Evaluation of Electronic Guidebook Mobile Web Resources

The Electronic Guidebook research project began in 1998 at The Exploratorium, an interactive science museum in San Francisco, in partnership with researchers at HewlettPackard Labs and The Concord Consortium. The original metaphor for the Electronic Guidebook was a pocket guidebook for travelers to which personal annotations could be added. This metaphor has since expanded into a guidebook designed not only to enhance a user’s visit, but also to serve as a “mobile learning partner” supporting sustained ubiquitous inquiry and investigation in a seamless museum experience before, during, and after the visit. To realize this vision, a test-bed and wireless infrastructure was created at the Exploratorium to conduct research about 1) information technology infrastructure (networked components delivering the information), 2) human computer interaction issues around form factors, content design, and handheld uses, and 3) the potential impact of wireless infrastructure and mobile web resources on teaching and learning science.