Click to the past

This study focuses on users of digital cultural heritage. Since the internet has become a frequently used source of information, heritage institutions have been digitising their collections in order to make them available to a large audience. For nearly ten years, heritage organizations, policy makers, and advisory bodies have been discussing issues such as the optimisation of digitising heritage content and information, and the design of national and international preservation policies. In recent years, the technical aspects of digitisation was no longer the principal issue. Usability, user experiences and needs have become more and more important. As the number of ways in which the content can be presented has grown, the importance for organizations to know how people use heritage websites grows too. But for many heritage content suppliers, it is unclear who is using their content, how it is used and whether users are satisfied with what is offered. Hence, the main question this study puts forth is: Who are the users of cultural heritage websites and what is their purpose when visiting websites? A long summary of the Dutch study is provided here in English