The Poplar Bluff Museum is combining the past with the present and looking to the future with a new mobile app aiming to provide visitors with an interactive learning experience.
According to museum board member Kenny Rowland, the smartphone app is the first phase in the board's plan to go digital.
"Our biggest issue right now is that we have a lot more history than we have wall space," Rowland said. "We could make so much more history accessible to the public if we had a means of cataloging it digitally."
Currently the app shares only audio files, but with time and funding it will eventually grow to include images and videos featuring the history of Poplar Bluff and Butler County.
Rowland said at this point, the museum's artifacts are not backed up anywhere, aside from a hodgepodge of photos on Facebook.
"If something were to happen to this building, we would lose everything we have here, and that's another reason why digitalization is so important," he said.
There are currently six audio files available to visitors, including a welcome greeting, a brief history of four first-floor rooms and one recorded message for the upstairs segment. Each recording features the voice of a local pillar of the community, including those of philanthropist J.W. Githens and community advocate Evelyn Whitworth.
The audio files are only available to visitors once inside the museum, as the app works in tandem with Bluetooth beacons placed throughout the facility. The app recognizes the beacons' signals and plays the corresponding audio message for the user.
Katie Ray is the secretary of the museum board, and is excited about the new interactive technology.
"Most people think of history museums as places only older folks enjoy, and that's just not true. We have things here that apply to all age groups and hopefully this app will pique the interest of a younger generation," she said.
According to Ray, another benefit to expanding technologically is the ability to feature oral history, which is of the utmost importance to a local museum.
"We rely so much on the oral history of our community members and when they pass, we lose that information. By creating a digital archive, we will be able to capture their stories in a way that will last forever," she said.
Rowland said he ultimately hopes to incorporate a feature that allows the public to upload relevant personal photos and videos into the museum's digital archives.
"It would be great if someone who takes a video of a parade, for example, could upload the footage directly into our system. That way it would be preserved and 100 years from now future generations could have access to it," he said.
For iPhone users the app is called Ambient Web and is available for download through the app store. For Android users it's called Physical Web and is available in the Play Store. Both systems offer the download free of charge.
The Poplar Bluff Museum is located in the Old Mark Twain School on Main Street and relies solely on private funding for improvements and upkeep. It is open to visitors from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday. For more information, call 573-785-2220.