MuseWeb and its Conferences

The MW (MuseWeb) conferences convene annually in North America and Asia. Our meetings and proceedings feature advanced research and exemplary applications of digital practice for cultural, natural and scientific heritage. Formed by leading professionals from around the world, our community has been meeting since 1997, and recognizing the best in cultural heritage innovation through the GLAMi awards annually. More than 1,400 papers from the past 25 years of MW conferences are freely accessible online and offer an unparalleled resource for museum workers, technologists, students and researchers that grows every year.

Our next event, MW21, the 25th annual MuseWeb North American conference, will occur April, 2021. be hosted virtually.

From its meetings, MW publishes annual proceedings recording the best in cultural practice from the preceding year. The MW papers are freely available online and available in print form. The MW team also provides consulting services on technology and innovation in the cultural sector, and helps organizations recruit consultants and staff for their projects and teams. MuseWeb.net is a collaborative space for professionals creating culture, science and heritage on-line, hosted by the MuseWeb team.

The MuseWeb Program

MW offers a range of professional learning opportunities, from plenary sessions to un-conference sessions, from formal papers to informal networking, from museum project demonstrations to commercial exhibits, from professional debates to lightning talks, from how-to sessions to crit rooms and the GLAMi awards. Prior to the conference, there are half-day workshops and pre-conference tours. Social events include receptions each evening, and lots of refreshment breaks provide plenty of time to meet and talk with colleagues.

Who Comes to MuseWeb?

All kinds of people from around the world come to MuseWeb. You will find webmasters, educators, curators, librarians, designers, managers, directors, scholars, consultants, programmers, analysts, publishers and developers from museums, galleries, libraries, science centers, and archives – as well as the companies, foundations and governments that support them – at MuseWeb every year.

Why Join Us?

Connect with professionals around the world, and help build our collective expertise and find out the latest news from the cultural and tech sector as well as which jobs have just been posted!

How to Join Us

Set up your account, and participate. Registration is free and open to all working in the field [broadly defined], or studying museum/cultural informatics. if you’re already registered, update your profile with a photo and bio so others can find you and connect.

Contributing Jobs and News
Posting comments
Making an MW and MWA proposal [all co-authors need accounts in order to be listed in the program]
Nominating a project for a GLAMi award
Voting for the GLAMies.

If you’d like a free account, please register. Please abide by our terms of use.

A group of six people stand around a computer and try to fix a problem at the MWXX conference in LA.

History

Museums and the Web was founded by David Bearman and Jennifer Trant who hosted its first conference in Los Angeles in 1997. At the time, museums were at the beginning of exploring the Internet as a new platform, experience, and place to engage audiences and participants. Putting “museums” and the “web” together was a radical gesture that ultimately transformed the field. MW conferences have been held annually in North America every year since.

In 2011 Museums and the Web LLC was created by partners Titus Bicknell, Rich Cherry, Hiroko Kusano, and Nancy Proctor and began operating and managing the Museums and the Web (MW) Conferences. Shortly after that, in 2012, MW began holding conferences, workshops, and other meetings in Asia, Europe, and Australia.

In 2013 MWX, MuseWeb’s exhibition initiative was launched. MWX happens alongside the conference each year and is guest curated. MWX seeks to bring innovate art to inspire attendees to push the boundaries of how we use digital tools in our day to day work.

In 2016, MW launched the MuseWeb Foundation to support, catalyze, and undertake innovative projects that transform the business of culture, helping the cultural sector become more sustainable, accessible, and relevant. Our flagship program, Be Here, supports communities and organizations in gathering and publishing authentic cultural stories to create a more inclusive cultural record. Also in 2016 the “Best of the Web Awards” was expanded and renamed the GLAMi Awards, short for “The Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums Innovation” awards recognizes the best GLAM work in the sector. Projects are nominated by GLAM professionals from around the world and reviewed by a committee of peers.

In 2020 MuseWeb was one of the first conferences to go virtual during the Covid-19 pandemic. Utilizing Microsoft Teams and Second Life the event included more than 350 attendees, 106 presenters and 47 sessions. Also, in 2020, after planning and running the successful virtual conference, Nancy Proctor stepped down as Co-Chair and both her and Titus Bicknell stepped back from the daily operation of the event. Hiroko Kusano and Rich Cherry remained involved with Rich as co-chair along with a rotating guest co-chairs and Hiroko managing the business and logistics.

Today, the MW conferences go far beyond museums and the web, including participants from galleries, libraries, archives as well as art practitioners and technologists from connected spheres. Our programs have expanded accordingly to look at innovation across the cultural field, whether facilitated by the web and connected technologies or new practices using other tools and methods.