Hello and welcome to the Digital Snapshot, bringing you all the latest digital news, inspiration, tips and guidance for the arts, culture, museums and heritage world.
Afternoon. I'm at the Museums + Heritage Show on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 May. Will you be there? If so, come say hi. I'll be the white guy, with a beard, wearing a shirt. Also I'll be on Stand X3, probably easiest to find me there.
Anyways, I hope that you find this issue of interest and that you're enjoying the lovely weather (assuming it's lovely wherever you are). Don't forget to make the most of the month bookended by Bank Holidays.
Latest news 📰
- The call for papers for this year's Museums + Tech conference is now live. The conference is at Think Tank Birmingham again, on 7 December, and the theme is 'Seize the Tech'.
- This is an interesting article covering some business owners who are refusing to use AI. Though it does make me wonder how long it'll be realistic to refuse to use it, as it becomes more common place in the tools we use everyday.
- Not recent but still news worth, a UNESCO study from last year revealed evidence of regressive gender stereotypes in Large Language Models. I had a play the other day and it's still the case.
- The Institute for Digital Culture has launched a YouTube channel, where they'll share useful resources for people working in the sector.
Useful / shareable 🤓
- I like saying please and thank you to the AI tools that I use, but the CEO of ChatGPT has admitted that using pleasantries in your prompts is wasting 'millions of dollars in computing power'.
- The Space's 2025 round of Digital Commissions is now open for applications. The Comissions offer support and funding of up to £16,000 to develop and deliver a creative digital project.
- This is a useful beginner-friendly guide to WCAG website accessibility standards - split out by success criterions.
- The recordings from last year's Museums + Tech conference are now online, including this great talk from our Consultant Director, Anra Kennedy, focusing on the long-view of digital storytelling in the sector.
Distracting / entertaining / inspiring 💥
- I really liked The National Gallery's 200 Paintings for 200 Years project, sharing online 200 scholarly catalogue entries (around 2.2 million words of academic research) to celebrate their Bicentenary.
- I love a smart use of a platform's posting mechanics and this one on Bluesky by The Mary Rose Museum really scratched that itch.
- I've been thoroughly enjoying the Instagram content from the Cosby Library. Sure it's silly, but it makes me feel good. This video of theirs went viral recently.
- Google Arts & Culture artists in residence have been doing some AI-powered experiments with the content on the platform.
- StoryFutures Xperience Research project report has been published, focusing on how a network of cinema and arts hub venues could improve audience access to wider forms of screen culture.
Something good 👍
- There was some great April Fool's content last month, like this 'Immersive Nokia 3310 Experience' from the Royal Albert Hall and this 'hippo rewilding' Facebook post by Creswell Crags.
And that’s all for this edition.
Don't forget we're here to support you with training, research and consultancy, so please do get in touch.
You can find all past editions of the Digital Snapshot here.
The Audience Agency
