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.
Thanks for the feedback. We are constantly adding more data, and the more link will generally give an explanation of the statistic. We are using Drupal’s freebie RSS feeds which seems to be lacking some. We will attempt to address this shortly. Again, thanks for the valuable feedback as it will direct our priorities.
- Charlie (IMA Software Developer)
I thought there might be some development yet to come. I look forward to seeing how this evolves. I’ve passed on the Dashboard to a number of friends in the museum world. I think it is a fantastic way to present information about the IMA and I think many museums will look to it as an example.
After reading through this article, I just feel that I need more info. Could you share some resources please?