Staff profile: Dr Lynda Kelly
Dr Lynda Kelly
© Australian Museum
- Position title:
- Manager Online, Editing and Audience Research
- Branch:
- Exhibitions & Creative Services
- Division:
- Public Programs & Operations
- Phone:
- +612 9320 6094
- Email:
- Contact Lynda Kelly using the form below
Profile
I am Manager Online, Editing and Audience Research at the Australian Museum, Sydney. In this role I oversee the management of the Museum's vast website and other programs such as social media, external websites and online content for exhibitions. I also look after the Museum's mobile strategy and projects, as well as generating digital content throughout the Museum's public spaces and online. The Museum has been conducting audience research for over 20 years now and I have managed to keep my hand in by supervising a range of staff, interns and projects in that area - undertaking research is still one of my main passions!
I have published widely in museum evaluation and write the Audience Research in museums blog and the Web 2.U blog that are widely followed and read. I am particularly interested in visitor experiences and learning and how these can be measured, young children’s learning, online learning as well as the strategic uses of audience research and new technologies in organisational change. I am happily obsessed with all things Web 2.0 and curious to see how this will change the world that museums operate within and the ways people learn. I am the Director of Museum3, a not-for-profit social network site for museum professionals, with an active, global membership of over 3,000. In 2007 I completed my PhD in museum learning, and now that's finished I am looking forward to the adventures the new web world will bring. In 2010 my latest book, Hot Topics, Public Culture, Museums, co-edited with Dr Fiona Cameron, University of Western Sydney, was released.
In the past two years I undertook a couple of different management roles. Most recently, a six-month stint as Head of Visitor Programs and Services at the Australian Museum looking after the learning, outreach, audience research, visitor programs, events and volunteer functions of the Museum, with an annual budget of $3.5 million, income of over $1 million and 30 staff (full, part-time, casual and volunteer). Prior to that I was Head of Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, Web and Audience Research managing two major outreach projects as well as the Museum’s audience research and evaluation function, with an operating budget of $1 million and 15 staff. Two key projects I oversaw in that role were delivering the 20th Anniversary of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, as well as the development and production of the Museum’s new website (yes, the one you're on now!).
I have been Partner Investigator (PI) on five major collaborative Australian Research Council projects:
- Exhibitions as contested sites: the role of museums in contemporary society (2000-2004, University of Sydney)
- Increasing visitor frequency (2004-2007, University of Technology, Sydney)
- New Literacies, New Audiences (2005-2008, Queensland University of Technology)
- Engaging With Social Media in Museums (2008-2010, Swinburne University of Technology)
- Hot Science Global Citizens (2008-2011, University of Western Sydney)
Other current research projects include:
- Identity-based personalised mobile content (2009-2012, Smart Services CRC)
- Measuring the Value of Mobile Applications (2010-2011, Smart Services CRC)
My other research projects include Museums Actively Researching Visitor Experiences and Learning a University of Technology Industry Seeding Grant (2001) Measuring the Impact of Museums on their Local Communities a University of Technology Industry Seeding Grant (2003) and Identity based personalised mobile content with University of Sydney/Smart Services CRC (2009-2011).
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Technology, Sydney
- Graduate Diploma in Employee Relations, University of Western Sydney
- Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Major, Macquarie University
Professional Memberships
Chair, MUSE Awards Judging Panel for Teaching and Outreach (2010)
Member, Peer Advisory Committee, Family Learning in Interactive Galleries IMLS National leadership Grant (2008-2010)
Board Member ICOM CECA (2004-2010)
Board Member, ICOM Australia (2005-2010)
Board Member, INTERCOM (2011-current)
Assessor, Australian Research Council (current)
Member Editorial Board, Journal of Visitor Studies, Visitor Studies Association (current)
Vice President and Board Member, Evaluation and Visitor Research Special Interest Group, Museums Australia Inc (1998-2003)
Board Member, Museums Australia NSW (1996-1999)
Member:
o Australasian Evaluation Society
o Australian Association of Educational Research
o International Council of Museums (ICOM)
o Museums Australia
o Visitor Studies Association