Crossing the Technological Divide

   Andrew Hurley's article, "Chasing the Frontiers of Digital Technology: Public History Meets the Digital Divide," discusses some of the failures of technological innovations in the United States. These failures are attributed to deep social, economic, class, and racial divides. These divides create inaccessibility in the museum and a failure to animate civic engagement. 

    Technology is always advancing. But if an institute or organization fails to draw on local support or build up its local support, or recognize the hardships faced by its intended audience, then the institute or organization will fail. Hurley noted this when he discussed the Virtual City Project, which featured amazing technological advancements and updates by the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and its project partners. However, what do these tools mean if the targeted audience of the technological innovations isn’t involved or taught how or why the tools are important? And if this system isn’t maintained? By this point the organization has one of two choices: scrap the project (which would be expensive and prove a waste of time) or restructure their approach to how they plan to bring this technology to their audience.

Photo from Andrew Hurley, "Chasing the Frontiers of Digital Technology:
Public History Meets the Digital Divide," 73. 

    The partners involved in the Virtual City Project chose to restructure their approach. By combining digital, in-person, and community-powered mediums, the Virtual City Project was able to thrive and become accessible to the community it sought to represent.