Taking the Bodleian less seriously (with GIFs)
It’s actually not an easy question. The audience is largely scholars and bookworms who probably pronounce GIF “gee eye eff.” Your bosses are academics who discourage experimentation, especially among young persons. It’s one thing for MedievalReacts to do it, but the Bod itself?
Not just because of randoms who liked silly stuff like the above, but because it’s a clever way to share some of the items that are otherwise best experienced in person, like this inverting memento mori or a rearrangeable “myriorama”:
As Koszary puts it in a post summarizing his experience:
Museums should spread knowledge and understanding online. But what I learnt was that to do so requires being human, and when it comes to the internet and social media, museums should be unafraid of embracing its culture, talking to people and taking risks.
That’s all, really, I just thought it was a good example of social media success in a niche where one doesn’t always expect social media success. It’s so easy to do it wrong, and it’s nice to see it done right.
And also because I love these GIFs so much. (via Metafilter)