Presentation on Smithsonian's

1. Recruiting the World:
A quick introduction to
Mobile Strategy & Initiatives
at the Smithsonian
9 November 2011
Nancy Proctor, proctorn@si.edu

2. What is mobile?

3. Mobile includes both:
 Pocketable & Portable
(phones, iPods, gaming devices) (tablets and eReaders)
 Smartphones & ‘Dumb’ phones
(apps and mobile web) (voice calls and txting)
 Podcasts & other downloadable
(video and audio) content (PDFs, eBooks)
 BYOD & mobile devices provided
(bring your own device)
on-site by SI museums
& Large-screen websites
 Mobile web sites
on mobile devices

4. SI Mobile’s Strategy
1. Integrate mobile into everything we do to create
a whole greater than the sum of its parts;
2. Transform the way the Institution works in order
to achieve its strategic goals and vision for the
21st century.
We will measure our progress and success by
mobile’s impact on the Accessibility, Quality,
Relevance, Sustainability and Accountability of the
Institution.

5. SI Mobile’s Vision
Recruit the world
to increase and diffuse knowledge
by using mobile platforms to enlist
collaborators globally in undertaking the real
and important work of the Institution.
Put the Smithsonian not just in
the people’s pockets,
but in their hands.

6. The People’s Institution
Louise Rochon Hoover, James Smithson:
"Secretary Henry Posts Daily “for the increase
Weather Map in Smithsonian and diffusion of
Building, 1858.” knowledge”
The Megatherium Club, a
group of young naturalists
who collected for the
Smithsonian in the 19th C.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Megatherium_Club

7. What is mobile?
Mobile is social media

8. If we don’t want our mobile
products to fall on deaf ears…
Nancy Proctor, ProctorN@si.edu http://picasaweb.google.com/anup.rao/HaifaAkkoIsrael#4954285426665324562
Handheld Conference 3 June 8
2009

9. We need to think outside the audiotour
box
“From we do the talking to
From Headphonesyou Microphones
we help to do the talking.”
– Chris Anderson, Wired, Smithsonian 2.0 Conference, 24 Jan 2009
http://smithsonian20.si.edu/schedule_webcast2.html

10. The Multiplatform Organization
Museum

11. The Multiplatform Organization
Museum

12. More than multiplatform…

13. Our Organization is a Distributed Network
Edward Hoover, 2010, from Flickr.

14. Product Development Principles
1. Mobile products should be accessible and used to enable access to
the Smithsonian experience and resources for people of all abilities.
2. Mobile projects should expand and create new opportunities for
engagement, not seek to reproduce existing ones on mobile devices.
3. Mobile should be understood as social media and projects should
leverage its ability to create conversations, communities, and
collaborations both alone and in combination with other platforms.
4. Wherever possible, a mobile website built on a standards-based
content management system should be at the core of every mobile
application project.
5. Digital content should be conceived for cross-platform use and re-use
according to mobile content standards, and delivered using quality
metadata and central SI web services.

15. Product Development Principles
6. Wherever possible, existing mobile code modules should be reused
from the SI Mobile repository: avoid writing new and/or dedicated
code and using proprietary or dedicated systems.
7. Whenever possible, make code, tools, best practices and other
learnings from SI Mobile projects freely available to others to reuse.
8. For quality and consistency of experience, SI mobile initiatives should
use standard interfaces and include clear, easy routes to other SI
mobile products and platforms.
9. Embed metrics and analytic tools in every mobile product, and include
audience research and product evaluation in every mobile project to
inform iterative development and ensure quality.
10. Every mobile project or product must include a commercial or other
plan for its sustainability and maintenance.

16. SI Mobile Projects to Date
http://si.edu/mobile

17. Mobile Art
Janet Cardiff, Words Drawn in Water, 2005

18. Over 20 Podcasts from across SI

19. Cellphone Tours
• NASM "Explore the Universe"
• NPG “Faces of the Frontier” exhibition
• NPG "Mask of Lincoln" exhibition
• NPG “Hide/Seek” exhibition
• AAA exhibition
• NMAI gardens
• SAAM Luce Center audio tour
• SAAM “William Wegman” exhibition
• & more!

20. Mobile Websites

21. NMAI.SI.edu/mobile
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Fritz+Scholder+mobile+web+tour

22. NMAI Vantage Point

23. Cooper-Hewitt Triennial
Mobile Exhibition Website

24. Mobile.NASM.SI.edu
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/NASM+Mobile+Website

25. Chandra Xray Observatory

26. www.postalmuseum.si.edu/mobile/

27. GoSmithsonian.com (mobile)
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/GoSmithsonian+Mobile

28. Collections.SI.edu

29. Apps

30. Design USA at Cooper-Hewitt
“Don’t even think about not using it because then you won’t truly see the
show.”
Roberta Smith, NY Times, 14 January 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/arts/design/15design.html
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Design+USA+iPod+Touch+tour

31. MEanderthal
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/MEanderthal

32. Yves Klein: from the Hirshhorn to
the Walker, on iPhone & iPad
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Design+USA+iPod+Touch+tour

33. Infinity of Nations, NMAI

34. NMNH Leafsnap

35. Artists in Dialogue 2

36. Smithsonian Mobile
36

37. Stories from Main Street
http://storiesfrommainstreet.org/

38. eBooks and Catalogues
“Using Technology to Support STEM Reading”
Matthew H. Schneps, Jamie K. O’Keeffe, Amanda
Heffner-Wong, Gerhard Sonnert of the
Laboratory for Visual Learning
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
<- Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

39. Games & Mobile Learning

40. Smithsonian Connections

41. NASM “Got a Question?” Txt Test
• one week
• 84 unique users
• 88 responses
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/NASMmobile_gotaquestion

42. ARGs: GOAC, PHEON, PDP

44. mLearning Workshops

45. Mobile Learning at the Hirshhorn

46. In the Frame
• Mall visitors’ app and mobile website
• Crowdsourcing data on public art
• Google goggles and visual recognition tests
• Experiments in Augmented Reality
• Mobile giving initiatives
• Pan-Institutional and DC-wide game
• More at: http://smithsonian-
webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Mobile &
http://si.edu/mobile

47. Metrics of Success
We will measure our progress and
success by mobile’s impact on the:
1. Accessibility,
2. Quality,
3. Relevance,
4. Sustainability and
5. Accountability of the Institution.

48. More about Mobile
• http://si.edu/mobile
• http://smithsonian-
webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Mobile
• http://wiki.museummobile.info/
• http://tatehandheldconference.pbworks.com
#mtogo
#SImobile
• @NancyProctor, proctorn@si.edu