Introduction to my thesis- Sydney Arcuri

My thesis topic is discussing the different types of digitization used in museums and other collection-based institutions and how these technologies shape the way in which museum collections are accessed by the general public. From my class in research methods that I took last semester my overall thesis and abstract have not changed all the much. This is the current iteration of my abstract as of 1/16/2024:

This thesis paper will focus on museum digitization technologies and examine the promises museums make regarding this technology. Museum digitization has the potential to provide numerous educational and interpretive possibilities to a worldwide audience from anywhere in the world anytime. However, as technology advances and becomes more readily available, museums and other collection-based institutions make promises surrounding these technologies with little to none anticipated or expected obstacles. Firsthand experience observed through a summer internship at the Field Museums in Chicago, Illinois serves as a base foundation for this thesis. Primarily focusing on digitization, this internship allows for an avenue to test whether these promises of digitization are possible. Paired along with comparative analysis with other organizations, the validity of these museums goals of digitization will be scrutinized and questioned. The scale and size of these comparative institutions was taken into consideration since museums of different scales experience things different from one other. The goal of my thesis is to first explain what is digitization and some different technologies that are commonly utilized. Then this thesis aims to explore whether museums are over ambitious when it comes to the digitization of their collections. This thesis asks if museums can really live up to their grand pronouncements of having all of their objects digitized within the next few years. Asking can they really do this or is it even physically possible given the limitations of outside factors such as budget, time, staff, resources, collections, and other similar variables.