2009 • ISSUE THREE | 1 Pu blicGar de n Editor Madeline Quigley American Public Gardens Association (APGA) Editorial Advisory Board Karl Lauby , Chair, The New York Botanical Garden Nancy Chambers Glass Garden, Rusk Institute Linda Eirhart Winterthur Museum & Country Estate Susan T. Greenstein Growing Minds Consulting James P. Folsom Huntington Botanical Gardens Virginia Hayes Ganna Walska Lotusland Thomas Hecker EcoBotanic Designs Sarah King Botanical Garden of the Ozarks Carol Line Fernwood Sharon Loving Longwood Gardens Janet Marinelli Blue Crocus Publishing + Interpretation David Michener University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum Donald A. Rakow Cornell Plantations Lisa Wagner South Carolina Botanical Garden Issue Reviewer Lisa Wagner South Carolina Botanical Garden APGA Board of Directors PRESIDENT Nicola Ripley Betty Ford Alpine Gardens VICE PRESIDENT Paul B. Redman Longwood Gardens PAST PRESIDENT Christopher P. Dunn Harold L. Lyon Arboretum TREASURER Bill LeFevre Sarah P. Duke Gardens SECRETARY Barbara W. Faust Smithsonian Institution DIRECTORS AT LARGE Patrick Larkin Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Caroline Lewis Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Luke Messinger The Dawes Arboretum Wilf Nicholls MUN Botanical Garden David M. Price Bok Tower Gardens Jennifer Riley -Chetwynd Rain Bird Corporation Kenneth J. Shutz Desert Botanical Garden American Public Gardens Association 351 Longwood Road Kennett Square, PA 19348 610.708.3011, Fax: 610.444.3594 www.publicgardens.org 2 | PUBLIC GARDEN 7 Pu blicGar de n cTHE JOUoRNAL OF THnE AMERICANtPUBLICeGARDENnS ASSOCIATIOtN | V sol 24, N o 3 • 2009 UTILITY OF DIGITAL TOOLS 5 About This Issue 16 The New Media Lexicon Technology and Public Gardens Nick Leshi Dan Stark, Executive Director, APGA From “blogs” to “WI-Fi,” test your knowledge of 25 some of the latest new media lingo. 7 The Digital Asset Management System and Beyond: 17 Harnessing the Power of Considerations When Selecting Social Networking Technology to Manage Visual Resources Sabina Carr Atlanta Botanical Garden harnessed the power of Venice Bayrd YouTube, Facebook, and blogging to improve exposure, Creating a digital image library of any size requires increase visitation, and measure results. careful planning. Longwood Gardens shares their approach and lessons learned along the way. 19 A Conversation about Two 9 Digital Mapping: Small Gardens’ Adventures in Beyond Living Collection Curation Digital Marketing DEPARTMENTS Mary T. Burke and Brian J. Morgan Michelle Provaznik and Sarah King 25 NAPCC Collection Profile Learn more about digital mapping systems and Two pioneers in social media at their gardens show how they can be used at every level of institutional how small gardens can integrate social media and The Cycad Collection of Montgomery operation. e-newsletters to build membership and attract visitors Botanical Center Michael Calonje, Chad Husby, and Patrick Griffith 11 Cell Blogging 21 Seeds of Success: The largest collection in the Western Hemisphere of Jessica Blohm Using Technology to Help Build a cycads –our planet’s oldest seed plants –continues to The New York Botanical Garden’s interpretive National Collection of Native Seed develop as a major world resource. specialist for public education relates how a new Mary K. Byrne networking tool takes advantage of a previously Learn more about the extraordinary effort, now in its untapped resource: guests. 28 Colors of Success: tenth year, to log native seed collections using special software linked to a national data management system BG-BASE and Plant Records: 12 Using Podcasts to Expand A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective Your Audience Michael J. O’Neal and Kerry S. Walter 23 Online Learning: Engaging New BG-Base’s US and UK directors take a look back Heather Marie Wells and Existing Audiences in at the evolution of their biological collections The podcast producer at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark documentation software now used by 188 History shows how easy it is to start a podcast that will Garden Education institutions worldwide. strengthen the impact of your programs, exhibits, and Using Technology to Help Build a interpretive materials and expand your audience. National Collection of Native Seed Douglas C. Needham, PhD, 31 Growing Greener 14 How We Did It: and Susan A. Caldwell Answers to Your Questions Our First Year Producing a Blog The flexibility and accessibility of online courses About Sustainability Carol Capobianco enhance the learning experience for instructors and Janet Marinelli The New York Botanical Garden took a team students at Longwood Gardens. A framework for suc - An exploration of the effectiveness of green approach with their first blog, Plant Talk , now cess is shared. roof systems. celebrating its one-year anniversary. 24 Advertisers Index Cover: UC Davis student, Mark Miller, maps the native plant collection at the UC Davis Arboretum. Photo Courtesy Mia Ingolia, UC Davis Arboretum Volume 24, Number 3, 2009. Public Garden (ISSN 0885-3894) is published quarterly by the American Public Gardens Association (APGA), 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348. ©2009, American Public Gardens Association. All rights reserved. Public Garden is indexed in The Bibliography of Agriculture . Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of APGA. Public Garden welcomes editorial submissions but assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. APGA The American Public Gardens Association serves North American public gardens and horticultural organizations by promoting professional development through its publications and meetings; advocating the interests of public gardens in political, corporate, foundation, and community arenas; and encouraging gardens to adhere to professional standards in their programs and operations. SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription is automatic for APGA members. For membership rates, call 610-708-3014. Non-member subscriptions are $40 a year. Residents of Canada and other countries, add $10. CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send new address, zip code, moving date, and old address label to APGA, 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348. ADVERTISERS For information about advertising, contact Madeline Quigley, Director of Marketing, APGA, 610-708-3011 or [email protected]. 2009 • ISSUE THREE | 3 4 | PUBLIC GARDEN ABOUT THIS ISSUE t is amazing how much technology has address. We developed an online news- Technology transformed our lives in just the last letter, and used Facebook as a tool to raise I twenty-five years. Nearly anything we awareness of National Public Gardens Day. and Public could ever want or need is just a click away, However, we believe there are even more and yet, public gardens continue to be ways we can leverage emerging technolo - Gardens places where we interact with nature in a gies to provide value to you, our members. setting that is generally free from the tech - Over the next year, we will be taking a nological trappings that are so common in comprehensive look at how we can better Sharing Our Message, our everyday lives. This raises an important enhance your membership experience Growing Our Future question for gardens. With future genera - through the use of technology. tions being brought up with technology as In addition to using technology as a an integral part of the way they see the tool to run your association better, we also world, how can public gardens create an think it is extremely important to provide experience that integrates the technological you with information on how you can expectations of young people, while also leverage technology to improve your own maintaining the important interaction operations. This issue of Public Garden is between people and nature that exists in but a first step in that direction. It contains public gardens? lots of good information about how gar - This issue of Public Garden explores dens are using technology to reach the ways in which today’s gardens have public, and future issues of Public Garde n adopted new technologies to enhance the will contain a department dedicated to the visitor experience, engage new audiences, use of technology. The APGA will host an build and manage collections, and increase education symposium on February 5-6, in educational opportunities. Similarly associ - Orlando, Florida. This symposium will ations like APGA are finding themselves include sessions on how to use technology looking for ways to embrace emerging as an interpretive tool at your garden. Visit technology as a strategy to provide value to the APGA web site for more information. their members through enhanced network - ing opportunities, educational experiences, Enjoy this issue! and information sharing. At APGA, we have begun a process of looking at new technologies and their applicability to our membership. This year, we offered our first-ever webinars, and a live video stream of the Grounds captions?? Management Symposium’s keynote Daniel J. Stark 2009 • ISSUE THREE | 5 6 | PUBLIC GARDEN The Digital Asset Management System and Beyond The Digital Asset Management System and Beyond VENICE BAYRD Longwood Gardens Digital Asset Management System provides a detailed page with associated data about images like the one seen here. Image credit: Larry Albee. Considerations When Selecting Technology to Manage Visual Resources 2. ike many cultural heritage to devote a project to improving access to first became our project goals, and then institutions, Longwood Gardens its images. A twelve-person cross- the functional