Technology Case Study: The Country Doctor Museum

The Country Doctor Museum

The Country Doctor Museum in Lincoln, Arkansas, specializes in the history of the country doctor in Arkansas. They house extensive information on the practice of medicine in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as detailed information on dozens of individual doctors, in a building where three of Lincoln’s early physicians lived and worked.

Volunteers have digitized much of their information, scanning documents and photographing artifacts, and a volunteer also built a website for the museum. However, the museum faces a number of challenges both in decision-making and in the practical use of their technology.

The Country Doctor Museum is unique, but the challenges they face are shared by many businesses and nonprofits:

• How much should they share? The museum hesitates to make much information available online, because they fear that people won’t come to the museum if they are able to access large amounts of data online. In fact, offering additional information online would increase the importance and authority of their website, extend their reach beyond their geographic area, and probably draw more visitors as well. The internet is all about free information, and offering plenty of good stuff shows generosity and increases trust – as well as demonstrating that you have lots of good stuff to offer. The museum might be able to gain a grant to get their documents online, while for-profit companies can divert some ad spend toward strong online content and see good results.
• Who should be in charge of their online presence? Museum staff weren’t able to access their website’s admin area for some time; when they gained access, they found that they were limited in their ability to make updates. When they began to think about the possibilities the internet offered for their organization, they realized that a large number of volunteer hours might be required to create the website they needed. Their volunteers might also need additional training to be able to get the results they want.  A for-profit company can find the same thing — having staff do the work seems like a good idea, but diverting staff to online tasks isn’t always cost-effective. There’s a point at which it makes sense to partner with an agency to get the work done effectively and efficiently.
• What kind of investment should they make? The museum is a not-for-profit organization, but they still have to think about the ROI. Adding a “Donate” button that would allow visitors to donate through PayPal was one idea they had — but even though the cost of adding such a button is low, they’re hesitant. If people would donate, the button would quickly pay for itself, but they weren’t sure that anyone would use it. All organizations go through this kind of decision making when they consider investing in their website and their online presence. As with any investment, it’s not possible to know ahead of time exactly what the results will be. It’s essential to balance the risk of making the investment against the risk of not making that investment and losing out on opportunities.

The Country Doctor Museum opted for a modest content update at their website, with the installation of Google Analytics so they can capture some data that will allow them to make more informed decisions on their next steps with their website and their online presence. With more information to take to funding sources, they’ll be able to get a better sense of their budget. Now that they have access to their website, they’ll also be able to get a realistic idea of how much volunteers can do and what the opportunity costs might be.

Sometimes, making changes that allow your organization to gain more information is the first step toward decision making.