Museums in the digital environment and younger generations as their users

Digitalna prisutnost muzeja čini integralni dio njihove prisutnosti u društvu čime njihova promocija i korištenje dobiva novu dimenziju, posebice iz perspektive mlađih generacija koje su usko povezane s digitalnim svijetom. Međutim, oni su i jedna od manje zastupljenih skupina korisnika muzeja. Ovim radom istražuju se karakteristike hrvatskih muzeja u digitalnom okružju u usporedbi s australskim muzejom kod kojeg se bilježi veliki raspon različitog digitalnog sadržaja. U sklopu rada se također istražila prisutnost muzejskog digitalnog sadržaja u životu i obrazovanju mladih putem ankete o digitalnim navikama pripadnika studentske populacije vezano uz njihovo korištenje digitalnog i fizičkog muzeja s naglaskom na protekle dvije godine. Usporedna analiza digitalnog sadržaja pokazala je da hrvatski muzeji moraju poraditi na svojoj digitalnoj prisutnosti koja je tek u razvojnoj fazi ali pokazuje obećavajući napredak, dok anketno istraživanje pokazuje da studentska populacija usko povezuje digitalni i fizički sadržaj muzeja i predlažu pojačani razvoj digitalne prisutnosti muzeja kao najbolji poticaj za fizički posjet.The digital presence of museums forms an integral part of their social role and adds a new dimension to the promotion and use of their content, especially from the point of view of the younger generations which are tightly connected to the digital world. However, they are also one of the more underrepresented groups of museum visitors. This paper examines the characteristics of Croatian museums in the digital environment and compares them with an Australian museum which boasts an impressive variety of diverse digital content. The paper also examines the presence museum digital content has in the life and education of the student population through a questionnaire enquiring about their habits when it comes to the use of digital and physical museum content with an emphasis on the last two years. The comparative analysis has shown that Croatian museums must improve their digital presence, which is only in its infancy, however, the development of their digital content does look promising, whereas the results of the questionnaire have shown that the student population forms a clear connection between digital and physical museum content and have directly suggest an improved digital presence as the best way to incite a physical visit to the museum