Knowledge management for collaborative exhibition development created Moussouri Theano

Museums increasingly develop exhibitions through collaboratives, a trend that demands the investigation of novel ways to facilitate the exchange of ideas and the documentation of knowledge gained. Current knowledge management technologies and tools can support such cross-organisational activities, yet they are limited in that they do not adequately cater for the particular requirements of this activity. In this article we show how the Mirror Knowledge Management System (MKMS), specifically designed to support collaborative exhibition development around a three-dimensional web-based environment founded upon the communities of practice concept, can facilitate geographically distributed collaboration and advance exhibition development practice. Through user studies we identify the key elements of the MKMS that add value to face-to-face interaction or enhance existing collaborative exhibition development practices. Moreover, we show how the MKMS supports professional development and on-the-job training, both recognised as highly desirable features in this setting.