Mike,

to say no-one else is asking the big questions could be seen as needlessly provocative. many of us have been asking them for years, and working on helping museums answer them. it may be more a case of when and how the issues are raised.

i’ve been at the center of a number of large multi-institutional projects (over the last 20 years), and know what it feels like when someone says ‘is that all’ when the thing you’d worked on for what felt like ages finally limped out the door. i can entirely sympathise with the frustration felt by the Creative Spaces team here.

as Giv has blogged, so much of getting a project to this point is building understanding and agreement in the institutions. from a policy perspective, finding a way forward requires negotiation and a level of creativity that’s usually never seen on the surface of the finished app.

developing that kind of trust and collaboration is essential: it lays the groundwork for the next level of functionality — the one you’re demanding — that requires an even broader willingness to take risks.

yes, it’s possible to address the copyright question; and museums have moved HUGELY on this: from not wanting to put anything online, to collectively addressing ways to provide access to full collections. and from negotiating single rights to the kinds of standard agreements with rights holders, licensees and rights societies pioneered in the AMICO context. but it’s not a simple binary – not access / no access – and handling the nuances of rights is often one of the first things to go in a spec… yes we still have to write them 😉

you’ve chosen the role of the outside critic, others have chosen to work on the inside to change complex institutions. it’s likely it takes both kinds of pressure to move us all ahead. big institutions don’t change overnight, and the voices for access aren’t the only voices that they are hearing.

what i’d ask you to be sympathetic too – in your grumpy not-so-old age – is that most of the challenges aren’t technical. a lot of people have worked really hard to get things this far, just as you’ve worked hard to develop a position as a leader; please use our attention wisely.

jennifer