Resumen de Integrating technological means in small museums: the case of The Historical & Folklore Museum Of Kalamata, Greece
Vasiliki Anevlavi, Athanasia Fragkou, Maria – Eleni Mavropoulou, Angeliki Antoniou
This research aims to address the needs of small and local museums when it comes to the attraction of tourists, both foreign and domestic, through the use of new technological means. As a case study, the Historical & Folklore Museum of Kalamata that is located in the Messenian Prefecture, Greece has been chosen. This museum attracts more than 2000 visitors per year, and this can be considered a great number, taking into consideration its size and complicated layout. In order to make the right suggestions that would fit exactly the needs of the museum, intensive observation sessions took place. Two different sets of questionnaires were prepared and distributed via social media, and after the visitor tours. Moreover, interviews were carried out with all the employees, and also a complete space syntax analysis was conducted so as to outline the interaction between visitor and museum space. The proposals were based on the identified requirements and the space utilization. Some of the technologies proposed are: the creation of a user friendly website, mobile and tablet auto guides (mobile storytelling application), the creation of a computer “corner” on the ground floor for the needs of disabled people, TV screens showing stories and documentaries based on each thematic area of the museum, and VR and AR applications. Moreover, taking into consideration that there are 22 Folklore Museums in the Messenian Prefecture, 6 indoor and outdoor museums in the city of Kalamata, and since the building itself is considered an important architectural element of the city, the creation of an application that would embed the Historical and Folklore Museum of Kalamata in cultural routes of folklore and architectural interest was suggested. The majority of the proposals is low cost and can be easily adapted by small museums.
