit Analysis of User Feedback via Feedback Mechanisms Cross-Reference User Feedback with Interviewed Museum Personnel Digital Exhibit Construction of Three-Dimensional Digital Exhibit Analysis of User Feedback via Feedback Mechanisms Cross-Reference User Feedback with Interviewed Museum Personnel Exhibit Evaluation Evaluation of How the Exhibit was Constructed and Interpreted by Museum Personnel and the User Identify Enhanced Descriptive Metadata to Bridge the Gap Between Museum Personnel and User Reconstruction of Online/Onsite Exhibits Creating a More Inclusive Cultural Narrative Reconstruction of Onsite and Online Museum Exhibit Incorporating Museum Visitor Feedback Curator Reanalysis of Value Systems in the Construction of Museum Exhibits Museum Cultural Construct Visitor Cultural Construct Contextual Barriers = Differences in Descriptive Metadata Tags Museum Descriptive Tags Visitor Descriptive Tags Possible Contextual Barriers Due to Differing World Views Evidenced by User Feedback Mechanisms Museum Visitor’s Imposed Values on Construction of Museum Exhibits Onsite Descriptive Narrative Online Descriptive Narrative Construction of Museum Exhibit Begins with Curator-Imposed Values Onsite Descriptive Tags = Narrative Online Descriptive Tags = Narrative Museum Connects the Visitor to the Artifact