Hairy Museum of Natural History

The last in a short series of posts about this year’s Museums and the Web conference…
This year’s Best of the Web Award went to Science Buzz, an exhibit and web site developed by the staff at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Science Buzz was created to give visitors an opportunity to learn more about the latest science news stories, discuss them with others, and get feedback from scientists and other professionals.

Although Science Buzz uses a variety of tools to meet its goals, a lot of attention was paid to its blog. You don’t find blogs on too many museum websites. I suspect part of this is due to the quick, informal reputation of blogging, which runs counter to the slower, more rigorous processes of exhibit curation and peer-reviewed publishing that most museums value. And part of it, I’m sure, is that most museums have far more goals than resources, so you won’t find too many administrators willing to commit staff time to writing or maintaining a blog.

The downside to this cautious strategy was highlighted by Science Buzz developer Brian Kennedy during a demonstration session. Less than a week ago, the top result for a Google search of “science museums blog” was Answers in Genesis, a young-Earth creationist group whose grasp of science can be charitably described as delusional. I’m happy to say that the buzz surrounding Science Buzz has since launched it into the number-one spot, and can only hope that these heartening trends continue.

—Matt Celeskey.

File under: Museumabilia.