II. CONTABILIDAD FORMAL
2. Composición
2.1. El balance
study
Defining art museums’ online resources implies the exploration of similarities and differences, boundaries and overlaps between online resources. As explained by the Oxford English Dic- tionary, a definition is “a precise statement of the essential nature of a thing; a statement or form of words by which anything is defined”. When the entity to be defined presents in prac- tice several variations, an analysis of these variations is a necessary step to finally complete a description of this entity. On the one hand, a single case study and an in-depth analysis of it to construct a definition of an entity imposes some limitations, since the resulting definition would not cover all the possible attributes of such an entity. On the other hand, limiting the definition to a survey of online resource would only provide a description based upon surface- level insights.
When identifying models for the survey and selecting online resources for research, narra- tive research provides no guidance at all. Other qualitative research methods are more explicit in the description of their procedural details. According to this, the method chosen to select online resources responds to the model of comparative studies or comparative analysis. The notion of comparative analysis is reported by Glaser and Strauss in their foundational text on grounded theory:
and has greater explanatory and predictive power. By comparing where the facts are similar or different, we can generate properties of categories that increase the categories’ generality and explanatory power. (Glaser and Strauss 1967, 24)
Indeed, by comparing online resources, we can provide a definition of their characteristics that is applicable to a great number of them. As disclosed by Flick, "in comparative studies, [...] the case is not observed in its totality and complexity, but rather a multiplicity of cases with re- gards to particular excerpt" (2010, 147). In this case, the “particular excerpts” are the narrative attributes of online resources.
The exercise of completing a comprehensive survey of art museums’ online resources world- wide served as a means to confirm objective choices identified during the initial phase of the research, guarantee their suitability for further research, as well as identify new online re- sources. In order to construct the survey of online resources, websites from major museums worldwide and awards (Webby Awards and the Best of the Web Award from the Museums and the Web annual conferences) were systematically consulted. Subsequently, the survey of online resources was posted on the author’s personal website, http://m-hidalgo.com, and the Museum Computer Group email list, so that museum practitioners could contribute to the list of online resources. Overall, this strategy helped to ensure that the list was as comprehensive as it could be. The survey was published on an open Google docs spreadsheet that could be freely edited, resulting in a good number of entries being added.
Some of the online resources provided by members of the mailing list were not applicable to the research focus, e.g., online exhibitions and publications from science, ethnography, or his- tory museums. Some other examples did not fully correspond to the typologies represented, for instance, a 360-degree view of the exterior of the museum building, or a digitised catalogue in pdf format. Although these last examples do not fully fit into the resources explored in the research, they contribute to the debate of what does and does not constitute an online exhibi- tion and an online publication and also inflect users’ conceptions of those media. Additionally, publicising the survey allowed the promotion of research among a broader community. In this regard, it is important to mention that the page on the website in which the list was published recorded seventy-two visits on the day of publication on the Museum Computer Group mailing list.
A total number of 130 online resources created between 2006 and 2017 are compiled on Ap- pendix A. Besides the name of the resource, the url, the institution, and country, the survey lists the following typologies:
• scholarly publications • exhibition websites • online exhibitions • interactive features
However, institutions do not always assign a typology. Therefore, in order to avoid ambigu- ity, when a typology is not given by the museum, online resources are listed as interactive fea- tures. The survey, according to the narratological concepts, explored in the literature review identifies the variable attributes of online resources. With regards to authorship, the survey observes if there is a known author, such as a curator, or if it is anonymous, and whether the voice used is first, second, or third. The survey also identifies the media used by the resource, if it features images, text, video, audio, and diagrams. Regarding spatiality and temporality, the survey notes: the space the interface of the resource represents (if it is three-dimensional or two-dimensional) and the scope of the resource (if a resource is placed in an independent mi- crosite or embedded in the museum website); the temporal dimension of the resource, whether permanent, temporal, or episodic; and if the resource is linear or nonlinear. Lastly, the survey differentiates between an implied readership of scholars or a general audience. This last narra- tive attribute is sometimes highlighted by the museum, but it is generally guessed by the author of the research, who roughly marks online resources as scholarly when these are scholarly pub- lications, and general-audience-oriented in the other cases.
When choosing the six online resources for further research, the aim was to offer a balanced selection of resources that exemplify recognised and most popular practices in the field, as well as unusual and cutting-edge unique features. The findings derived from the completion of the survey, which are described in the results chapter of this research, framed the selection of online resources. Yet, professional networks also determined the selection of the online re- sources, as did travel funding availability and linguistic abilities. The funding provided by the University of Glasgow Principal’s Early Career mobility scheme made it possible to travel to New York City to interview in person museum professionals involved in the development of the selected online resources.