iPod Tours Through Government Museum

The ubiquitous Apple iPod has infiltrated even the Australian Federal Government it seems, with the launch of a new iPod-conducted tour through the National Archives of Australia.

Visitors to the new Memory of a Nation exhibition at the National Archives of Australia will be able to pick up an iPod at the start of the tour and then tune in for an audio tour of the exhibit.

“A visitor can take an iPod, select the object they’d like to learn more about and then view the object as they listen to a detailed audio description. The tour can also be downloaded via the web,” explains Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator George Brandis.

“This could be one of the first MP3 tours of its kind in Australia. It’s a great example of how technology can help make heritage and the arts accessible to everyone,” he said.

The exhibition encompasses objects and how they relate to places on Australia’s National Heritage List, including Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic proclamation and a travel poster from the ‘Bodyline’ Cricket test series.

Of course the question that remains is whether the iPod’s ‘cool factor’ will help the Government in getting more Aussies out to Canberra to see the exhibition.

The Memory of a Nation exhibition and iPod tour is a permanent display at the National Archives of Australia. For more information and to download the tour see:
www.naa.gov.au/exhibitions/MemoryNation/tuning-into-heritage.html  or www.heritage.gov.au