project overview Project Duration: October 1, 2001 - September 30, 2003 The Exploratorium will develop, test, and begin implementation of a Digital Asset Management Program through which museum materials related to interactive exhibits and scientific phenomena, including images, educational activities, and other exhibit-related resources, are digitially archived and made accessible to the museum's audiences. The primary goal of the project is to increase public access to science education by creating an efficient means of distributing digital assets pertaining to the Exploratorium exhibits, educational programs, and scientific phenomena. The secondary goals are to increase staff efficiency (a necessary step to achieve the primary goal) and to contribute knowledge to the musuem and library fields regarding digital asset management in science centers and other exhibit-based institutions. The project will be the first phase of a long-term institution-wide initiative to digitize and catalog its extensive collection of more than 100,000 resource materials developed since the Exploratorium's founding in 1969. These resources include original, unique, and frequently requested materials currently in non-digital formats including still images, print, and audio- and videotapes. For this project, the Exploratorium will digitize approximately 11,500 assets and will catalog and organize them along with 1,500 existing digital assets into collections made available through a distribution system housed on the Exploratorium Web site (www.exploratorium.edu). The assets selected for this project will be those most relevant to the education-related needs of the selected target audiences. The project will organize the digital assets using commercially available media management software and design and test a Web-based interface customized for the target audiences. Project evaluation will examine the process for implementing a centralized digital asset management program and will measure the success of the intended outcome of increased access to Exploratorium resources among the museum's audiences. The anticipated result of the project will be increased access to science education resources to museums throughout the U.S. with which the Exploratorium has a collaborative relationship; to educators nationally who are engaged in inquiry-based learning; and to the media and members of the public who have an interest in science and art. Through documentation, evaluation, and dissemination activities, the project is also expected to serve as a model for adopting a centralized digital asset management program at other institutions. project team Name Project Title Email Dr. Rob Semper Principal Investigator robs@exploratorium.edu Kurt Feichtmeir Project Manager kurtf@exploratorium.edu Rose Falanga Project Coordinator rosef@exploratorium.edu Megan Bury Project Assistant megb@explroatorium.edu Dr. Howard Besser Project Consultant howard@sims.berkeley.edu Doug Conaway Compliance dconaway@exploratorium.edu   This project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)