Developed as a non-coder’s guide to exhibit best practices, presentation, and promotion, this course will provide students with an introduction to exhibit building using Omeka; one of the more popular platforms for digital exhibits. We’ll discuss how to craft objective and interpretive text with DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) in mind; how to make your audio/visuals engaging; common rights and reproductions issues; and adding elements that draw your patrons in and create a good user experience, like ADA compliant downloadable materials, crowdsourcing applications, and more.
This class will not cover digital collections and exhibits workflows and procedures; a basic understanding of these is required for full participation in this class. People who work at museums, academic libraries, historical societies, and archives, and have a need to create fresh and meaningful digital content for their organizations, will benefit from this class.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the session, participants should be able to:
Appraise and select items for exhibition
Identify ways to incorporate DEIA goals into their interpretive text and related materials
Describe and promote digital exhibit pieces
Construct their own engaging digital exhibits in Omeka
Instructor: Megan A. Oliver
Megan A. Oliver is a three-time graduate of the University of South Florida (Master of Science in Library in Information Science; Bachelor of Arts in English Literature; Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology). After graduating from USF in 2011, Megan has worked as the Assistant Librarian at Florida State University’s Ringling Museum Library and as the Digital Collections Curator at State University of New York’s Purchase College. She currently works as the Digital Collections Librarian at the University of South Carolina (UofSC) Libraries and as an adjunct at the iSchool, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are ethics in informatics and labor practice, the creation of sustainable digital products and services, and UX research in digital librarianship.
