Mingei International Museum, San Diego

Learn how Mingei International, a mid-sized museum, is using technology to manage, engage, and support a growing Docent Council. Through the development of a Docent Council website within the Museum's main site, docents are able to access exhibition resources, sign up to lead tours, and download docent training material from any location with internet access. In this session participants will hear from Mingei International's docents and staff while exploring the Museum's website and discovering how similar ideas can be developed at their institutions.

Presenters: Johanna Pope, Education and Outreach Manager;Carol Hinrichs, member of the Docent Council and Museum Trustee

Indianapolis Museum of Art

Presenters from the Indianapolis Museum of Art will discuss how, using the Museum's document management software, the docent program created an online resource center for docents. Docent Web allows docents to log on from home or any other location with web access to view or print tour and training schedules and access extensive research material. Both Docent Web and DropBox are being used to share images and charts of the growing collection of resource material used on iPads for docent tours.

Presenters: Kristin Mohlman, docent (eleven years), instrumental in bringing the first version of online access to Museum docents), former Manager of Docent Programs (2011); Jennifer Todd, docent (seven years), current Manager of Docent Programs, content manager for Docent Web, and coordinator of the iPad project (managing content through DropBox)

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco

Rather than demonstrate the functions of the docent website as a technical entity, we will show how a task-force model of positive collaboration between docents, staff, and the IT Department was used to successfully develop a website from scratch. Breakout session participants will learn the critical steps and dos and don'ts you need to know, as well as the importance of this task-force model.

Presenters: Emilie Bromet-Bauer, Senior Manager of Docent Programs and initiator of the Docent Website Task Force; Nan Sincero, Docent Coordinator, docent (over four years), and Project Manager of the Docent Website Task Force; Dr. Henri K. Lese, docent (twelve years) involved in developing the docent website; Tina DeCloux, docent (fourteen years) and member of the team that developed the Docent Website Task Force

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis

Presenters will discuss how their team implemented iPad use on tours, including 1) identifying appropriate web content and useful applications, 2) establishing training for technical use, and 3) developing strategies for integrating iPads into tours. This forum will not only allow us to share our experiences with those interested in incorporating iPad technology into museum tours, but will also provide an opportunity to exchange ideas with those who have already done so.

Presenters: Brenda Burgess, docent coordinator (two years), docent (five years) and member of the iPad Implementation Team; Carole Cornell, docent (nine years) and member of the iPad Implementation Planning Team; Rose Rich, docent (twenty-five years); Sherwood Platt,docent (seven years)

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado

This is a story of a year of change, collaboration, and technology integration at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Members of the Technology Education Resource Committee will tell their successful story, share some of their collaborative strategies, and discuss the technology tools that they used. The resources Portaportal and Phanfare allowed docents to plan their tours from the comfort of their own homes. Presenters will also discuss the Box, OurVolts, BrainPOP Jr., SurveyMonkey, Twitter, Inspiration, and other software that helped pave the way.

Presenters: Suzanne Matonek, docent (two years; Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and in Technology Education Instruction from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia); Jacqueline Lee Barr, docent and member of the Technology Education Resource Committee

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

In this session, the presenters will share the ways in which the Gallery Instructor program – the docent program at the MFA – has used print material, the Internet and special programming to keep Gallery Instructors (GIs) connected while addressing the needs of a growing and changing organization. These will include examples of our GI-to-GI Google listserve, staff-to-GI online weekly newsletter and GI special online and print magazine. The presenters will also explain the special programs and events that were developed to bring the GIs together, not only inside the museum, but outside the museum as well.

Presenters: Ellen Zarrow-Nissenbaum and Patti Bifulco

Theme Category: Communication