Summary of Project in Lieu of Thesis
             Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida
                   in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
                             Degree of Master of Arts

  DIGITAL FOUNDATIONS FOR PARTNERSHIP: A COLLABORATIVE MODEL FOR
  INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

                                        By

                                 Shawna M. Pies

                                 December 2009

Chair: Glenn Willumson
Major: Museology

Museums in North America have made strides in incorporating indigenous opinions and

cultural knowledge when interpreting Native American collections. However, indigenous

groups continue to participate as subjects of exhibition instead of partners in explaining

their own heritage. Geographic distance and a shortage of time and funding create

barriers to museum collaboration with the indigenous communities they represent. My

study addressed these issues by developing a digital-collaboration platform to invite

collections feedback from a particular indigenous community. Information contributed

online was applied to a website-planning project, highlighting a collection of nearly 300

Native American artifacts, held at a state natural history museum.

      Phase I required organizing museum records representing the Florida

Ethnographic Collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), to

contribute artifact information, images, and related resources in an online format.

Planning and implementing an online interpretation of the collection contributes

important ethnographic information that would otherwise require onsite research at the

museum. I researched and digitized collections information related to