By Emma Wadland
From Dimensions
September/October 2011

“PLACES is ensuring that science centers and museums are quickly becoming the ideal forums for politicians to easily access reliable scientific information and for citizens to engage in two-way dialogue about science. This will allow people to exercise full citizenship in science and technology issues.”
—Antonio Gomes da Costa, coordinator of the PLACES project

Launched in June 2010, the four-year Platform of Local Authorities and Communicators Engaged in Science (PLACES) project is guiding science centers and museums to play the role of facilitator in providing information and helping local leaders and communities address local challenges. These challenges may include environmental sustainability, health care, transportation, education, or any number of other areas where science and society are inextricably linked.
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I recently “googled” the words “mayor,” “commission,” “task force,” and “science” and was astounded at the extensive number of socially relevant topics that are being considered by local decision makers in every corner of the globe. In nearly every instance, a body of scientific experts conveys wise counsel to policy planners. Occasionally, such initiatives include “public forums,” often composed of representatives of various special interests.

More than ever, though, our local leaders are recognizing that lasting and positive policies require not only scientific rigor and integrity, but also transparency and determined efforts to build and retain public trust—which begins with a fundamental public grasp of the science in the policies.
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After an extensive peer and expert review, the Digital Immersive Giant Screen Specifications (DIGSS 1.0) are now fully available, along with many other findings and reports relevant to museum giant screen theaters and those who support them. An independent evaluation conducted by the Institute for Learning Innovation found after the 2010 Giant Screen Cinema Association Conference that participants agree that there is a need for institutional giant-screen (GS) theaters to have DIGSS; and they disagree that they should conform to conventional screen shapes.

The results of the National Science Foundation- (NSF-) funded project are available as free downloads below and, in addition to DIGSS 1.0, include: an economic snapshot of the museum GS market; a literature review of immersive learning in GS theaters; a useful glossary of terms; descriptions of the field; a logic rationale for production; a bibliography; and the colloquium proceedings. DIGSS are museum-quality specifications for a 4:3 aspect ratio to fill giant domes and flat screens.

White Oak Institute Bulletin #1: The Global Network of Giant Screen Theaters Needs Attention (PDF, 1.1 MB)

DIGSS 1.0 (PDF, 1.1 MB)

DISCUSS Colloquium Proceedings (PDF, 2.6 MB)

Giant-screen theater industry leaders and a team of experts met over three days in Marblehead, Massachusetts, June 14–16, 2010, where they reached consensus on the first draft of specifications for digital giant-screen theaters in the international museum market. The White Oak Institute and its team, including the Giant Screen Cinema Association, the Institute for Learning Innovation, the LF Examiner, and the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation convened technical experts, museum leaders, theater managers, film producers, distributors, and an evaluator to resolve the field’s critical questions. The project’s objective was a digital GS theater format that suits the educational needs of the museum community and creates a sustainable business model with a supply of quality educational shows similar to the experiences in IMAX^® and other film-based GS theaters now in place in museums and science centers. Such shared protocols will set the stage for transformations and innovations in museum-quality equipment and productions in the digital age.

DIGSS 1.0 addresses: aspect ratio, resolution, brightness, bit rate, theater geometry, screen size minimums, and other factors affecting the quality of the audience’s learning experience in flat and dome screens and in 2D and 3D. DIGSS builds on the research and standards developed by the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI). As with the DCI specs, DIGSS permits projection of alternative content from a variety of innovative new sources, paving the way for experimentation, innovation, and a connection to the growing community of fulldome theaters, many of which were formerly planetariums.

Several speaker-authors will take the time to sign their books during the 2011 ASTC Annual Conference in Baltimore. All book signings will take place in the ASTC Resource Center, located in the Exhibit Hall.

Saturday, October 15
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Immediately following his keynote address on Saturday morning, Michael Specter will sign his prize-winning book, Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Copies will be available for purchase onsite.

Sunday, October 16
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Minda Borun, director of research and evaluation at The Franklin Institute, and leader of Saturday’s “How They Learn” session (2:15-4:15 p.m.), will sign her book, In Their Own Voices. Copies can be purchased in advance at www.astc.org/pubs/borun.htm or onsite.

3:30-4:30 p.m.
Kathleen McLean, independent consultant, and Wendy Pollock, writer and editor, will sign their book, The Convivial Museum, a 2010 ASTC publication. McLean and Pollock will lead a session of the same name on Monday, October 17, from 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Copies of the book can be purchased in advance at www.astc.org/pubs/convivial.htm or onsite.

Interviewed by Joelle Seligson

This interview appeared in the September/October 2011 issue of Dimensions magazine.

The deputy director of the Library of Alexandria’s Planetarium Science Center on global partners, local heroes, and surviving a revolution

Egypt’s cultural and educational institutions were not spared the chaos in the country early this year. Looters broke into Cairo’s Egyptian Museum and other sites during the revolution, stealing and smashing ancient treasures. Yet, thanks to an inspiring demonstration, the Planetarium Science Center (PSC) at the Library of Alexandria came out unharmed.

Ayman Elsayed, deputy director of the center and ASTC’s 2010 Lee Kimche McGrath Worldwide Fellow, will attend the 2011 ASTC Annual Conference in Baltimore, October 15–18. He tells his institution’s story, and discusses how working together benefits science centers worldwide.

Read the full transcript, or listen to the podcast.