Forget about spearheads and pieces of pottery exhibited in drowsy lighting. In the future you might have the chance to see the Grauballe Man alive, maybe you will able to have lunch surrounded by prehistoric animals or how about fighting the Germans as a member of the resistance movement in the Second World War? This Friday people from the Nordic museums, researchers, representatives from the industry and many others will meet at the IT University to discuss how to use the digital media in communicating with visitors and audiences.

- With digital museum communication you can bring the cultural heritage to life so that it continues to be interesting and present in the present, says PhD student Nanna Holdgaard, one of the organizers of the conference.

Denmark falls behind
Nanna Holdgaard is writing a PhD thesis about online museum communication from a user perspective, and she hopes that the Danish museums will focus more on how to digitize the Danish cultural heritage for future generations.

- There has been this idea that you will succeed in communicating with young people just by doing something digital or mobile related. But you need to put some energy into communicating; she says and mentions the castle Kronborg as a positive example. Here the statue and protector of the Danish kingdom Holger Danske was brought back to life with 3D projections and sound.

There are several good digital exhibitions in Denmark, but according to Nanna Holdgaard the Danish museums in general are falling behind in an international perspective. She says that the English museums’ way of using the digital opportunities serve as a good example.

- The Museum of London has developed a Street Museum, where you - via your iPhone - can experience events from London's history in the place where the events actually took place, she said.

Online
It is not only the guests who buy tickets at the entrance of the museums who can get more value out of the digital development. In England, the Victoria and Albert Museum's web platforms have more than 10 million users per year, more than three times as many as the 3 million customers who approximately visit the museum in person. Nanna Holdgaard hopes that the Danish museums will develop their online platforms and thereby raise the accessibility for the many Danes who, because of geographical distance, disability or lack of time in everyday life, have limited opportunities of visiting museums.

- Digital communication make it possible for us to make the museums more accessible than they are today. Very few of us have the possibility to go to a museum just once a month, but when the museums' collections will be present on multiple online platforms, it means that more people will be able to use them, she concludes.

About Nodem
Nodem (Nordic Digital Excellence in Museums) is a Nordic forum established to exchange experience and best practice, on the use of new digital media in communicating with visitors and audiences, at museums, galleries, heritage attractions, natural and science discovery centres, etc. At the Nodem conferences people from museums, galleries, science and discovery centres, cultural/natural heritage sites and similar organisations meets to get inspiration to make digital platforms more exiting. There have been four Nodem conferences since 2003. At the Nodem 2010 Denmark is host for the first time.

About the IT University
The IT University of Copenhagen has existed since 1999 and is an independent university dedicated to the digital world. There are about 1,700 students and 270 employees here. The IT University researches and teaches in a wide spectrum of topics within the field of IT.

Additional information
Research Communicator Jari Kickbusch, 72185042, jark@itu.dk