Introduction: Museums and Digital Confidence

In this introductory chapter, the volume’s editors (Ross Parry, Vince Dziekan, and Karin de Wild) explain the book’s aim to explore the evolving nature of digital confidence in museums, why it has faltered (at times), why it matters (especially in times when the global pandemic made us question how we work productively and function sustainably), and how it may flourish (now, and as an integral part of the museum’s post-digital future). Introducing each of the authors and their contributions, the editors emphasise the diversity of expertise that has been brought together in the volume – from museology, museum management, organisational studies, curatorial practice, and cultural policy. The editors describe the three parts of the book, which present how museums can build digital confidence by: navigating new ways of working (Part I, Organisation); managing their collections (Part II, Collection); and curating exhibitions (Part III, Interface). The editors suggest how together these chapters show there is no single pathway to digital confidence. Instead, the key to building digital confidence, they propose, comes not from searching for a common sector-wide approach, but rather by framing the unique experience of each individual, each team, and each institution.<p></p>