Mag. Dr. Bernadette Biedermann, art historian and museologist; diploma degree and doctoral studies at the University of Graz; curator of a collection of applied arts and cultural history at Universalmuseum Joanneum (2006-2010), lecturer and researcher at University of Graz, since 2019 senior scientist University Museums University of Graz, deputy head of University Museums University of Graz; co-editor of the journal
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Since there has been a recent trend to establishing virtual museums, which various institutions have swiftly responded to, the objective of this paper is to understand the nature of virtual and/or digital museums by focusing on their particular characteristics. In this approach, the paper proceeds from the assumption that museum representations in the virtual space and/or virtual museums could extend conventional or physical museum space, leading to enhanced visitor attraction and experience. The paper thus focuses on the virtual museum as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary object of investigation from the perspective of museology and digital humanities and seeks to ascertain whether scholarly and practical impacts are achieved. It also analyses the expected impacts on practical museum work and visitor needs, especially with respect to the tasks museums are required to fulfil in times of crisis.
Analyzing the characteristics of virtual/digital museums, this paper presents the digital museums as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary object of scholarly investigation
The increased importance attached to virtual museums has transformed them into a
major object of investigation, both in practice and in theory. In this context, this
methodological and theory-driven paper asks whether and how digital and/or virtual
museums could extend conventional and prevalent physical museum spaces. The paper
argues that a virtual museum could serve as an interdisciplinary and
transdisciplinary object of investigation
Against this backdrop, the paper proposes that the digital virtual museum could extend conventional museum space by providing enhanced visitor experiences in terms of engagement and attraction. It investigates the manifold scholarly and practical impacts of extending the physical museum space into the virtual world from the theoretical perspectives of museology and digital humanities, as well as with respect to practical approaches that are necessary for museums and their visitors and users. In that context, the paper also relates to the relevance of virtual museums for museums and their visitors, especially in times of crisis, hence, particularly in times when those museums have to close their collections and exhibitions for various reasons, for example, in the current pandemic situation.
At least in the German speaking world, the term virtual museum
has been
subject of discussion since the 1990s, but is still awaiting a clear definition (see
Schweibenz [2016]; Biedermann [2017a]; and Niewerth [2020]).digital museum,
while the
Anglophone world has argued in favour of a virtual museum,
where both parties
define a virtual museum as a digital entity. This digital entity summarises digital
reproductions of museum objectsthe characteristics of a
museum, in order to complement, enhance, or augment the museum through
personalization, interactivity, user experience and richness of
content
To answer the research question as to how digital or virtual museums should extend conventional museum space as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary object of investigation, the paper first focuses on the characteristics of recent digital or virtual museums, in order to find out how they engage with and attract museum visitors compared with physical museum space. In this context, the focus lies on the differences between, and similarities of, conventional and virtual museum spaces and refers to state-of-the-art museology and museum studies and digital humanities respectively.
Secondly, taking the previously mentioned into consideration, the paper sets out to
achieve an understanding of a virtual museum and its characteristics against the
backdrop of the responsible disciplines concerned with that field, especially from
the perspective of general museology
Consequently, the paper presents perspectives in order to achieve an understanding of
the virtual museum as extended museum space from the perspective of digital
humanities
On this basis, I also address the challenges of establishing a virtual museum, or museum (re)presentations in virtual space, as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary objects of investigation, and I consider practical approaches to establishing a virtual museum.
Finally, the paper expounds on the relevant impacts of virtual museums with regard to the underlying research question as to how digital virtual museums could extend conventional and prevalent physical museum space. Impacts also include practical aspects of museum work as well as those relating to visitors and users. All these impacts are key to addressing new target groups, along with the crucial aspect that virtual museums can provide access to museum collections and their communication strategies even in times when museums have to close their doors to the public, for example, during the current Coronavirus crisis, which is just one of several possible scenarios.
In its conclusion, the paper subsumes the relevant research desiderata in the field, especially in terms of establishing a virtual museum as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field of application for the disciplines of general museology and digital humanities, finally also presenting a vision of what a virtual museum (considering the theoretical aspects in question) could look like.
At least in German speaking regions, the term virtual museum
has been
controversially discussed since the 1990s virtual museum
was
interpreted as an oxymoron term.
Finally, a methodological expedient defines representations of museum collections in
virtual space and the originating e-tangibles
(see Parry [2007] 68) as additional forms of museum communication that
neither substitute nor compete with the real and physical museum, but rather address
various other communication needs of visitors (see Biedermann [2017a]).
While German-speaking regions call for a digital museum,
the Anglophone world
argues in favour of the term virtual museum.
However, both define it as a
digital entity which summarises digital reproductions of museum objects (see
Wikipedia)draws on the characteristics of a museum, in order
to complement, enhance, or augment the museum through personalization,
interactivity, user experience and richness of content
Recent digital entities that summarise digital reproductions of museum
objects
Additionally, digital museum features enhance conventional museum space by means of
augmented and virtual reality. Augmented reality can present some of the untold stories behind one of the museum’s most iconic
collections
skin and bones
(National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution).
Moreover, 3D techniques expand the field of digital museum features in virtual space
by 3D scanning of objects. These scans create virtual copies of museum objects that
serve the purpose of digitally turning the object or zooming in, which is not
possible in the case of original museum objects. 3D prints of these objects enhance
the user experience in physical museum space, because of the possibility to touch and
handle them. Virtual museum space also provides online access to 3D copies of museum
objects
Prevalent conventional physical museums operate in the interest of classical
museology and its object of investigation, which is known as museality relation between man and his reality by which he realises and decides in
accordance with society which parts of the surrounding natural and arranged world
are able to act as witnesses to this reality and are thus worthy to be
systematised, researched, mediated and traded as bearers of this relation
Musealität ist die Beziehung des Menschen zur Realität, in der er
in Übereinstimmung mit seiner Gesellschaft erkennt und bewertet, welche Teile
der ihn umgebenden natürlichen und gestalteten Welt imstande sind, als
Nachweise dieser Gesellschaft zu fungieren und es daher verdienen, als Träger
dieser Beziehung erhalten, systematisiert, erforscht, vermittelt und tradiert
zu werden
According to the theory of museality, to give just one example, the vehicle in which
heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were
assassinated on 28th June 1914, is an authentic witness of this event. It is a
Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton
car, which is currently on display at the
Museum of Military History in Vienna (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna). That
vehicle bears witness to the event that triggered the outbreak of the First World
War; it has a special function as an object of memory concerning the persons involved
– especially the murdered heir to the throne and his wife. At the same time, the
object is emblematic – it symbolises the outbreak of WWI. Hence, it serves as a
bearer of museality and possesses effective legitimacy to act as a museum object.
Needless to say, this artefact could transport many more stories than the one
mentioned above (see also Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna).
Nonetheless, from the perspective of museology it is a central and defining point
that museum objects can serve as authentic witnesses of an event or a process.
Moreover, they relate to persons, dates and places, and therefore, the object is an
item of evidence for something or somebody. A scientific and hermeneutical process
verifies this evidence and defines an object as bearer of museality. At the same
time, this object becomes a nouophor
– a bearer of sense
and meaning
Museology focuses on objects as sources and acts from a meta-perspective in terms of
other object-centred disciplines of the humanities (such as art history, ethnology or
archaeology) and natural sciences (such as geology, zoology, physics and so on). The
objects thus act as evidence for various events and are especially significant – both
with regard to their materiality
Both the approaches of museology and museum studies focus on questions of digitising and virtualising forms of museum communication (see Parry [2010]; Hoptman [1994]; Langner [2015]; Navarrete and Owen [2016]; Whitelaw [2015]). In that context, they reflect the claim to authenticity of conventional museum spaces (see Parry [2007]).
However, amongst other examples, the digital presentation of the Archduke’s vehicle shows that forms of digital presentations are generally becoming more important for conventional museums, which have been enlarging their digitisation and virtualisation programmes for many years.
Particularly in German speaking regions, research in the field of digital humanities focuses on the information content of humanistic sources and primarily on modelling that content. Basically, this means describing and managing as well as visualising (meta)data by means of information transformation and exchange for the purpose of information intercommunication (see Arthur and Bode [2014]; Büttcher, Clarke and La Cormack [2016]; Cartner [2013]; Jannidis, Kohle and Rehbein [2017]; Kurz [2015]; Schreibmann and Siemens [2016]; Terras, Nyhan and Vanhoutte [2013]).
Hence, in the German language-related context outlined above, the field of digital humanities is also beginning to highlight the museum as object of investigation (see Rehbein and Kunze [2019]) with a focus on digitising, enriching, standardising, formalising and contextualising museum object data. Moreover, digital humanities are supporting the discipline of museum presentation by using visualising techniques and offering open access to relevant data, which broadens the field to address new research questions.
This approach applies digital standards of museum object documentation such as LIDO,
which is compliant to the CIDOC-CRM.
Against this backdrop, digital humanities’ projects have recently developed
virtual museums
which show special rooms.
virtual museum
for its digitised object collections
on GAMS – an asset management system for the humanities (GAMS virtual
museum;
The University of Graz’s approach in the context of digital humanities is based on
semantic annotation, processing for tagging and analysing texts realised by special,
almost XML-based standards (such as TEI – Text Encoding Initiative),open linked data
(see Berners-Lee [2006]). Annotated and structured data
therefore provide the basis to generate new research questions. The structured data
is then transformed (supported by XSLT)
Digital humanities are also seeking for solutions to facilitate long-term archiving
(see Thaller [2013]) and long-lasting access to
cultural heritage data in form of digital research infrastructures (see GAMSasset management system for the management,
publication and long-term archiving of digital resources from the
Humanities:
https://gams.uni-graz.at/archive/objects/context:gams/methods/sdef:Context/get?mode=&locale=en).
For European initiatives, see CLARIN: https://www.clarin.eu/ and website of Dariah-EU: https://de.dariah.eu/).
More recently, digital humanities have started to focus not only on 3D techniques like photogrammetry and 3D scanning of museum objects and cultural heritage sites, but on augmented reality as well. The project titled
virtual museum of the archaeological collection
Virtualising physical museum space has effects on conventional museums, especially in
terms of their presentation and communication strategies. The focus of museum
communication always lies on the audience as a major subject of interest, as well as
on digital forms of museum communication. At the same time, those digital processes
and projects mentioned above are in the process of modifying conventional museum
space and transferring communication strategies to the digital and/or virtual world
as a kind of public museum ecosystem
As a consequence, the virtual museum requires extended methods based on the theory of
classical museology and on digital humanities to define tasks for and impacts of
museums in the virtual space. From a scientific point of view, these new
challenges give rise to an interdisciplinary field in the discourse between the poles
of museology and digital humanities and information technologies respectively. The
question of characteristics and criteria of virtual museums are thus becoming a
mutually transdisciplinary object of investigation within current discourse, which
needs to be viewed against the backdrop of current projects and with regard to
state-of-the-art virtual museums.
While debating on a virtual museum within an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary
discourse between the poles of digital humanities and museology, it is vital to
understand the particular characteristics of museum objects, as opposed to texts.
From a museological perspective, texts are documents of the mind and especially
determined by the content of information they transfer
In this context, the question arises of how to characterise a virtual museum and how to define its appearance from an interdisciplinary point of view. The interdisciplinary challenge is therefore to bridge the gap between real and virtual museum spaces, but not by substituting one for the other through simulation, comparable with Plato’s allegory of the cave. Conversely, a video call suffices to interconnect and transfer information but is not able to substitute a physical encounter – as aptly demonstrated and emotively experienced during the ongoing recent Coronavirus crisis. After all, a photograph or hologram is not a physically present person, but merely a (virtual) representation of that person. The challenges concerning authenticity and space are obviously central to this discourse.
In that sense, several research questions arise from the perspective of digital humanities. The challenges to be faced in this regard concern the extension of conventional museum space into virtual space by enabling an enhanced visitor experience. This enhanced experience is created by communicating the specialities of the institution museum, which is grounded in the museum object as a bearer of sense and meaning and as an expression of museality. This is precisely why the basic objective of virtualising physical museum space is to communicate museum objects, (hidden) (hi)stories and contexts by using methods and tools of digital humanities in a way that conventional museums are not able to.
As a consequence, the challenges of digital humanities regarding a virtual museum first of all face the processes of modelling the object metadata for presentation and visualisation in physical as well as virtual spaces. From the perspective of museology, these challenges refer to the circulation of museum objects within the process of documenting or collecting metadata. This process corresponds to registering, making an inventory and cataloguing the items as well as collecting data relating to the entire object history in the context of ‘biography’, including the immaterial aspects of the museum object. From the perspective of applied museology, these processes are operated by a museum management system, for example, a database. As regards digital methods, this means information modelling, describing, standardising and formalising metadata, as well as managing and ordering knowledge.
Collecting the basic data of museum objects – from a museological perspective, the
so-called primary documentation – means to register data that refers to the
materiality of the object, such as its material, form, technique, measurements and so
on. Primary documentation also means gathering information in terms of primary events
to which the object is linked, such as producers, developers, artists and users as
historic subjects. Museum curators, exhibit designers and museum staff act as a
museum’s instance
which corresponds in most classic museum spaces to the
museum’s interpretational sovereignty from a scientific point of view. In a further
step, all of the gathered data is modelled and describes the objects and the object
data as metadata. All in all, digital methods are used to manage and order
knowledge.
Museum documentation also collects data relating to dates and place names of objects. To again cite the example of Franz-Ferdinand’s motorcar, the 28th June 1914 is a relevant date that is primarily associated with this object. However, it is also related to the 15th December 1919, the date on which the owner of the object, Count Harrach, a friend of the Imperial Family, donated this vehicle to the heir to the throne.
In the context of structuring object data in a logical order, various challenges
concerning the standardisation of data can arise. Art historians often use the term
indeed
or probably
to express the time ‘around 1900’ to which an
object is related. However, this classification is unreadable for machines because
they need relatively accurate dates to process the data. To render date-related data
machine-readable, and thus traceable, using search engines, the curators have to
define concrete dates according to documentation guidelines, for example instead of
indeed around 1900
they use 1895 as the earliest and 1905 as the latest
date of production. Specifying information, of course, goes hand in hand with the
hermeneutical process of researching object biographies. Consequently, such
documentation guidelines should be used for an entire collection and virtual museum
respectively.
The secondary documentation process collects data describing the object as a bearer of sense and meaning, as a nouophor and an expression of museality. This results from the hermeneutic process of investigating an object as an expression of museality and describes the object from a synchronic as well as a diachronic perspective. Consequently, an object can have associations, for instance, to birth, baptism, marriage, death or – like the vehicle described – to assassination and war. In addition, the vehicle plays an important role in the discourse of memory culture as well as in the context of the recent commemoration of the outbreak and end of World War I and their anniversaries (1914/18-2014/18).
Furthermore, objects have relations to museum-related administrative workflows such
as loans, conservation activities and displays, which is primarily relevant to
collection management. These basic and deepened object data, which are the results of
primary and secondary documentation, build the foundation for visualisations in
virtual space (for example managed by digital transformations, like XSLT
The first step in collecting data is managed by surfaces of databases or
repositories, or in the case of smaller museums or projects, by Excel spreadsheets or
word templates. These templates are mapped to already existing XML-based museum
documentation standards like LIDO or also to TEI by using transformations and with
the help of special programmes and (open source) software (see Oxygen
Museum objects are especially relevant in terms of their meaning and the events and
persons they bear witness to. Consequently, there are unlimited options of relations
between objects and events, persons, times and places, just as in the case of
categories which describe these object relations. This means enhancing controlled
vocabulary by using museological criteria, which particularly requires the
establishment of museological thesauri. Such thesauri form structured concepts of
object meaning in systems of controlled vocabulary. The XML standard SKOS is one
possible and useful digital standard (see SKOS)linked open data,
thereby enriching the semantic web.
Different categories of sources, like index cards and images can reveal the history
or the biography of museum objects. They show the provenance of objects and parts of
the stories stored in objects. Digital collection complexes in virtual space enable
all this information to interlink and link to the object in a structured manner. In
this way, visitors can enjoy a multi-perspective view of the unique object. This also
applies to the open GLAM initiative
(see Open GLAM)
Requirements for digital humanities not only apply to the workflow of museum
documentation, but also to the presentation method. To exemplify the University of
Graz’s digital humanities approach, transformations of modelled data form the basis
for data visualisations realised by XSLT-stylesheets, which support data output in
various forms and formats (like PDF, XHTML, SVG, SMIL)
In contrast to the medium text, which, from the perspective of digital humanities,
often requires the separation of form and content
In the digital museum age, digital images which include metadata standards to
describe and deliver images (see III-F)
The use of 3D-techniques in particular can bring new insights to the investigation of materiality and object biographies, which can be useful in a certain way, both for research purposes and for communicating objects. Special tools not only support zoom factors for high-resolution images, but also 3D object data. Such tools need to include an audio response, multimedia offers and 3D animations based on 3D scans to consequently augment conventional museum reality to extended forms of museum presentation in today’s digital age. Various different surfaces and responsibly designed media allow visitors to access museum data using various forms of output mediums.
Such tools can also contribute to engaging visitor attention
As regards physical museum space, all of these tools can help combine object biographies and the context information of objects in accordance with the visitor’s personal interests and needs. For that purpose, digital media used in the classic museum space can complement conventional museum labels. Extending conventional museum spaces by means of digital technologies can be achieved in displays using replicas printed in 3D. These replicas address groups of visitors, such as children, who perceive certain effects by touching the 3D copies and experience these objects in that particular mode of perception. Moreover, the aspect of augmented reality can enhance visitor experiences of museum objects by using immersive technologies that involve the visitors in the content.
Immersive methods (see Dowling [2019]) are a means of special communication also used in physical museum exhibitions to engage in a narrative or storytelling process, thus provoking a condition of flow. This status can also be evoked in the virtual world by means of various tools, offering, for example, digital storytelling using augmented reality methods (for technical implementation, see Yuan [2019]).
All of these possibilities of linking and enriching the web with museum object
metadata also serve the purpose of extending conventional and modified museum space
to create a kind of public museum ecosystem
In terms of museology, virtual museum space serves to extend conventional physical museum space in multiple ways: by enriching museum object data digitally, communicating with visitors with the help of social media, offering access to digital object databases and online exhibitions, or providing 3D views on objects in the virtual world. Furthermore, an extended conventional museum space virtually maps manifold object data and their stories, such as museum object-related contextual information. It communicates narratives and relationships of and between museum objects and collections. A virtual museum integrates various forms of communication used within physical museum space, such as guided tours, lectures and presentations offered by museum staff, thus augmenting conventional museum space by using its own 3D views. Also, a virtual museum represents the classic museum space three-dimensionally and links all possible museum object stories, images, 3D views, and storytelling tools to provide users with a virtual reality-assisted museum space based on museum objects and their relations to society, which always build the point of reference. Against this backdrop, it becomes clear that virtual museum reality strives to extend the theoretical approach of general museology into virtual space, as well as clarify aspects of authenticity and space to which a museum object is linked.
In terms of digital humanities, standards in museum object documentation and data enriching need to be extended by including museological aspects. Furthermore, a virtual museum uses a wide array of (immersive) digital methods and tools for special visualisation requirements which need to be further developed as regards the aspect of museology. Impacts for digital humanities or informatics also concern data storage and the provision of access to object data. Establishing a virtual museum means storing a large amount of data in terms of high-resolution images, videos or 3D copies as well. It must be able to support the process of dealing with complex user queries concerning various knowledge systems and object stories. On this basis, it is possible to manage complex collection analyses with reference to the uniqueness of museum objects.
An issue that goes hand in hand with that is the amount of time needed to load data
and to process complex queries, which can influence visitor behaviour when browsing
through the collections, and subsequently also the decision and will to visit a
conventional museum. Managing personal and institutional data as well as image data,
which involves applying for special licences, are hard facts (see Creative Commons
licences).
As a result, visitors and users browse through virtual museum space, selecting and experiencing museum object reproductions, virtually combined with manifold museum object information, context data and storytelling narratives. Users gain virtual access to the aspect of authenticity of museum objects, which means linking up objects and object data, and depicting and representing object relations related to a specific relevant event, to which an object bears witness. This access is independent of opening hours and physical accessibility, and at the same time, it does not replace the original object’s authenticity.
The aspect of open access to museum collections in the form of a virtual museum
reality is of special relevance in times of crisis, which the ongoing recent global
Coronavirus crisis has clearly shown, as long as users have access to the internet.
International museum organisations have requested museums to enlarge their digital
communication strategies to provide museum visitors with information about their
collections. For example, UMAC (the international committee for university museums
and collections in the context of ICOM international) provided webinars to the
professional university museum community to enable discussion on the impacts of the
lockdown especially for university museums (UMAC ICOM).
Consequently, it is of great importance to mention the manifold effects this has had on museums. Museums can use a virtual museum as a tool to communicate museum object data, context information, storytelling and narratives, in order to provide access to their collections, which is crucial for museums in times of crisis, as the Coronavirus crisis has revealed. Museums can grant access to their collections even in times of official administrative closures, in times of war or at any other time when museums are forced to close their collections to the public. Moreover, in terms of the (military) destruction of museum objects or attacks in areas of conflict, virtual museum space could enable access to museum object and collection data, and at the same time facilitate (at least) digital preservation. Even in times of a long-term shutdown and museum closures, exemplified by the present Coronavirus crisis, which is only one of various other options, virtual museum space has manifold effects on museum employees. As a research infrastructure, virtual museums could grant online access to museum employees to enable them to work from home on their museum communication projects. Additionally, a virtual museum could provide virtual visits to the museum, such as a digital video call, to complement the personal encounter. Conversely, all of these tools can influence the attractiveness of the real and physical encounter in times of physical visiting. By integrating these tools into physical museum presentations, they could help to deepen museum communication between museums and their visitors within physical museum space.
Of course, museums are challenged in times of crisis, especially with a view to heavy losses of entrance fees. On the other hand, museums would be obliged to consider concepts of gaining money by visiting virtual museums like other providers of digital services do. As the Coronavirus crisis has shown, the Internet and online possibilities have played an enormous social role in terms of replacing physical interactions between persons in order to phone, shop, to obtain medical attendance, schooling and university teaching, to access online sports programmes offered by local fitness gyms, and to enable museums and visitors to communicate with each other. However, none of these tools are able to replace real experiences or physical encounters – both mediums are different and aim to serve different manners of perception. These digital tools were a time-limited possibility due to the necessity of physical distancing. What the crisis has also shown is that some target groups were focused on the virtual world and perfectly happy to consume digital and virtual offers. For museums though, it is possibly interesting to note that some non-museum visitor target groups were much more attracted to digital museum features than to physical museum spaces. It is against this specific backdrop that museums should consider which impact a virtual museum can have on the audience and how museums can benefit from those effects.
The virtual museum refers especially to the processes of collecting, gathering, structuring and visualising data of museum objects or rather of the cultural heritage. This means to manage data, reference objects to scientific knowledge systems, map the information to XML-standards, visualise information and provide access to objects that are linked to their appropriate metadata and context information. For a standardised museum documentation process, a museum database providing all the needs of the digital humanities and of museology is essential, as the use of Excel spreadsheets or Word templates have turned out to be impractical for museum work.
The aim of a virtual museum is therefore to ensure that all visualisations take object biographies into account and that they link data to the very uniqueness of the objects and their relations in order to present a multi-layered view of those objects. In addition, virtual museums should also seek to impart narratives and thus address visitors emotionally in both the virtual and conventional museum space. This is done by integrating digital and immersive tools and methods in the process of representing conventional museum space in the virtual world. The extension of conventional museums into virtual space thus results in an interesting and attractive space where the joy of discovery is possible in an extended museum experience.
Finally, it is important to point out that despite all of the impacts a virtual museum may have, it is definitely a challenge to implement it. In that sense, the digital museum documentation standards mentioned above have many advantages in terms of data harvesting, but the process of modelling and mapping the data is a very complex and time-consuming one. For the practical museum documentation process, it is of special importance that a database is able to fulfil all of the purposes of recording data, processing and linking information. Currently, the only digital infrastructure available is WissKI which can fulfil all the requirements mentioned above, in accordance with the international museum documentation standard CIDOC CRM. However, that gap between theory and practice can be bridged by exploring the virtual museum as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field of investigation.
This approach to virtual museums as an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary object of investigation in the extended virtual museum space specifies further research desiderata specifically linked to the digital world. These desiderata address visitor studies and types of visitor behaviour in virtual space, for example, surfing and consumer behaviour, and questions as to which contents visitors would like to experience or even if they would be willing to spend money on visiting virtual museums.
Evaluations of classic museum spaces showing their effectivity need to be extended to the virtual museum to question their ability to affect and to engage visitor attention. Methods used by empirical social studies such as psychology and communication sciences are thus combined with computer-supported methods and analyses such as eye-tracking.
In conclusion, a virtual museum space provides manifold potential for museology and digital humanities to extend interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methods and offers multiple impacts for museums and visitors to improve their presentation and communication strategies, not only in times of crisis. One important factor is that virtual museums are also able to target new groups of visitors and users, which would have to be investigated in detail in terms of their special needs.
Until these requirements of virtual museums are achieved using interdisciplinary and
transdisciplinary methods, the virtual museum will remain a
Virtual museumsas digital collection complexes. A museological perspective using the example of Hans-Gross-Kriminalmuseum (University of Graz).
Südbahnmuseums Mürzzuschlag.