Effective Communication Skills of a Museum Website - National Museum of Australia - Case Study Example

Running Head: Assessment 1 [Writer name] [Instructor] [Date] Launching one’s own website has become an integral part of business strategy. Although, it is not a difficult task to launch a website, it requires times to maintain and keep it updated. There are thousands of websites on the Internet that serve different purposes. A website is considered good only with regard to its content if its user would rate the website based on its content’s authenticity and standard (Berko 2010, p.11). Written and verbal communication skills have a great significance in the Internet world. There are several kinds of websites trying to achieve their purposes in an effective way. Whatsoever the type of website be, the content should be valid and authorized (Schwartz, Simon & Carmona 2008, p.129). This essay will examine the effective communication skills of a popular museum website that is National Museum of Australia. The website will be analyzed from research point of view and an analysis will be made for considering how effectively it is fulfilling its purpose. The essay will analyze the website by using Lockyer and Kaczmarek's PAIBOC principle. The PAIBOC model evaluates the ability of effective communication of a website. According to PAIBOC principles; valid, authorized and reliable content is a key ingredient for the topmost website rank on search engines (PAIBOC principles 2008 p.1). Purpose: The first principle is Purpose which deals with the intention of the website. It defines fulfillment of website need. In other words, it clearly focuses on what is delivered to the audience through the message. It focuses on what the audience wants to know. The National Museum of Australia’s website has the main purpose of passing on the detailed and easily available information to group of interested people. As website claims, it is devoted to telling great stories about Australia and Australians. It provides a broad overview about the museum to visitors throughout the world in a concise and accessible form. Website is serving a broad purpose of serving audience by giving information to visitors as well as facilitating researchers in various aspects. Audience: This part defines the target audience that is relevant to the message. It involves the relevancy of the addressed audience with the message. As website is a one-to-many communication system, so its effect of diverse audience has to be considered. A diverse segment of society is addressed according to their requirements. With the passage of time, media has become an important medium of communication; the technology revolutionized the communication process. Although the website primarily addresses the message to potential tourists, a great source of information is also available for families, students, teachers, researchers and other interested groups of society. A researcher can take as much benefit as it is valuable for a potential tourist. Moreover, audience is not bound geographically; visitors and researchers throughout the world access the website on daily basis and find it useful. Information: There are many barriers in presenting international standard communication on websites but still there is a door of success by implementing strong policies and rules before publishing any content on the websites (PAIBOC Analysis, 2008, p.1). Having authorized content on website is the basic requirement in order to achieve higher ranking. Information section should include important points of the message. It significantly depicts the strength of message proving effectiveness of communication. Information provided on NMA website is rich and comprehensive. The information is presented under main categories of home page. The information on website is presented in such a way that encourages local visitors as well as overseas visitors with a helpful attitude. It is equally useful for each category of visitors; i.e. local visitors, families, overseas visitors, and researchers. The content of information is quite relevant to the message. The tone of the message is clear and understandable in a welcoming manner. The language is easy and user-friendly for every level of audience. Presentation style and graphics used are reflecting efficient use of electronic communication, and is aesthetically pleasant. Benefits: It matters how the website offer to its audience to help deliver its message. While aware of the fact, website uses tactics to convince target audience about the message. There is a rich volume of information available for every kind of visitors. It has sufficient information and guidance for visitors who are planning to visit including families, children, students, school groups, and overseas visitors. While collection section shows only 10% of actual collection object, still it covers main collections and recent acquisition. It also attracts visitors by displaying current and past exhibitions. On the other part, website is playing great role in providing access to researchers to library and useful resources. The website also contains a rich volume of information for researchers that website is displaying for scholarship purposes. In short, it attracts visitors of every community; either it is tour guidance, refreshments, shopping, museum collections, exhibitions, or current events. Communication skills and language standards help a lot in getting a better website ranking. Objections: Objections are the possible negative elements in the communication that must be abridged if not totally removed. The obstacles that come in delivering the desired message to the audience are possible objections. Website might deliver a message in a wrong way so purpose of the message is not fulfilled. Sometimes, a website is overloaded with contents so it makes navigation a bit difficult. NMA website makes feel the similar outcome under few links. A visitor may get indifferent while getting the desired information under few links/labels. In collections, website shows only few items. So if a visitor is interested about an object, very possible that it will not be available on website. It does not leave a good impression on visitors that old objects are removed as new are added. NMA website need to know what negative elements must be overcome to effectively delivering its message. Context: Context refers to the situations surrounding the interaction between website and visitors. With respect to audience, it tells that for what information the visitor accessed the website. It is about evaluating the aspects of the context or situation where audience response may be affected. Perfect and standard content always help in achieving a better ranking. Website fulfills its purpose resourcefully and contains appropriate guidance for the prospective visitors and researchers. Having international reputation, NMA website is a great source of information to its visitors worldwide. Website plays the vital role in attracting visitors from all over the world so it needs to be updated on a regular basis and NMA website depicts expression of information in a thoughtful manner. Meeting international communication standards is a key ingredient for website if the website administrator needs high ranking on the Internet and wants to boost their sales/traffic. Conclusion: Billions of users visit thousands of websites daily for different purposes. Academic website and research based website facilitate users in the most important domains of life. Communication has various forms and on websites usually written communication are in place (Werner 1988, p.129).Organizations structure their websites so that they promote dialogue, those which simply provide information do not serve their communities effectively. However, information focused websites are ranked higher than those focusing more towards community interaction. Website is representing the theme of museum. It preserves the Australia’s social history and represents collection into three themes; Australian society and history, aboriginal Australia, and people’s interaction with environment. The website has become a great source of information across the globe for its audience. Like every other website, NMA also has few complications but benefits are overwhelming the possible objections. References Berko, 2010, Communicating. 11th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 9-12 PAIBOC principles, 2008, PAIBOC Principle and its application in Atari Game manuals, retrieved: 04-04-2010:http://www.cheathouse.com/essay/paiboc-principle-and-its-application-atari-game-manuals. PAIBOC Analysis, 2008, PAIBOC Analysis, retrieved: 04-04-2010: http://www.brainmass.com/homework-help/mass-communication/all-topics/259461 Schwartz, Gary E.; Simon, William L.; Carmona, Richard 2008. All communication is a process of exchanging energy and exchanging information, 129. ISBN 0743292399. Retrieved: 4-04-2010, http://books.google.com/books?id=lj7CUO6uo4YC&pg=PA129&dq=Communication%20two-way%20process&f=false. Werner, E., 1988, Toward a Theory of Communication and Cooperation for Multi agent Planning, Theoretical Aspects of Reasoning About Knowledge: Proceedings of the Second Conference, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, pp. 129–143. Read More