Museums’ digital identity: key components

Abstract

Museums have widely used digital technologies to expand their societal and cultural impact. In terms of their use of information technologies (IT), museums have evolved from initial experiments in the 1950s to a significant online presence today. In the process of digital transformation, museums have shaped their digital identity, aiming to expand their activities beyond museum walls with emerging new roles in the digital era. The concept of museums’ digital identity is the focus of this paper. To articulate the concept, the theory of digital identity, the methodology of web history, the concept of virtual museums, and museum branding, are brought into consideration. The author articulates the concept of museums’ digital identity and outlines a number of components at the collective and individual levels embodied in national strategies and policy documents relating to digital transformation, articulated in statements by museum associations, revealed in features of their online presence, and embedded in brand design. In the conclusion, the author raises questions about the driving force of museums in developing digital identity and the need to comprehensively analyse the multiplatform museum presence.

Keywords:

• Museums
• digital identity
• digital environments
• information technologies
• museums on the web
• virtual museums

1. Introduction

Museums today play a multifaceted role in contemporary society. They preserve human creativity and culture, share knowledge, store and display valuable resources to foster research, and contribute to education, serving cultural growth (Aalst & Boogaarts, 2002; Alexander et al., 2017; Greenhill, 1992; Scott, 2006). Digital technologies help museums perform their functions and serve the public more effectively (Parry, 2009; Thomas, 2017). Understanding the values that technologies bring to museums not only reflects awareness of new opportunities but also grounds museums so that they can expand their functions beyond their walls, engaging diverse audiences online.

The introduction of information technologies (IT) in museums began with the digital turn of the mid-1950s. As innovations developed and were accepted by cultural institutions, the attitude of museums towards technology changed. Museums moved from the first experiments with IT in the 1950s and 1960s to their subsequent active implementation and development of digital transformation strategies (Povroznik, 2020a). Museums have undergone global changes, especially since the World Wide Web (WWW) opened up tremendous opportunities for the implementation of museum functions in a new way, combining activities for audiences on-site and online (Gaia et al., 2020). Museums gradually started creating websites, communicating on social networks, and producing digital content for virtual audiences.

With such advances there is always a need to test, assess, and validate procedures, to compare the costs—including financial, human, and other resources—in terms of potential benefits for any institution. Technological change assumes challenges and also brings growth opportunities (Wessel et al., 2021). The concept of digital identity is articulated here to understand the evolutionary processes of how museums respond to digital innovations, accept the technologies, and enhance their digital presence. The term ‘digital identity’ is used in the context of digital innovation processes regarding the transformation that happens with organisational identity (Hund, 2023). Changes in the digital identity of the organisation reflect the values that the organisation formulates and perceives (Wessel et al., 2021) and the ability to consciously implement IT in favour of long-term goals and sustainable development.

Articulation of the concept of museums’ digital identity is especially important due to the need for these cultural institutions to respond to the challenges of the digital era which presumes an always increasing impact of IT on all the spheres of human life, including economic, political, cultural, and other domains (Shepherd, 2003). It is expected that museums investing in digitisation, digital preservation, and innovative development will increase the positive impact on culture and society (Stow, 2011). However, this impact does not always directly correlate to quantitative data, such as the number of digitised items from museum collections or created virtual exhibitions and should be measured qualitatively (Milic, 2022). At the same time, implementing technologies in a valuable way to serve long-term goals of museums, is mirrored in museums’ digital identity because successful adoption of IT requires not only investments in digital tools but also thoughtful digital curatorial practices, community engagement, and an understanding of museums’ roles and functions in local and global contexts.

Comprehensive insight into museums’ digital identity requires consideration of museum initiatives in terms of different digital platforms. By digitising objects, making virtual tours, designing digital exhibitions, and so on, museums produce various content to be used on-site and online, and shape their digital ecosystem (Baldi, 2022). The creation of content for remote use and to attract online audiences reflects the transition of the physical museum to the virtual realm. The concept of museums’ digital identity is very much connected with the idea of the virtual museum as a digital extension of the physical museum (Schweibenz, 2019). Having the web as a centralized environment for the virtual museum reveals an understanding of the priorities of museums implemented into practice in the digital format and employed online.

The purpose of this paper is to consider museums’ digital identity as a concept and to identify its constituent components.

2. Relevant studies

Examination of museums’ digital identity is very much relevant to research on museums’ identity in general. Questions about what the museum is and what the specifics of museums are in comparison with other cultural institutions have long been under consideration. There are complex discussions on changing museum roles (Black, 2012; Janes, 2009), articulation of mission, and meanings (Anderson, 2019), values and ethics, including decolonisation (Coombes & Phillips, 2020; Edson, 1997), communities’ engagement, and communication (Falk & Dierking, 2000; Simon, 2010). The book Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift includes a collection of papers by museum innovators and scholars who examined changing roles of the museum in a historical perspective (Anderson, 2004). The next iteration of this book incorporated chapters on museums’ future development (Anderson, 2012), which contributed significantly to understanding the evolution of museum roles in the digital age.

More specifically, a museum’s identity can be considered via branding and brand design. Julian Stallabrass has analysed branding in Art museums and its meaning for operations in particular cultural institutions (Stallabrass, 2014). Brand design can be seen as a semiotic system (Chandler, 2022) or as a collection of signs and symbols that convey meaning in a cultural context which contributes to research relating to a museum’s identity. It operates within a network of cultural, social, and psychological interpretations that connect with individual and collective identities.

Shaping of museums’ digital identity goes in parallel with acceptance of IT and responses to relevant challenges including but not limited to technological ones (Hund, 2023; Wessel et al., 2021). The development of museums’ digital initiatives has been examined from the perspective of the practical application of various technologies and approaches to creation of digital resources (e.g. Parry, 2009), entertaining visitors and engaging communities in terms of amenities, improving existing resources, and designing new ones (Drotner et al., 2018; Winesmith & Anderson, 2020). The evolution of museums on the web is an integral aspect related to examining the acceptance of technologies by museums. The WWW allowed museums to reach audiences beyond physical walls. In this regard, the history of museums on the web has been considered from the perspectives of early website history. For instance, early digital museum resources, including those distributed on CD-ROM (Bowen, 2020), increasing interactivity (e.g. P. Arthur, 2018 studies the development of interactive technologies in physical and virtual museum spaces from a historical perspective), advancement of participatory practices (e.g. B. Axelsson 2010 investigates their evolution in the context of digital media), and transformation of museum functions (K. Perera and D. Chandra 2010 consider the movement towards people and meaning-oriented museum websites). At the core of the current discussions about the digital transformation of museums, there are the changes in museum roles, their impact on society, and the most effective ways to deliver these values to audiences through digital means (Eid, 2019; King et al., 2016). The museum’s vision of itself in the digital environment is a focus of research devoted to the democratisation of museums (Audunson et al., 2020), their openness, and the expansion of participatory practices mediated by digital technologies (Runnel & Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, 2014).

To summarise, scholarly research on museums’ identity explores the evolution of their roles, values, and mission, delves into the nuances of brand design and functioning of museums on the web, and examines the impact of technology on community engagement. However, the concept of museums’ digital identity requires more precise articulation, so as to define key components of this concept in the digital realm.

3. Research methodology

Museums’ digital identity can be considered within the framework of the theory of identity and especially its organizational aspects (Hatch & Schultz, 2004). There are several types of identity, including personal and group, which are divided into varieties. Identity may characterize the cultural, national, racial, gender and other specifics relating to a person, group of people, or communities (Burke, Stets, 2009). In the digital age identity theory inevitably draws attention to the features associated with the digital transformation of the world, institutions, organizations, people, and individuals (Davis, 2016). It is worth mentioning that the term “digital identity” is quite common in computer science and cybersecurity and implies a convergence of “a set of attributes related to an entity” (General Terms. ISO/IEC 24760-1:2019(E), 2019). In this regard, digital identity in such circumstances is presented as a kind of unique information necessary for validation of access to information. In this paper, the understanding of digital identity refers to organisations, and particularly to museums and encompasses a multi-faceted approach that integrates the theory of identity, collective and individual levels of organizational identity, and the specific characteristics of museums in relation to digital transformation.

The collective level of museums’ digital identity is reflected via activities of museum associations at the international level (especially the International Council of Museums, or ICOM), and analysis of digital strategies at the national scale. To analyze museums’ digital identity, identify the technologies that were the main trend in a particular period, trace their sustainability, and provide a foundation for longer-term research, the author explored proceedings of professional conferences and academic journals that offer insights into the strategies and technologies adopted by museums. Among these long-term professional initiatives in the museum field, there are the ICOM General Conference, MuseumNext, Museum Computer Network (MCN) conference, MuseWeb conference (formerly Museums and the Web), and NEMO European Museum Conference, among others. These materials help to dive deeper into the latest findings in the museum field, case studies, and identify best practices to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how museums are adapting to digital transformations, how these changes align with their broader mission and objectives, and eventually how they have shaped museums’ digital identity.

The individual level of museums’ digital identity is examined based on the study of digital initiatives of museums. An integral part of these initiatives is the creation of web-resources. Museums’ web presence is considered from the historical perspective through analysis of snapshots of museums’ websites from web archives. Web archives preserve and provide access to the interactive copies of websites collected in an aggregated format, uniting web pages and web content. They are available from 1996 in the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive (Internet Archive, n.d.) and on the platforms of archiving institutions and libraries aimed at web preservation such as the Australian national web archive TROVE (n.d.), which is referred to in this study.

Identification of the core pillars of museums’ digital identity requires bringing together historical approaches and understanding of museums’ web history (Brügger, 2018). The analysis of museums’ websites from the historical perspective has been a part of the project “Digital History of Virtual Museums” (Digital History of Virtual Museums, n.d.), undertaken by the author of this paper. The study was conducted based on an analysis of snapshots of museums’ websites preserved via web archives. The valuable insights on this topic are placed on the website of the project including five case studies from different museums across the globe. Study of the snapshots of museum websites made it possible to observe the preserved digital content, analyse the place of the website in the museum’s functioning, its roles, values and meaning for the museums, and ultimately identify the key components of digital identity related to this sphere.

Examining museum websites is closely linked to the concept of a virtual museum, which can broadly be seen as a digital extension of the physical museum space (Schweibenz, 2019). A website is an important part of the museum’s digital environment because online platforms expand the museum’s reach and audience engagement, increase educational and cultural impact, enhancing museum activities. Taking into account multiplatform digital presence including the outreach of museums on social media, the museum’s website is central to the digital environment and reflects the museum’s digital identity in a key way.

To identify the level of development of the website as a virtual museum, the classification by Forte and Franzoni was used in the study reported on in this paper (Forte & Franzoni, 1998; Gaia, 1999). The classification is based on the idea of interactivity, the value that the website may bring to the virtual visitor, and the range of resources offered for online exploration in comparison with opportunities to explore the physical museum. According to the authors, there are three ways to create a virtual museum, or in other words, three types of websites that can be considered as a virtual museum: “simulated”, “information”, and “real virtual museum” (Forte & Franzoni, 1998; Gaia, 1999). It is suggested that not all museum websites are virtual museums or convey particular value for remote audiences. This classification correlates with the concept of the digital identity of museums in terms of understanding the role of the online environment for museum activities and the exploration of digital content by remote users.

The theory of semiotics shapes the ground for consideration of some components of digital museum identity at the individual level. Semiotics helps to bring insights into the museum’s digital identity through the interpretation of the symbolic meaning of text and other sign systems and cultural practices (Chandler, 2022). From the perspective of semiotic theory, digital identity is mediated by the whole system of signs communicated through various means including websites, social media platforms, mobile apps, and other channels, and it supports the “ideological” functions of the museum. The components at the semiotic level are identified and represented in this paper as a part of museums’ digital identity.

Semiotic theory is aligned with museums’ branding orientation (Bridson & Evans, 2007), which is an approach to the museum’s brand as a strategic asset. The brand orientation of a museum encapsulates its unique identity, values, and purpose, translating these elements into a recognizable and compelling brand. Brand orientation in the museum context aims to go beyond mere visual elements of style to integrate the museum’s mission and values into every aspect of its activities and functioning in general. In the digital environment, including websites, brand orientation identifies the specifics of the museum to be differentiated not only from other cultural institutions online but also from other museums.

The methodology implemented in this research aims to bring different perspectives on museums’ digital identity to offer insights for both practitioners and scholars in the museum field.

4. Museums’ digital identity

4.1. Shaping the concept

As we delve into the analysis of museums’ digital identity, it is crucial to frame the discussion within the broader context of organizational identity. Understanding a museum not just as a repository of objects but as an organizational entity opens up perspectives on its mission, goals, structure, and long-term strategy. With this approach, we can better appreciate the complexities and synergies that go into shaping a museum’s unique character, especially in the constantly evolving digital sphere.

When the museum is considered as an organization, as a type of cultural institution which is faced with the complexities of the digital age and from the perspective of organisational theory, it has to “encourage new perspectives on organisations and the challenge of change represented by technology” (Peacock, 2008). An organization can be understood as a group of people, a cluster of individuals who work in a common direction, it has an organisational culture, set of objectives, and mission statement. For organizations, identity is necessary to effectively articulate and achieve their goals (Paulsen, 2002). The identity of the organization reflects an understanding of the specifics of the activity, as revealed in the strategic decisions and the manifested mission.

Museums’ digital identity is largely related to the ability to distinguish itself, its functions, and its information products from other types of institutions, their functions and resources. For instance, comparing museum websites with those of other organizations, some content may appear to be very similar to the resources of archives, libraries, or academic organizations (e.g. digital galleries, virtual exhibitions, or electronic catalogues of images can be produced by all of these institutions). These specific features of museums in comparison with other cultural institutions include a combination of aspects such as curation of objects and/or ideas, specific educational and research missions, engagement communities, and the ability to produce various narratives for different audiences.

4.2. The collective level of museums’ digital identity

These specific features referred to above can be expressed at both the macro level of collective identity and the individual level of separate museums. The collective level of identity is manifested at the national or global level through the key documents and statements of museum associations. In a condensed way, the identity of the museum as an organization is expressed in the definition proposed by ICOM in 2022: “A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing” (Museum Definition, n.d.). This definition articulates the idea of what is a museum as an organization today and identifies its specific features.

Regarding museums’ digital identity, the previously mentioned statement does not directly express any digital component relating to the activities of museums. The round of discussions before shaping the final version of the new definition involved requesting input from the ICOM national branches, and some of these included a strong digital component that was reflected in the intermediate results of the discussion rounds (Results of Consultation 2, 2021). The absence of explicit mention of digital activities in the definition may suggest that digital identity is not yet universally considered a core aspect of what constitutes a museum as a cultural institution. At the same time, the inclusion of digital activities in the intermediate rounds of discussion indicates the growing recognition of its importance for some national branches. The precise articulation of digital components in a museum’s identity can be interpreted as an institutional commitment to innovation and inclusivity in the digital environment, and for broader reach beyond museums’ physical walls. On the other hand, the fact that some national branches of ICOM included digital elements while others did not may point to a divide in how different museums—or perhaps even different museum cultures—view the role of digital technology in a museum’s mandate.

Even taking into account different perspectives on the definition of the museum and emphasis on digital initiatives as a key feature of the museum, it is possible to consider the collective level of museums’ digital identity. Museums are often united at the national level and participate in shaping common development strategies, including those related to digital transformation. Articulation of digital activities in national strategies emphasizes museums’ activities and development in the national domain. Museum associations at the national level also lead significant discussions on shaping the future of museums and the role of digital transformation (Stephens, 2023).

Strategies, defined at the collective level, set the general direction or provide frameworks for individual museum activities. Collective decisions can influence the direction and evolution of the individual level of identity, while at the museum level the priorities and nuances of museums’ digital identity are more vividly expressed. Each museum’s digital presence shows the adaptability of the particular museum to digital technologies, and its vision for future development.

4.3. Individual level of museums’ digital identity

At the level of separate (individual) museums, digital identity embodies an understanding of the importance of digital transformation and recognition of the role of digital means and resources in the overall functioning of a particular museum. This level refers to museum practices, implementation, and use of IT for fulfilment of short- and long-term goals. Specific activities related to this include development of the digital environment, digitisation and digital preservation, establishing and maintaining online spaces, creating websites, and producing valuable content for virtual visitors, engaging with communities via social media, and so on. More broadly, these activities are related to shaping the digital ecosystem of the museum and its use (Baldi, 2022). Virtual museums represent an important part of this ecosystem that is orientated toward online visitors to the museum and other external consumers of the digital content.

The virtual museum serves as an extension of the physical museum (Schweibenz, 2019) and by this it expands the functions of the museum, letting it act beyond the physical museum’s walls. The museum’s website plays a crucial role in the analysis of the museum’s digital identity because it serves as the primary interface where the visitors search for information about the museum and explore its collections, exhibitions, educational resources, and others. Many of today’s museum websites consolidate information from social media channels, mobile apps, and other related platforms of the museum’s digital ecosystem and provide a unified space where visitors can navigate and discover the information and resources they are looking for. When the museum’s website includes complex interactive features it can be considered as a virtual museum (Forte & Franzoni, 1998; Gaia, 1999).

Classification of virtual museums according to Forte and Franzoni assumes that there are three types of these entities:

1. “Simulated museum” – trying to re-create the experience of visiting the actual museum (virtual tours, and so on) without adding any information. According to this approach, to visit the museum or to visit the website should be the same.

2. “Information” – the website is an instrument to use before or after the visit, and it offers a lot of information not available at the actual museum.

3. The “real virtual museum” – a website is in many ways independent from the actual museum, with many sections and exhibitions residing only on the Internet. This kind of virtual museum is not narrowly focused on the actual museum (Forte & Franzoni, 1998; Gaia, 1999).

At the root of this are opportunities to explore the museum in terms of the analysis of digital identity because it brings differentiation to the understanding of the roles of the websites for the museums themselves. Today museum websites are very different in terms of brand design, complexity and variety of the content that is placed online, and the specific features for search, exploration and engagement. However, to understand the development of museums’ digital identity and the evolutionary character of such identity, there is a need to bring a historical perspective to the study.

The analysis of websites from a historical perspective and the identification of a set of the components of museums’ digital identity at the individual level can be achieved through the study of the history of virtual museums as information resources (Povroznik, 2020b). The first websites were very different from what we have now in terms of the diversity of formats, interactivity, and specific features, not only due to constraints of the technologies of that time. It required decades of progress to develop fully-fledged virtual museums enriched with diverse and interactive content. Historical analysis can show shifts in the perception of technologies by individual museums, highlight key trends, and show development of the types of content that were displayed for users.

Digital identity is revealed via a complex of factors on websites, some of them referring to the digital content museums develop and implement, others to the image and branding expressed via visual means. The key component of museums’ digital identity that can be observed from analysis of their websites is the set of digital online initiatives. Digital initiative is a term from computer science which means “identifiable competitive moves that depend on digital resources to create and appropriate economic value” (Piccoli et al., 2022). In the context of museum studies, it refers to particular actions in the production of digital content to enhance the cultural value of the museum’s presence online. Digital initiatives are reflected in the versatile content aimed at the virtual visitor’s exploration.

Another component that helps us to mark museums’ digital identity relates to digital content produced by museums for specific audiences. It is important that these target audiences are clearly articulated so that specific categories of users are identified. The first websites often did not indicate any particular groups according to ages, professional or learning category, or social strata for example. Rather, the vision of the virtual visitor was very general or perhaps too specific. For instance, the snapshots of the website of the National Museum of Australia made in the 1990s show teachers as the only specifically identified category of audience. However, in the second decade of 2000 educational resources were expanded and included materials for such virtual audiences as “Kids”, “Families”, and “Adults” (Classroom Resources, National Museum of Australia, 2016). The contemporary website of the museum includes diverse online learning spaces with various interactive elements for studying and exploration aimed at different audiences according to the level of education (Digital Classroom, National Museum of Australia, n.d.). Creation of the specific content for different audiences indicates an increasing understanding the value of the online environment and the importance of the museum’s activities on the web.

The digital identity and priorities of museums can also be traced via analysis of museums’ website home pages. The home page is important because it serves as the virtual entrance or “front door” to the museum, offering the first impression to online visitors. The design, content, digital initiatives, and functionality of the home page are crucial in communicating the museum’s mission, values, and brand. Moreover, the home page reflects the museum’s priorities and strategic focus at a given time.

The home page of the museum website demonstrates the priorities of the museum in its functioning. By analysing the visual and textual messages on such websites it is possible to determine the role and place of digital initiatives and the virtual museum as a whole in terms of the museum’s functioning. It is especially interesting in the early years on the web, when many museums’ website representation of “physical” space dominated, and websites served mainly to invite the virtual visitor to the museum on-site. With the advancement of web technology and the development of museums’ digital identity, digital activities online have been taking a significant role. It is possible to detect the change in these trends via visual aids on websites (such as photos, images, animations, etc.). Initially, many museums published photographs of the entrance to the physical museum on the home page of the website, thereby inviting the visitor to the museum on-site. There is an example of the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), where for a long time a photograph published on the home page depicted the iconic architecture of the museum’s building and the entrance to the museum itself (Metropolitan Museum, 1996). Gradually, such photos on the home page were replaced by images of museum objects. The MET began publishing highlights from the museum’s collections on the home page of the website (Metropolitan Museum, 2000), and this and other examples can be interpreted as a shift in the priorities of the museum towards digital representation of museum collections.

Digital identity also can be reflected via brand design implemented on websites. The naming of a website in general or some parts of it can serve as a part of the museum brand online. Initially, naming aimed to highlight the specifics of digital content and to emphasize the distinction between “physical” and “virtual” content (for example, titles such as Web Museum, Digital Museum, Museum Online, Museum Explorer, Virtual Museum, etc. appeared). Also, special titles were formulated for different types of digital content (for example, Virtual Tours, Digital Collections, Virtual Exhibitions, Online Exhibits, and others). The pursuit of the specific naming indicates the need to define new content and its features and designate the resource as a virtual component or extension of the physical museum in the digital format. This specific naming can be considered as an endeavour toward building the museum’s brand and the reflection of its digital identity.

An important part of the museum’s brand refers to museum mottos, logos, attractive visual aids, interactive tools which favour the online space, digital initiatives, and activities. Digital identity can be reflected via mottos displayed on the website. An example of a motto that reflects the shift in digital identity is case of the British Museum. In the 1990s the website embraced virtual visitors with the phrase: “Welcome to the British Museum, one of the great museums of the world. This Web site will provide you with access to information about the collections on display in the museum’s galleries and will help you plan your visit” (The British Museum, 1997). In the early 2000s, the motto was replaced with “The British Museum, illuminating world cultures. Explore. Understand. Navigate” (The British Museum, 2000). At the same time, the website included more digital initiatives for online exploration, aimed at virtual visitors in the online environment.

Web design and user experience (UX design) are interconnected with museums’ branding (Colladon et al., 2020) and translate brand identity into an online context, ensuring that visitors have a cohesive, intuitive, and guided experience in exploring and interacting with museums’ resources online. In this sense, website and UX designs can be considered as a part of a museum’s brand and also serve as a component of a museum’s digital identity. UX design reveals abstract and concrete levels of implementation (Garrett, 2003). UX design can be reflected through navigation elements of the website such as search forms, menu bars, labels, buttons, interactive elements, icons, hierarchy of the webpages, links, etc. All help to shape an important part of museums’ digital identity.

Museum branding in the digital environment includes new aspects reflected in naming, mottos, web and UX design. They reveal the intended meaning of a museum’s presence in the virtual domain and shape the full picture (image) of the museum on the web. Each choice by the museum from naming to design communicates layers of meaning, reflecting the museum’s evolving identity in the digital era.

Museums’ online presence has a multiplatform character and encompasses not only the website of a particular museum and satellite websites that are used for separate exhibitions or projects (if any), but also mobile applications, social media platforms, and other resources aimed to fulfil museum functions in terms of engagement with remote communities, ensuring openness, and spreading knowledge. These platforms can be considered as components of the museum’s digital identity as well. The museum’s activities on social media support audience engagement by the museum, fostering communities around shared interests in museum topics. Mobile applications offer a personalized experience for museum visitors, enhancing on-site visits with interactive tours, virtual reality features, and educational content, which often can also be used remotely. These apps can also extend a museum’s influence beyond its physical boundaries, enabling global audiences to access collections and experience exhibitions from a distance.

The interconnectedness between collective and individual levels is a dynamic interplay where collective strategies often set broad directions and values, while individual museums interpret and realize these within their unique contexts. As individual museums innovate and evolve, their experiences can influence and shape collective thinking and strategies. This symbiotic relationship ensures both levels are constantly evolving alongside one another.

5. Discussion: components of museums’ digital identity

As already indicated, museums’ digital identity can be traced in terms of two dimensions, the collective and individual levels. They are summarised and represented in Table 1.

Table 1. Components of Museums’ Digital Identity.

Level of digital identity	Components	Embodiment
Collective level	Articulation of what the museum is as an organisation	Definition of the museum in statements by national and international museum associations
	Reflection of digital initiatives in museums’ mission, their goals, values, and roles	Key documents and reports by museum associations at the international and national levels
	Reflection of digital initiatives in the strategies of digital transformation of the museum sector	Strategic and policy documents and reports at the national level
Individual level	Reflection of digital initiatives in museums’ missions, their goals, values, and roles	Key documents and reports on museum activities
	Reflection of digital initiatives in digitisation and digital transformation	Key documents and reports on museum activities
	Digital initiatives on the web, actual level of implementation of the virtual museum	Features of the museum’s website(s), variety of interactive means (such as digital collections, virtual tours and exhibitions, etc.)
	Range of targeting audiences online	Digital content for the specific audiences placed on the virtual museum’s platforms
	The balance between activities in the “physical” museum and opportunities to explore the virtual museum	The clear articulation on the home page of the range of activities online via textual, visual and other means
	Integration of the ‘digital’ aspect into the museum’s brand design	Mottos, logos, naming, web and UX design
	Multiplatform digital presence, and integrated digital ecosystem of the museum	Range of digital activities on the website(s), social media, and mobile applications

Digital identity is represented by a complex of identified components which are interconnected and dependant on each other. Also, it is influenced by the identity of the museum as a cultural institution, revealing the balance between the activities of the museum in physical space and in digital environments. As the museum’s digital identity is formed, the digital initiatives become increasingly significant and comparable to the attention paid to the activities on-site in the museum. However, this prioritisation is often difficult to objectively articulate and measure to assess the museum’s digital identity.

Digital identity is a dynamic characteristic in nature. Shifts in identity can be traced from the historical perspective, revealing changes, dependencies, and influential factors. Tracing the development of the museum’s web presence is not enough for comprehensive research on the museum’s digital identity. It is also important to dive deeply into the history of the acceptance of the technologies in general before the web. Identification of the complex components of museums’ digital identity is aimed at assessing and tracing these characteristics which belong to the particular museum to understand the priorities of today’s context and forecast trajectories for future development. Addressing museums’ digital identity enables institutions to better align their mission, values, and goals with current activities to sustain their growth in the digital era.

An important question for further research on museums’ digital identity relates to the gradation by status of defined components and their classification. It is obvious that not all of the components have the same value in terms of museums’ activity. For example, the wider activities of a particular museum on social media, and regular publishing of the posts do not necessarily assume a strong impact on society apart from networking and maintaining the public interest. The questions regarding digital initiatives, presence of museums on social media, and other activities have not been reflected in detail in this paper. These issues require more precise attention, as well as issues of quality of the created content and the ways to measure and assess digital initiatives as a component of museums’ digital identity.

Museums can be located in different parts of the spectrum of digital identity development. While some institutions may have a well-defined and comprehensive digital presence that aligns with their overall mission and values, others might be in the nascent stages of digital engagement, offering a more limited or less cohesive online presence. This spectrum of digital identity development requires more precise articulation of the stages, such as well-defined, emergent, fragmented, nascent or other digital identity reflecting adoption of technologies and integration of digital platforms into the museum’s broader strategy for community engagement, educational outreach, and cultural representation and other functions.

6. Conclusion

The concept of museums’ digital identity refers to a self-positioning of museums in digital environments, and also a vision of uniqueness in museum functions implemented via digital means. It corresponds to the purposeful use of IT by museums, the development of digital infrastructures, and the creation of digital resources, including the development of web content, and its publication online, which can bring new perspectives to a museum’s growth. The concept of museums’ digital identity is shaped by an awareness of the value and significance of the digital content produced for target online audiences.

The question of the driving force behind the development of museums’ digital identity remains to be further explored, as well as the role of technology and innovation in this process. In addition, attention should be paid to the multilayered character of museums’ digital identity, which needs to be studied more comprehensively. Museum websites and snapshots of websites from web archives are some of the key sources for exploring museums’ digital identity, but are not the only ones. Of particular interest are social networks, as well as mobile application repositories, which can show networks of communication channels and other options for digital initiatives.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nadezhda Povroznik

Dr. Nadezhda Povroznik is a Research Associate, at the Institute for History (at the Chair of Humanities Data Science and Methodology), at Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), with more than 15 years of experience in the Digital Humanities field, with a focus on Digital History, Web History, and Virtual Museology, the author of the project on Digital History of Virtual Museums.