MOSI-ALONG: social media, the museum and the community

Information stored in non-formal educational institutions such as museums can be perceived as a resource for local communities, who may perceive and interpret the information in ways that differ from classification systems in use by curators. These perceptions may be collected and disseminated by Web 2.0 technologies and social media, a process which has been called 'crowdsourcing'. However, in order to retain quality of content, some form of moderation of crowdsourced content is usually seen as desirable. The MOSI-ALONG project at Manchester is designed to facilitate both sides of this process, creation and moderation, building a digital 'bridge' between museum content and social media through user-centered design. We will then evaluate the impact it has on the learning outcomes available to both communities.