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ABSTRACT: This article is an attempt to frame a way of seeing museums after the digital revolution. By introducing the concept of the 'postdigital', its aim is to evidence a tipping point in the adoption of new media in the museum-a moment where technology has become normative. The intention is not to suggest that digital media today is (or, indeed, should be) universally and equally adopted and assimilated by all museums, but rather to use the experience of several (national) museums to illustrate the normative presence digital media is having within some organizational strategies and structures. Having traced this perceived normativity of technology in these localized institutional settings, the article then attempts to reflect upon the consequences that the postdigital and the normative management of new media have for our approach to museological research.
KEYWORDS: change, digital, museum, normativity, organization, postdigital, technology
Introduction
This article is an attempt to frame a way of seeing museums after the digital revolution. By introducing the concept of the 'postdigital', the aim here is to evidence a tipping point in the adoption of new media in the museum-a moment when technology has become normative and an "instrumental ought" (Barham 2012: 93). The intention is not to suggest that digital media today is (or, indeed, should be) universally and equally adopted and assimilated by all museums, but rather to use the experience of several (national) museums in the UK to illustrate the normative presence digital media is having within some organizational strategies and structures. Drawing upon the concept of technological 'capture' from Friedel (2012), what we will see in these museums are traces of this 'normativity' (a term used advisedly in this context) in their preparedness for a postdigital organizational structure, in their blended approaches to media and production, in their multiplatform vision and brand, and in the influence of digital thinking on (in some cases) nondigital activity in the institution. Having traced this perceived normativity of technology in these localized institutional settings, the article then attempts to reflect upon some of the consequences that the postdigital and the normative management of new media have for our approach to museological research. It will be suggested that digital heritage research (in this postdigital condition) can be characterized by an...