Mashable – the Social Networking News blog has put together an exhaustive list of 350+ social networking sites that it has covered over the last few years. As you can imagine, there is a site for just about every possible social activity and niche group — from microblogging to hip hop fans. While the list is overwhelming, it is fascinating to read the descriptions. And of course, the Web 2.0 names, such as Pazap, Lawyrs, Genoom, Fotki, Kinzin, Minti, and XuGa, provide some entertainment value.

On Tuesday morning of this week, I showed a slide illustrating the growth of the museum blogosphere at the Association of Science-Technology Center’s annual conference. When I returned from the conference, I was surprised to find that the slide I had shown was already quite dated. My original slide, which I put together about 10 days ago, showed 211 blogs in Museum Blogs directory–today there are 233. We’ve received more than 20 new submissions to museum blogs in a little over a week.

At the Museums and the Web conference in April, I predicted that we would reach 200 museum blogs by the end of the year. It now appears that we might be closer to 300. The numbers are an indication that blogging in the museum world is becoming mainstream. It’s no longer about starting a blog, but rather using blogging tools to achieve various tasks. We’ve seen blogs that: support exhibits, help organize docents, share the museum Director’s vision, conduct direct marketing, re-publish articles from museum publications, help with professional development, explore specific topics or issues, as well as blogs that are used as simple content management systems inside existing sites.

It is also interesting to note that many institutions now run multiple blogs. While the Walker Art Center always has, the Smithsonian, St. Louis Science Center, Powerhouse Museum, Exploratorium, and many others now have more than one. Apparently blogging is contagious within institutions. Once tried, museums find other ways to use the technology.

I just read a post from MuseumLab blog which directed to me to the Dashboard on the newly redesigned Indianapolis Museum of Art website. The concept of a “Dashboard” isn’t new, in fact there is even a book on Dashboard Design, but this the first time I’ve come across a dashboard in the museum world, and I have to say it is pretty interesting.

A combination of Web statistics, visitor and collections information, and even a monthly average of the museum’s electric consumption can be found on the IMA’s Dashboard. Clicking through to “more” doesn’t provide any additional information about the particular item, but it does take you to a page that lists which dashboard items have been recently updated.

There is also a comment feature, but I didn’t come across any comments, probably because the redesign is still new and registration is required to post. Also, there is an RSS Feed available on the Dashboard, but unfortunately this appears to be static. Still even with these minor issues, this a great example of a museum presenting basic information about the institution in a dynamic and unconventional way.

Tomorrow, I am making a presentation at the Oakland Museum for Cultural Connections. The topic for the event is Technology: Connecting online and in-gallery experiences. This event is a precursor to the Western Museums Association (WMA) Annual Conference, which starts on Thursday. At WMA, I’m participating in a session entitled “An Eye on Design,” which explores preconceptions about museum design. I will be focusing on technology (of course!) and how it affects visitor experiences.

The image on the left was one I came across while putting together my presentations. It was taken in 1995 and shows the “Internet Rountable,” which was part of the Multimedia Playground exhibit at the Exploratorium. Back then, the Internet was novel enough to be an exhibit by itself.

On Friday, I’ll be taking part in the “Shake Out on the Emerging Web 2.0″ session. There, I’ll present a general introduction to the topic and then focus on the use of Flickr by the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. I will follow up with a short look at two very different art museums in Second Life (this is based on my review in the ExhibitFiles).

On Tuesday of next week, I will be co-presenting at the “Web 2.0, the Sequel: What’s Now? What’s Next?” session at the Association of Science – Technology Center’s (ASTC) Annual Conference in Los Angeles. With so many presentations (4 in 7 days!), I haven’t been posting much to the blog lately. That will change by the end of this month as we have a few exciting projects that are close to launch. More to come.