I updated the Campbell House Museum blog today, as well as the facebook page. These are two projects I started before I left for Natchez, MS this summer.
The facebook page came as the result of a board member suggesting to me that the museum should get on facebook. Since creating the page, it has really started to take off. Facebook allows the museum to update the world on the latest news. We post pictures and link the blog to it each week. The page started in May and we currently have 46 fans, many in St. Louis but also across the country. Fans can post pictures, links, or comments about the museum. Some of the comments include -
"I have sent 8th graders to Campbell House for three years on the annual "St. Louis Adventure" field trip. The kids always come back so surprised by how much they liked it, and I think it perfectly encapsulates a key time in St. Louis history. Thanks for your generosity and everything you do."
"I am so impressed by the recent restorations made to the house. It is by far one of the finer house museums in the area, and I encourage everyone to see it for themselves."
Another comment about the facebook page itself was "I'm so glad to see that Campbell House is embracing this new technology - what a wonderful new way to get word out (far beyond St. Louis) about the museum and its collection........".
In fact, this is just one way that Campbell House has embraced new technology. In addition to the facebook page, I started a weekly blog for the museum in May. I came up with this idea from a "Foundations of Museology II" class about Web 2.0 programs. We had talked about creating a blog that is "written" by a character. I started to think about that with Campbell House and remembered how real the family became for me when I spent a summer reading 300 of their personal letters. I wanted others to have the experience to really get to know the Campbells, in their own words, and so proposed doing a "This week in history" blog, featuring family letters.
The blog has opened many doors for people to learn about the Campbell family. Each week, a Campbell family letter is posted - we try to make sure that the date corresponds with that week in history, but sometimes have to do a different letter. We try to include a little information on the letter and always link it to the facebook page. Our numbers have been steadily growing on the blog visits as well - since May, we have had over 400 visits in just 22 posts!
These are two projects that I am truly proud of. I hope that as the museum embraces social networking and Web 2.0 technology, many new people will fall in love with the Campbells as I have!
Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Louis-MO/Campbell-House-Museum/57253224411?ref=ts
Blog - http://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.com/
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