An Event Guide for the National Museum of Ireland

An Event Guide for the National Museum of Ireland

Rodney Wardle May 2015

Individual Project

Submitted in part fulfilment for the degree of

B.Sc. (Hons) Computing

School of Informatics and Engineering,

Institute of Technology Blanchardstown,

Dublin, Ireland

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Declaration I herby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study

leading to the award of Degree of Honours B.Sc. in Computer Science in the Institute of

Technology Blanchardstown, is entirely my own work except where otherwise stated, and has

not been submitted for assessment for an academic purpose at this or any other academic

institution other than in partial fulfilment of the requirements of that stated above.

Signed:________________________ Dated: ____/_____/_____

Rodney Wardle

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Abstract This project tackled the problem of developing an Android and Apple based event guide for the

National Museum of Ireland. The main problem was to develop this application that would allow

all four museums to update different events that go on throughout the year. The sections of the

application are broken up into what’s on and group visits. For each section there are different

subsections that need to be created in order to display the right amount of information for the

user.

Key features of the application consist of, general information regarding each of the four

museums, it also contains what is on in each museum, you can also find information regarding

tours and activities for groups.

The result is a simple mobile application that visitors can download from Google Play and

Itunes. This will be a very straightforward application that is easy to use but informative at the

same time. In future versions of the application museums will be able to use a form that would

upload the content to the what’s on and group visits section of the application.

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Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 7

1.1 GUIDE TO THESIS ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 BACKGROUND OF PROJECT ............................................................................................................... 7 1.3 SOURCES OF INFORMATION ............................................................................................................... 7 1.4 SUMMARIES OF REMAINING CHAPTERS ............................................................................................. 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 9

2.1 OVERVIEW OF FIELDS REVIEWED AND SOURCES CONSULTED ........................................................... 9 2.2 REVIEW OF “YOUNG PEOPLE AS USERS OF BRANDED APPLICATIONS ON MOBILE DEVICES”

WRITTEN BY DR. FRANCAISCO-JAVIER AND DR. ANA MARIA BELMONTE JIMENZ ( JIMENEZE, 2014) ....... 9 2.3 REVIEW OF “COMMUNICATIONS, DESTINATION BRANDS AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS” WRITTEN BY

JOSE FERNANDEZ-CAVIA AND MARINA LOPEZ (LOPEZ, 2012) ................................................................. 10 2.4 CONCLUSION ON LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................... 12

CHAPTER 3: TECHNOLOGIES ............................................................................ 13

3.1 OVERVIEW OF TECHNOLOGIES ........................................................................................................ 13 3.2 REVIEW OF EXISTING WORK DONE THROUGH PHONE GAP .............................................................. 13 3.3 WHAT IS PHONE GAP ...................................................................................................................... 14 3.4 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PHONE GAP. .................................................................... 14 3.5 STEPS INVOLVED WITH BUILDING IN PHONE GAP ............................................................................ 14 3.6 CONCLUSION ON TECHNOLOGIES .................................................................................................... 15

CHAPTER 4: LANGUAGES USED ....................................................................... 16

4.1 JQUERY MOBILE ............................................................................................................................. 16 4.2 HTML(HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE) .................................................................................... 16 4.3 JSON (JAVASCRIPT OBJECT NOTATION) ........................................................................................ 16 4.4 JAVASCRIPT .................................................................................................................................... 17 4.5 CSS ................................................................................................................................................. 17 4.6 CONCLUSION ON LANGUAGES USED ............................................................................................... 17

CHAPTER 5: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .......................................................... 18

5.1 OVERVIEW OF SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................... 18 5.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE APPLICATION .................................................................................................... 18 5.3 MAIN REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 18 5.4 SKETCHES FROM THE MUSEUM ....................................................................................................... 20 5.5 USE CASES ...................................................................................................................................... 24 5.6 CONCLUSION ON SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................... 26

CHAPTER 6: SYSTEM DESIGN ........................................................................... 27

6.1 OVERVIEW OF SYSTEM DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 27 6.2 INITIAL DESIGN OF PROTOTYPE ....................................................................................................... 27

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6.3 PROPOSED JSON STRUCTURE ......................................................................................................... 30 6.4 CONCLUSION ON SYSTEM DESIGN .................................................................................................. 31

CHAPTER 7: IMPLEMENTATION ...................................................................... 32

7.1 OVERVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION .................................................................................................... 32 7.2 FINAL SYSTEM ................................................................................................................................ 32 7.3 WORK THROUGH THE FINAL SYSTEM IN THE EYES OF A VISITOR ..................................................... 36 7.4 COMPONENTS THAT WERE DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT ..................................................................... 37 7.5 CONCLUSION ON IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................ 37

CHAPTER 8: TESTING AND EVALUATION ..................................................... 38

8.1 OVERVIEW OF TESTING AND EVALUATION ..................................................................................... 38 8.2 FUNCTIONAL TESTING .................................................................................................................... 38 8.3 TEST PLAN ...................................................................................................................................... 39 8.4 ACCEPTANCE TESTING .................................................................................................................... 39 8.5 EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................... 39 8.6 CONCLUSION ON TESTING AND EVALUATION ................................................................................. 39

CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER WORK ................................... 40

9.1 WHAT WAS ACHIEVED VERSUS WHAT WAS PLANNED ..................................................................... 40 9.2 WHAT COULD BE DONE DIFFERENTLY ............................................................................................. 40 9.3 WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED ............................................................................................................. 41 9.4 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS FOR APPLICATION ................................................................................... 41

APPENDIX A: PROJECT PLANNING ................................................................... 42

9.5 SCHEDULE FOR PROJECT ................................................................................................................. 42

APPENDIX B: PROGRAM LISTINGS ................................................................... 43

9.6 SUMMARY OF INCLUDED PROGRAM LISTINGS ................................................................................. 43 9.7 JSONTEST.JS ..................................................................................................................................... 45 9.8 JSONGROUP.JS ................................................................................................................................. 52

LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 60

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Guide to thesis

The thesis will go through everything that happened during this project. I will discuss the

background of this project, requirements from the clients, literature review, methodology and so

much more.

1.2 Background of Project

The National Museum of Ireland approached the college to see if a student was interested in

developing a mobile application (it would be available in Apple and Android devices). The

National Museum of Ireland wanted this application because it would allow them to deliver

information regarding events that are open to all visitors that use the museum. The museum is

the largest national cultural institution comprising an estimated 4 million artefacts and

specimens. The four museums each have their own collections. Decorative Arts & History,

Archaeology and Natural History are based in different locations throughout Dublin and the

Country Life Museum is based in Mayo.

1.3 Sources of information

In order to complete this application quite a lot of research had to be done in the areas of mobile

application development, usability and so forth. There was information required from the

museum. They provided quite a lot of documentation about the different events going on in each

museum, exhibitions that are on at present, forth coming events, competitions and projects.

Phone Gap has been around since 2011 however it was very hard to get research papers relating

to Phone Gap itself. It was necessary to read their website and tutorials on PhoneGap.

1.4 Summaries of remaining chapters

Here you will find a brief summary of what to expect in the remaining chapters of this thesis.

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• Literature Review – This is a review of all literature that was used to help work on the

project.

• Technologies — This chapter discusses Phone Gap in greater detail. This technology

was used in getting the final application on to an Android phone for testing.

• System Design – This chapter talks about the initial designs of the prototype based on

original drawings from the museum and also requirements set out from them beginning.

• Implementation – This chapter looks how the final application was developed. It also

goes through components that were difficult to develop.

• Testing and Evaluation – This chapter looks at how the application was tested to check

for functionality and if it is user friendly.

• Conclusion – This will look into areas like what was achieved versus what was planned

and also skills that were developed from doing this project.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Overview of fields reviewed and sources consulted

The research presented for this particular project was “How to Successfully Develop an Event

Guide for the National Museum of Ireland”. To successfully develop the application quite a lot

of research had to be carried out in mobile application development, functionality, usability,

Phone Gap and many other relevant topics. This literature review addresses other aspects of the

project such as branded applications, tourists using the application and the way in which the

National Museum of Ireland is investing in to others forms of technology to enhance the visitors

overall experience.

2.2 Review of “Young People as Users of Branded Applications on mobile devices” written by Dr. Francaisco-Javier and Dr. Ana Maria Belmonte Jimenz ( Jimeneze, 2014)

This paper is all about examining young users using new communication tools as a result of the

new technologies. As a result of using these new technologies it is releasing a new form of social

communication among young users. This paper also examines the way in which younger users

use these branded applications and what message the users get out of the branded applications.

These new devices are able to manage not only the personal end of communication but also the

life of a digital user. These applications being downloaded by young users allow them to access

the different products and services these companies are trying to put across in their branded

applications. Studies show that younger users will want to use the new technologies that are out

there. It explains that there is a lack of research into the motivations and features that the users

expect in these branded communication applications. This paper used an example of Spanish

university students using branded application and what they got from these applications. The

people doing the research gave four focus groups different tasks to complete. It points out that

some users mention that some devices had some limits as to what it could do or that they did not

have a smart phone.

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To conclude younger users are starting to be more aware of mobile applications and are using

them as part of their daily life. Its results states that it found one objection to using the resource

and that was that users found some of the applications where not as secure as they could have

been.

As we are already aware by now young users use mobile applications in their daily lives, some

use them to communicate with their friends while others will use the app to get information

regarding different topics. The museum in its own right is a branded organisation and it is

constantly trying to get the message across to its visitors that this is a museum worth visiting. In

these economic times the museum needs to keep its doors open because it is a non profit

organisation and its only way of survival is the continuation of visitors. This application allows

its visitors to find out about events on at the museum and it also allows them to plan their visit to

the museum. Originally the museum had very few ways of bringing itself to the public but as a

result of modern technology such as this interactive app they can now communicate with all

generations through this wonderful engaging application.

2.3 Review of “Communications, destination brands and mobile applications” written by Jose Fernandez-Cavia and Marina Lopez (Lopez, 2012)

This paper looks at the Spanish tourism board and that they are experiencing expansion

with the mobile computing within the tourism industry. It points out that they don’t just

use traditional media but also websites, social media and applications on mobile devices

for communication. They point out on the first page that the results indicate that there is

underuse of the technologies out there and that the industry needs to be able to use these

kinds and communications more and more. It points out that what once was a very

small form of communication has now transformed into a superior activity that keeps on

growing. They point out that tourism is a very important economic activity in many

parts of the world. They also stated that when visitors plan their holidays nowadays it is

all done online. One of the major improvements in the tourism sector is the way in

which its services are offered and the way in which companies operates in the sector.

This paper examines the mobile app for the official Spanish website. The have broken

the application in to several categories which include information, marketing, education

and so on. The results of the paper states that they have let us know the current situation

in relation to development of the mobile applications for the tourism industry.

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To conclude on the paper. The fact that they would ideally like to have applications used

for the tourism industry it does not means it is actually going to happen for several

factors. There are a lot of destinations not using official applications for communication.

There are a numerous historical attractions that would be of great interest to many

tourists visiting Ireland. Before people visit the country this app is available to them and

they can use it to plan their visit to the museum. The museum is constantly trying to

enhance its visitors overall experience to the museum and this app is just one of many

initiatives that the museum has undertaken. Much thought has gone into this app and as

a result the app is a sleek, user friendly and clean mobile application. Any potential

visitors would have an interest in checking out this app to see what the museum has on

offer.

2.4 Review of “Reaching customers via smartphones and tablets require a cross-channel strategy and investment” written by Kelly Liyakasa. (Liyakasa,2012)

It points out that there has been an increase in traffic and as a result companies should be using

mobile applications as their communication tool. The paper suggests that even though there has

been an increase in traffic that some companies don’t want to use a mobile application because

they are afraid to invest in to different environments for the devices that are out there. The

companies are afraid of the security and data management of the mobile application. Before a

company even thinks about investing they need to know to what degree the customer will use

the device. One problem that customers seem to have with mobile applications is the way in

which the application is laid out for example navigation. The only way companies can make the

mobile application successful is to meet the needs of the customers. If they don’t meet the needs

then the investment in to developing the application the company could fail. This paper

discusses how one company has done very well with the application and that is banking. This

particular bank called Wells Fargo Bank invested heavily into the mobile application. Before

they even got into mobile application development they really looked into security. One part of

security they looked at was the layered security approach. Another consideration they had to

think of was the types of devices the customers would be using to view their application. The

paper points out that if they want their investment to pay off they need to know how it is going

to affect their own business. Companies also need to know what their limitations will be. To

conclude this paper examined how companies are thinking about investing into mobile

applications and if there will be a negative or a positive impact on the company.

The National Museum of Ireland had invested heavily in a website and felt it was time to engage

in the development of a mobile application. The museum had to understand the requirements of

the visitors needs for example, the different types of visitors that would visit the museum. Great

care had to be taken while this app was being developed. There was no financial investment so

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as a result great thought and practically had to be applied to bring it up to a standard that it

would be of interest to many people. This approach can be seen throughout the software

development life cycle of this project.

2.4 Conclusion on literature review

It was apparent that during the initial research of existing work that there were not adequate

papers available that addressed Phone Gap and mobile application development in full, this was

due to the fact that it is a relatively new area and that it is constantly evolving. This literature

review concentrated on why the National Museum of Ireland wanted to develop such an app and

it was simply to enhance its existing visitors experience and to also introduce new visitors to the

museum by means of letting visitors know about the different events on in the museums.

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Chapter 3: Technologies

3.1 Overview of technologies

This is a mobile application that will be available on many platforms eventually and instead of

having to develop an application for each platform and from initial research it was decided that

the approach to developing this application for all platforms was to use Phone Gap and code it

using web technologies related languages.

This chapter of the thesis addresses this technology and talks about how it was used in order to

complete the application.

3.2 Review of existing work done through Phone Gap

Over the last few years a number of applications have been developed through Phone Gap and as

a result there is a development of documentation on Phone Gap.

A perfect example of an application that was completed using Phone Gap is as follows :

• The BBC developed an application for Apple, Android and Blackberry for London

Olympics 2012. It allowed members of the public to stay up to date about what was

going on at the Olympics. It included features like daily live text commentaries from

BBC journalists and a detailed schedule and results for every event.

Figure 1: BBC Olympics Application

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This is a perfect example of an application developed and built through Phone Gap. As you can

see that as a result of the technology of Phone Gap that you can develop it and upload it too all

platforms at once. (BBC, 2012)

3.3 What is Phone Gap

PhoneGap is free and open source software that allows you to build your cross-platform

application using simple languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other web technologies.

PhoneGap was developed by Adobe. You can either download it and run it through the

command line or you can use PhoneGap Build which will allow you to upload your application

and in turn PhoneGap Build will automatically prepare and build it for all platforms, all you

have to do is to release it to the specific platforms. (Phone Gap, 2014)

3.4 Advantages and disadvantages of Phone Gap.

Advantages of Phone Gap:

• It builds the application for all platforms

• You can use sockets to communicate between the servers and the application.

• You can upload one file each platform instead of writing specific code for each

platform.

• You can test your application much easier.

Disadvantages of Phone Gap:

• You cannot use PHP for communicating between servers and application.

• With desktop version of PhoneGap you have to work with the software through the use

of the command line and if you are not confident with the command line it is very

difficult to complete.

• You have the option of using the free version or the paid version. With the free version

you get features like you have to build it through the use of GitHub and there is a limit

of space for the application. With the paid version it is much more flexible in terms of

building the final application. For this project the free version was used because the

application did not have huge requirements and for testing purposes the free version was

ok.

3.5 Steps involved with building in Phone Gap

Adobe introduced Phone Gap Build, which is a cloud service that allows you to upload all your

files, and it then builds the application for you automatically. The process can be quite

complicated if you don’t know what you are doing. Here is a set of simple steps that you must

do to allow you build your application in Phone Gap Build without any issues:

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• Upload your work to the repository you created on Github.

• Connect your Github account to your Phone Gap Build account.

• Build the application through the Phone Gap Interface.

• After it has built the application you can now upload it to all platforms.

3.6 Conclusion on technologies

As you can see from the findings on this particular chapter, it is relatively simple to develop an

application using web technologies and build it in Phone Gap. As a result of Phone Gap many

organisations can develop their apps and release it to all platforms. These are some of the

reasons why this project relied on Phone Gap because no new languages had to be learnt in order

to complete the project. This chapter on technologies listed the other reasons behind the choice

of using Phone Gap.

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Chapter 4: Languages used To complete this project a number of languages had to be used. This chapter will explain what

the languages are. These languages will be mentioned in many of the coming chapters of the

thesis.

4.1 JQuery Mobile

JQuery Mobile is a mobile framework used to develop websites and applications for mobile

devices. It uses JavaScript libraries. It is compatible with other types of mobile frameworks like

Phone Gap. It is compatible with most browsers out there. It uses a theming framework, which

allow you develop your own themes, this would be good if you had a brand that had to be

incorporated in to the finished system. Navigation and page transitions are handled by AJAX.

There are numerous widgets available to be used with this framework such as date pickers and

sliders. This project was developed using JQuery Mobile. A theme was developed through the

JQuery website which reflects the colour scheme of the National Museum of Ireland.

4.2 HTML(HyperText Markup Language)

It is a markup language used to develop websites. It is written using element tags. The tags will

always come with open and closing tags. The web browser will look at the file and arrange them

into visible websites. HTML tags are the part of the structure for the file. It is used for

presenting visual components of a website.

4.3 JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

JSON is human readable. Any human will be able to read it without any issues. The way in

which it is formatted makes it self-descriptive. It has the option of being developed along side a

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schema. It is open standard, meaning that it does not rely on specific languages. JSON stores its

data in arrays and records.

4.4 JavaScript

It is a programming language which is used to create interactive effects in the website. It is a

client side script that can interact with the user using the website. JavaScript uses functions.

JavaScript syntax comes from the programming language C.

4.5 CSS

It is a style sheet language that is used to create the styling of websites. It is concerned with the

look of the website rather then the functionality. Examples where CSS might be used would be if

you want to style the page to have three columns of information.

4.6 Conclusion on Languages used

As a result of amalgamating these programming languages the end result should be a concise

and coherent sleek looking system that meets all specified requirements.

These languages don’t act as a server side section of the system but rather the interaction side for

the user to use for example navigating through the system.

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Chapter 5: System Requirements

5.1 Overview of System Requirements

From the onset of the project the National Museum of Ireland had a very clear set of

requirements in relation to the functionality and appearance of the application. This chapter

address these requirements.

5.2 Objective of the application

At the beginning of this project the museum was asked one question “What does the museum

want the application to do?”. The reply given was that they wanted visitors to be able to view

events based on certain criteria. That the application would be split into two sections one was

what’s on and the other is group visits. The application was meant to give relevant information

regarding each event that was on and the possibility to ask questions about the event that they

were enquiring about.

5.3 Main requirements

The museum had other requirements that had to be incorporated in to the application. The

requirements are listed below.

• Cross Platform

It was very important to the museum that all visitors would be able to download this

application on to any of their devices with ease. From the beginning of designing this

application it was very important to make sure that it did comply with requirements

from Android in relation to areas like size of devices and any features that might not be

allowed by the specific platform. As we all know at this stage many devices are

designed in different sizes and specifications. This application was developed to meet all

size screens, the buttons will get smaller if on a small screen and get longer if on a

bigger screen. It was necessary that this application would work well on all devices.

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• Events

The National Museum of Ireland comprises of four museums and each of these

museums have different types of events from exhibitions to workshops. It was decided

that this application would be divided in to two sections. One was called what’s on, this

section would only concentrate on events like temporary exhibitions, permanent

exhibitions, competitions and projects. The other section of the applications is called

group visits, this section comprises of tours and activities (like workshops) on at the four

museums.

• Information regarding each museum

It was important that the information regarding each museum was on the application. As

well as the application being informative it also acts as an advertisement for all the

museums. If a visitor who wants to visit any of the museums they will be able to view

contact details, location and general information with just a click.

• Contact Us

This was another requirement that the museum had requested. It was hoped that if

visitors had any questions about any of the events that they would have some means of

communicating with the museum.

• Branding

It was important to the museum that this application could have the same look and feel

as all the other websites and advertisements the museum has. From the beginning the

application was based on the look and feel of the museum’s website, the application has

the same colour schemes, logos and icons that are used in the website.

• User-Friendly

It was of the utmost importance to the museum that this application was easy to use for

the visitor. It was designed in such a way that for a visitor to complete any task on the

application that it can be done with ease. As a result of this constant contact was made

with the museum to fine-tune all aspects of the application. The initial prototype was

based on sketches from the museum. Through discussion with the museum the finer

points were discussed. For example, how the visitor gets the information they want and

also different features in the application and if any additional features had to be added.

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5.4 Sketches from the museum

The museum did some rough drawings so that the application could proceed and at a later date

more detail could be added, these changes became apparent when the initial prototype was being

developed in Balsmiq Mockups.

The original drawings developed by the museum will be discussed in finer detail now.

Figure 2: Loading Screen and Home Screen

Figure 2 shows the loading screen, which in turn will go to the home screen. This has been

changed to some degree but the fundamentals of the loading screen and the home screen is still

in the application just looks different in terms of functionality and usability.

Figure 3: Location Screen and information about the museum

Figure 3 shows how visitors find out about the different museums, information included contact

details and what each museum specialises in. This was changed to some degree in the system

development.

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Figure 4: Event listing and event details

Figure 4 shows how the museum wanted the event results to be displayed. This also contained a

section that would allow you to refine criteria. The event info screen contains all the information

regarding the event.

Figure 5: Date picker and events on at particular days during the month

Figure 5 shows the possible way in which the events would be displayed using a monthly

calendar. This changed in the system design because it was not easy for a visitor to use.

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Figure 6: Events on by a date and search screen

Figure 6 shows another possible way of showing events by date and also here is the screen that

could potentially be used for searching through events based on criteria.

Figure 7: Search results for events and exhibition screen

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Figure 7 shows an example where there was particular criteria used to search for particular

events of interest The other screen refers to the different types of exhibitions on at country life

for example.

Figure 8: Featured objects and projects & competitions

Figure 8 shows a screen containing the objects that might be of interest in all four museums. An

object that is new to an exhibition for example. The other screen refers to projects and

competitions on at the museums. Again this has changed in forms of navigation and

functionality.

Figure 9: Settings and booking enquiry form

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Figure 9 shows the settings page that will give important information regarding the application

They also wanted some way for visitors to send booking enquiries. Again this was changed to

improve functionality and overall experience of using that section of the application.

5.5 Use Cases

These are some of the possible interactions between the visitor and various aspects of the

application.

Figure 10: Use Case for What's on

Figure 10 shows a visitor wanting to look at events on in the what’s on section of the

application. The viewing of events would normally consist of refining results and/or choosing a

location.

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Figure 11: Use case for group visits

Figure 11 shows a visitor wanting to look at events on in the group visits section of the

application. The viewing of events would normally consist of refining results and/or choosing a

location.

Figure 12: Use case for event details

Figure 12 shows when a visitor clicks on the event, they will be provided information one the

event like start date, booking information and other information. In this they can also contact the

museum and also view the gallery feature present in the application.

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5.6 Conclusion on System Requirements

As a result of knowing the museum’s requirements it was then possible to begin designing the

prototype which the museum would have to sign off on before the final implementation began.

Attention needed to be paid to the various requests specified by the museum so that the final

application would be purpose built for the museum’s requirements.

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Chapter 6: System Design

6.1 Overview of System Design

After the requirements and the drawings from the museum were received it was then time to get

working on the initial prototype, which included navigation, getting simple tasks working and

trying to incorporate branding in to the initial prototype. This chapter will discuss the design of

the prototype and the structure of the JSON data for each event.

6.2 Initial design of prototype

This section of the thesis is going to look at the designs that were created from Balsmiq

Mockups.

Figure 13: Loading page and main mneu

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Figure 13 shows the first two parts of the prototype that were designed were the loading page

and the main menu.

Figure 14: Information for each museum and contact form.

Figure 14 shows the first screen is the information for each museum. The second screen is the

contact form that will be able to send questions to the museum.

Figure 15: Search section for what's on and group visits

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Figure 15 shows the first screen that refers to searching for events in the what’s on section of the

application and the second screen is for searching for events in the group visits section of the

application.

Figure 16: Events for what's on and group visits

Figure 16 shows the first screen contains the initial search results for what’s on and the second

screen refers to the initial results for group visits. In both the user can refine results to get events

closer to their needs.

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Figure 17: Event details for what's on and group visits

Figure 17 shows the first screen that refers to the event details for what’s on and the second

screen refers to the event details for group details.

6.3 Proposed JSON Structure

The proposed layout of the JSON for events will be both the same for what’s on and group visits

section of the application. Here is the proposed structure of the JSON.

{ "Event": "Craft: Keep Calm and Cast On!", "Start Date": "1st May 2015", "Finish Date": "1st May 2015", "Time": "11am-1pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": “Come along for free practical tips on family history", "Booking Information": "No Booking required.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "Adults & Children 7yrs+" } As you can see these are the proposed headings that will be dynamically injected in to the event

details to display all the relevant information regarding the event. As already stated earlier this

will be the same for what’s on and group visits section of the application. The proposed JSON

structure is able to represent the full range of data needed that will be required in order to

populate the event results screens and support any other component of the application that

requires the use of JSON.

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6.4 Conclusion on System Design

As you can see a lot of time went into the system design. It is very important to spend a

good amount of time developing your prototype and deciding on how data might be

structured and any other items that need to be addressed. You will find it much easier to

work through the implementation phase knowing that you have some idea now as to

how the final system will look and how the final system will function to complete its

desired goal.

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Chapter 7: Implementation

7.1 Overview of Implementation

After the initial prototype was developed and the museum had signed off on the system it was

time to go and begin implementing the final application. The implementation phase took many

weeks to complete. Along the way there were areas of the implementation that were difficult to

develop but through hard work and determination the majority of the application was developed.

This chapter will look at the final application, it will look at parts that were difficult to develop

and finally to conclude on what was discussed in this chapter.

7.2 Final System

In this section of the chapter the final application will be presented. Here are the screens of the

final application.

Figure 18: Final loading page and main menu

Figure 18 shows the loading page and the main menu. A lot of changes were made to the main

menu to allow visitors navigate through the different sections of the application.

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Figure 19: Final information regarding each museum and contact form

Figure 19 shows the information regarding each museum. The only change that was added here

was to allow a user chose what museum they wanted to find out more and the option to click

from one museum to the other. The contact form has been changed also to make it user friendly

and mobile friendly.

Figure 20: Final event results for group visits and what's on

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Figure 20 shows the two sections that contain the initial results, one is group visits and the other

is what’s on. In both you have the option to refine results and also chose a museum to just view

those results

Figure 21: Search section for group visits and what's on

Figure 21 shows the screens that represent the refine results for both group visits and what’s on.

As you can see there is more criteria to select in what’s on compared to group visits.

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Figure 22: Search by location and results for that location

Figure 22 shows the two screens that represent if a visitor want to only chose by location and if

they did they would only see results relating to that location.

Figure 23:Event details for final application

Figure 23 shows the two screens that represent what the visitor will see for the event details.

They have the option of sending an email to the museum and also viewing the gallery feature in

the application.

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7.3 Work through the final system in the eyes of a visitor

When the visitor first opens the application they can see a loading page, which is loading the

content of the application. When the content has loaded it will then go automatically to the main

menu. From the main menu they have the option to view museum details, contact the museum,

look at events for group visits, look at event details for what’s on and from the moving banner

they can stop it to click on the link to go to the gallery feature of the application.

If the visitor wants to look at the museum details they have the option to pick each museum from

the footer of the application. The information regarding each museum contains information like

contact details and what that particular museum specialises in.

In the contact us page the visitor has the option to fill out the form with their contact details and

their question that they want to ask the museum. When the form is filled out correctly it will then

be processed and sent to the museum in order for them to answer the visitor’s question. The

visitor will receive a thank you message stating that the details have been forwarded on to the

museum and that a member of staff will attend to the question.

If a visitor finds themselves in the group visits feature they will be able to see events like tours

and activities on at the museum. The visitor has the option to refine results based on a number of

criteria. If they don’t want to refine results they can select the location they want to view. The

visitor can access this feature through the button that says “Our Museums” at the top of the page.

Based on the museum they have selected they will see the events that are on at that particular

museum.

If a visitor is looking at the what’s on feature of the application, this will contain all the events

on at the four museums, these will include permanent and temporary exhibitions, competitions,

projects and other related events. The visitor can use the refine results that contain a number of

different criteria the visitor can use to search results, some of these criteria contain date ranges

and format of event i.e. project and so on. Just like the group visits the visitor can use the search

by location feature in the what’s on.

After the visitor has selected the event that they want to view they will be presented with a page

that contains this information. The headings for the information will be the same for what’s on

and group visits. There are also two buttons at the end one is for linking to the gallery feature of

the application and the other button is used for if the user wants to send an email to the museum

about this event.

As you can see from the previous paragraphs that these are the tasks that a visitor can perform

on this application. The visitor will be confident to know exactly where they are in this

application due to the intense development of navigation that went on while developing the final

application.

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7.4 Components that were difficult to implement

During the implementation phase there was certain aspects of the application that were difficult

to develop. Navigation was difficult because the user needed to know exactly where they were in

the application so they would not get lost. The use of breadcrumbs and a home icon was used to

solve this issue. The refine results feature was also difficult to implement. It is not fully working

but in future enhancements this will be investigated further with the view of finishing this

feature.

7.5 Conclusion on Implementation

This implementation phase took a long time to finish however by paying attention to detail and

hard work this final product meets the overall requirements set out by the museum at the

beginning. While developing this application what was developed in the initial prototype to

some extent changed. This was to make the application easier to use for the visitor.

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Chapter 8: Testing and evaluation

8.1 Overview of Testing and evaluation

As part of the software development life cycle you would normally do some sort of testing on

the finished product before you release it to the public. This chapter will discuss the testing that

was carried out and the testing strategy that was used with this particular project.

8.2 Functional Testing

Functional testing would normally involve checking that each component of the system works

the way it should do. To test the application a number of scenarios where carried out to check

that these components work the way they should do.

What’s on refine results:

If a visitor had planned to visit the museum around Halloween time and wanted to find out

events that on. What if there was more than one event on for Halloween. What would happen is

quite simple a visitor will type in the keyword Halloween and in turn all events with that

keyword will be displayed, this will allow the visitor to go through all the events and decide

what event during Halloween would be best suited to the visitor.

If a tourist from America was visiting Ireland and wanted to go to any of the museums in Dublin

in date range what would happen. The tourist will select the start and finish date. The events that

are between that date range will be displayed. If there were no results between that date range an

error message will appear for example “no events on during these dates , please try again”.

Contact Us:

If a visitor wants to communicate with the museum they would normally fill out the contact

form. What would happen if the visitor did not fill in all fields. What would happen is that error

messages will appear telling the visitor to fix these errors, this will continue until all fields are

entered correctly. When they are entered correctly it will then be sent to the museum and a thank

you message will be displayed.

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8.3 Test Plan

During the project a combination of dynamic and white-box testing was used. This form of

testing is the quickest and most reliable way of troubleshooting the code and the system during

the implementation phase. White-box testing gave the opportunity of examining the code as it

was being written to check for syntax and grammar errors. This became really effective when

trying to troubleshoot why the JSON data was not being dynamically injected in the event listing

and event details. Dynamic testing was useful if there were errors in the contact form because

the visitor could see what needed to be corrected.

8.4 Acceptance testing

The way in which acceptance testing would have been carried out with this particular project

would have been to firstly check that all requirements were meet in the final application. That it

was to a standard that the museum could officially launch it to the platforms. A meeting would

have been arranged with the museum to officially showcase what the application can do, how it

meets the requirements and discussions in to other features that could be implemented in newer

versions. After the meeting it would then hopefully go through all the procedures in order to

release it to the different platforms ready to be downloaded by visitors.

8.5 Evaluation

As part of evaluation you would normally send out surveys to see what people thought of the

application and to make improvements based on the feedback. This would normally be done in

the software development life cycle because at the end of the day this will be for the user to use

and you need to make sure that you meet the expectations of its users. You would always add

new features and get users to evaluate them before you release that update. This is a continuous

process that will go on for the lifetime of the product. This was not fully completed for this

project, some people downloaded the application and gave general feed back for example, the

look and feel of the application is good, navigating through the application is easy and other

general feedback on functionality of the application.

8.6 Conclusion on Testing and evaluation

As a result of successful testing and evaluation it is hoped that any errors and weaknesses were

addressed before the application would be officially signed off by the museum.

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Chapter 9: Conclusions and Further Work

9.1 What was achieved versus what was planned

The system that was implemented is very similar to what was originally envisaged. Some

changes were made but as a whole the system still performs the way it should do. It was

important to get the core features working so the refine results part was not implemented fully.

The general content and design of the system was very similar to the drawings provided by the

museum and the initial prototype that was developed. Due to time constraints it was not possible

to get the contact form sending the user input to the museum. Other changes include the gallery,

at the start it was not mobile friendly but now there is a custom made mobile and user-friendly

gallery present in the application. Also in the initial designs there was no moving banner moving

across the home screen but now there is because this will allow for news that the museum wants

the visitors know about.

9.2 What could be done differently

When this project came about it was hoped that visitors would be able to refine the events that

could be listed. This was not the case in the final system due to time constraints for example

trying to get other core features working took longer then expected. If this project was to happen

again more time would be dedicated to this feature because it was an important part of the

application, which is just not working the way it indented to.

The design of the prototype took along time to finish due to trying to follow the requirements. If

it the project was to happen again what would be done differently is to be more realistic on the

time and to divide it out better to tasks that really needed to be done first and have some sort of a

realistic work flow to follow which would hopefully at the end all features of the application

would work the way they are meant to.

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9.3 What has been learned

As well as all the additional technical skills that has been learnt other skills have been

developed. Project management, time management and communication skills. These are some

of the skills that were developed during this project.

Technical skills acquired from doing this project has included how to work with Phone Gap,

developing mobile applications that comply to the requirements, dealing with fast amounts of

JSON data and also the ability to dynamically inject these JSON data in to mobile applications.

9.4 Future enhancements for application

Possible future enhancements of the application will include the following:

• Develop a content management system, which would allow the museum to update

events and general content during the calendar year.

• Improve the Gallery feature to include pictures relating to the events on.

• Get the refine results working fully in both what’s on and group visits section of the

application.

• Get the contact form to actually send the user input to the museum to allow them to

respond to general questions and event related queries.

• Officially send it to the museum to decide if they want to release it to the platforms out

there.

• Conduct a survey of the different nationalities that use the museum and try and add these

languages to the application to allow these other nationalities use the application

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Appendix A: Project Planning

9.5 Schedule for project

Here you will find a chart that presents the stages of the project and the amount of time it took to

do each stage of the project. It also includes documentation like literature review and proposal.

This work was over the year but some of the work was carried out after Christmas, for example

implementation.

Figure 24: Gannt Chart displaying expected time scale of tasks

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Appendix B: Program listings

9.6 Summary of included program listings

This appendix comprises of the following program listings:

• Index.html – Loading page with automatic relocation to main menu.

• Tasks.html – This is the main menu which is used to navigate through each task.

• Archaeology.html – This is information regarding archaeology museum.

• Archaeologywhat.html – This is the events on at this museum in what’s on.

• Archgroup.html -- This is the events on at this museum in group visits.

• Archwhat.js – This is the list of events on at the archaeology museum. Using JSON.

• Archgroup.js – This is the list of events on at the archaeology museum. Using JSON.

• Contact.html – This is the contact form.

• Country.html – This is information regarding country life museum.

• Countrywhat.html – This is the events on at this museum in what’s on.

• Countrygroup.html -- This is the events on at this museum in group visits.

• Country.js – This is the list of events on at the Country Life museum. Using JSON.

• Country1.js – This is the list of events on at the Country Life museum. Using JSON.

• Decorative.html – This is information regarding Country Life museum.

• Decorativewhat.html – This is the events on at this museum in what’s on.

• Decorativegroup.html -- This is the events on at this museum in group visits.

• Decorativegroup.js – This is the list of events on at the Archaeology museum. Using

JSON.

• Decorativewhat.js – This is the list of events on at the Archaeology museum. Using

JSON.

• Gallery.html – This is the gallery feature for the application.

• Groupsearch.html – This is the group visit section.

• Jsongroup.js – This is used to get the events for group visits using JSON.

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• Natural1.js – This is used to add events to the Natural History museum.

• Natural_history.html -- This is the information regarding the museum.

• Naturalgroup.html – This is used to display events for group visits to this museum.

• Naturalwhat.html --This is used to display events for group visits to this museum.

• Naturalwhat.js—This contains the JSON data for the events.

• Thankyou.html – This the thank you page for when the contact form is submitted

correctly.

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9.7 jsontest.js

This code refers to the json used to dynamically inject the information in to the list of events for

the what’s on feature.

************************BEGINNING OF CODE***********************

//assuming this comes from an ajax call var info = [{ "Event": "Pals - The Irish at Gallipoli", "Start Date": "1st April 2015", "Finish Date": "31st April 2015", "Time": "During Museum opening hours", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "As part of the Museum's WW1 centenary programme, award-winning innovators ANU Productions present an immersive World War I experience, based on the events surrounding the campaign at Gallipoli in Turkey and inspired by the previously untold stories of the 7th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the everyday lives of the Irish people who were affected by the Great War. The project is a partnership between ANU Productions , the National Museum of Ireland and the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht and is supported by the National Archives of Ireland. Performances will run Wednesday - Saturday: 11.00am, 12.00pm, 2.00pm, 3.00pm and 4.00pm Sunday - 2.00pm, 3.00pm and 4.00pm. Tickets: 5euro.", "Booking Information": "For More Information and Tickets: www.pals-theirishatgallipoli.com", "Format": "Performance", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "The Big Barracks Egg Hunt", "Start Date": "5th April 2015", "Finish Date": "5th April 2015", "Time": "3-4.30pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": " Can you follow the trail and test your knowledge to find the golden egg? Complete the trail to receive an

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egg-cellent edible reward!", "Booking Information": "No booking required.", "Format": "Family Event", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "The Easter Rising: Irish Volunteer Drills", "Start Date": "18th April 2015", "Finish Date": "18th April 2015", "Time": "2-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": " Come along and see re-enactors practice drills as the Irish Volunteers did between 1913 and 1916. In the period before the 1916 Easter Rising the Irish Volunteers organised openly and trained in the use of rifles and military skills. See the uniforms and weapons used by the Volunteers and how they were taught to use them.", "Booking Information": "Clarke Square, no booking required.", "Format": "Historical Re-enactment", "Audience": "All ages" },{ "Event": "Seminar: Method and Form", "Start Date": "25th April 2015", "Finish Date": "25th April 2015", "Time": "2-4.pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Marking Year of Irish Design 2015, and in partnership with the Dublin Decorative & Fine Arts Society, 'Method and Form' is an afternoon of talks exploring how past and present come together in contemporary Irish applied arts. Speakers include makers Zelouf and Bell, curator Dr Jennifer Goff (NMI) and Dr Audrey Whitty, Keeper of Art & Industry (NMI).", "Booking Information": "Go to www.museum.ie for a full programme.Booking essential. Tickets 5 euro.", "Format": "Historical Re-enactment", "Audience": "All ages" },{ "Event": "70th Anniversary of the end of World War Two", "Start Date": "6th June 2015", "Finish Date": "6th June 2015", "Time": "2-4.30pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Come along and see uniforms and equipment used by the Allied (American, British, French, Soviet) and Axis (German, Italian) Forces during the Second World War. This is an interactive way of learning about this conflict which ended 70 years ago.

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Presented by historical re-enactors, The WW2 Club.", "Booking Information": "Clarke Square, no booking required.", "Format": "Historical Re-enactment", "Audience": "All ages" },{ "Event": "Storytelling - Viking Stories of Gods, Heroes, Baddies and Brutes!", "Start Date": "18th April 2015", "Finish Date": "18th April 2015", "Time": "2.30-3.30pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "Join Niall de Búrca, live, for mighty tales of Gods, heroes, baddies and brutes. Niall has performed to audiences all over the world in places as diverse as Tehran, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Bucharest and his motto is: Níor bhris focal maith fiacal riamh!...A good word never broke a tooth!", "Booking Information": "This event will take place in the Ceramics Room, First Floor. No booking required, places will be allocated on a first come basis. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Family Event", "Audience": "Ages 6+" },{ "Event": "Bealtaine Workshop - Irish Leather Craft", "Start Date": "7th May 2015", "Finish Date": "8th May 2015", "Time": "11am-3pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "To celebrate Bealtaine in the Year of Irish Design 2015, the National Museum is delighted to welcome designer and artist Róisín Gartland who will facilitate a two-day workshop. Participants will work with expert leather-worker Róisín to create their own leather object based on ancient examples of Irish leather design.", "Booking Information": "Booking required, please phone 01 6486339 or email [email protected]. Located in the Learning Resource Room, first floor. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Workshop", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "National Drawing Day 2015 with Kenneth Donfield, National College of Art & Design (NCAD)", "Start Date": "16th May 2015", "Finish Date": "16th May 2015", "Time": "1am-4pm", "Location":

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"Archaeology", "Description": "Observe and sketch the Museum's collections and beautiful 19th century building with guidance from artist and tutor in Drawing and Painting at NCAD, Kenneth Donfield. Beginners and experienced artists are welcome.", "Booking Information": "Booking required, please phone 01 6486339 or email [email protected]. Located on the ground floor and first floor. Partially wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Workshop", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Lunch-time Talk: You Talking to Me?", "Start Date": "6th April 2015", "Finish Date": "6th April 2015", "Time": "1am-1.45pm", "Location": "Natural History", "Description": "Whether it is finding a mate or deterring a predator, animals have evolved a variety of methods of communicating, from the familiar visual or auditory to the unusual seismic or thermal to the downright bizarre such as dance! Join zoologist Donal Vaughan to discover more about the world of animal communication.", "Booking Information": "Booking required, email [email protected] or call 01 648 6332.", "Format": "Talk", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Native Species Weekend at Dublin Zoo", "Start Date": "23rd April 2015", "Finish Date": "24th April 2015", "Time": "See www.dublinzoo.ie", "Location": "Natural History", "Description": "Join us at our stand at Dublin Zoo as we celebrate Native Species Weekend.", "Booking Information": "For information on entry fees and times, please see the Dublin Zoo website www.dublinzoo.ie.", "Format": "Family Event", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "Preserving the Peace", "Start Date": "1st April 2015", "Finish Date": "30th April 2015", "Time": "During Opening Hours", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "From gallows, shillelaghs and manacles to the hangman's rope! This exhibition commemorates 200 years of law and order through objects relating to policing, crime, prisons and

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punishment, highlighting the sometimes uncomfortable reality of Ireland's official past.", "Booking Information": "n/a", "Format": "Temporary Exhibition", "Audience": "All Ages" },{ "Event": "Kids Museum: Treasure Hunt", "Start Date": " 10th April 2015", "Finish Date": "10th April 2015", "Time": "2pm-4pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "Join us for an exciting adventure around the grounds of Turlough Park. Work together to see if you can find all the clues and figure them out. Complete the hunt to get the treasure! ", "Booking Information": "Booking required. Weather appropriate clothing recommended.", "Format": "Family Event", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "Preserving the Peace", "Start Date": "1st May 2015", "Finish Date": "24th May 2015", "Time": "During Opening Hours", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "From gallows, shillelaghs and manacles to the hangman's rope! This exhibition commemorates 200 years of law and order through objects relating to policing, crime, prisons and punishment, highlighting the sometimes uncomfortable reality of Ireland's official past.", "Booking Information": "n/a", "Format": "Temporary Exhibition", "Audience": "All Ages" },{ "Event": "Bealtaine: May Flowers", "Start Date": "1st May 2015", "Finish Date": "1st May 2015", "Time": "2pm-3:30pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "Find out how flowers were used to welcome the Summer long ago. Learn about traditional May Day customs with curator Clodagh Doyle. Create your own paper flowers to make a May posie with Aoife O'Toole.", "Booking Information": "Booking required", "Format": "Workshop", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Féile na Tuaithe 2015: Free Family Festival", "Start Date": "23rd May 2015", "Finish Date": "24th May 2015", "Time": "12pm-5pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "Enjoy a great family day out, perfect for all ages! Stop by our new

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Family Area for weaving, drumming, mosaic-making, puppet shows, storytelling, facepainting, and look at donkeys, goats and birds of prey. Visit our Craft and Food Villages and the Entertainment Stage for the best sites, sounds, and tastes in Traditional and Contemporary Ireland, complete with demonstrators and performers of international acclaim. Stroll through the Museum galleries and grounds on scarecrow and fairy trails. There is so much to do that you will need to return both days! ", "Booking Information": "See www.museum.ie for Saturday and Sunday's full listings.", "Format": "Open Day", "Audience": "Families" }]; var json = '{"glossary":{"title":"example glossary","GlossDiv":{"title":"S","GlossList":{"GlossEntry":{"ID":"SGML","SortAs":"SGML","GlossTerm":"Standard Generalized Markup Language","Acronym":"SGML","Abbrev":"ISO 8879:1986","GlossDef":{"para":"A meta-markup language, used to create markup languages such as DocBook.","ID":"44","str":"SGML","GlossSeeAlso":["GML","XML"]},"GlossSee":"markup"}}}}}'; function getValues(obj, key) { var objects = []; for (var i in obj) { if (!obj.hasOwnProperty(i)) continue; if (typeof obj[i] == 'object') { objects = objects.concat(getValues(obj[i], key)); } else if (i == key) { objects.push(obj[i]); } } return objects; } var js = JSON.parse(json); console.log(getValues(js,'ID')); $(document).on("pageinit", "#info-page", function () { var li = ""; $.each(info, function (i,Event) { li += ' <li><a href="#" id="' + i + '" class="info-go">' + Event.Event + '</a></li> '; }); $("#prof-list").append(li).promise().done(function () { $(this).on("click", ".info-go", function (e) { e.preventDefault(); $("#details-page").data("info", info[this.id]);

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$.mobile.changePage("#details-page"); }); $(this).listview("refresh"); }); }); $(document).on("pagebeforeshow", "#details-page", function () { var info = $(this).data("info"); var info_view = ""; for (var key in info) { info_view += ' <div class="ui-grid-a"> <div class="ui-block-a"> <div class="ui-bar field" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;">' + key + '</div> </div> <div class="ui-block-b"> <div class="ui-bar value" style="width: 80%">' + info[key] + '</div> </div> </div> '; } $(this).find("[data-role=content]").html(info_view); }); ************************END OF CODE***************************

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9.8 jsongroup.js

This code refers to the json used to dynamically inject the information in to the list of events for

the group visits feature.

************************BEGINNING OF CODE*********************** var info = [{ "Event": "Hands on History", "Start Date": "12th April 2015", "Finish Date": "12th April 2015", "Time":"3-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "A chance to explore some of the artefacts from the Museum's collection of objects", "Booking Information":"No booking required", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "All ages" },{ "Event": "Exhibition Tour: Military aspects of the 1916 Rising", "Start Date": "26th April 2015", "Finish Date": "26th April 2015", "Time":"3-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Join Lar Joye, curator of the 'Soldiers & Chiefs'in an illustrated talk which will explore the Rising In military terms. ", "Booking Information":"No booking required, places allocated on a first-come basis 15 minutes before talk starts", "Format": "Talk", "Audience": "Adults & young people 14yrs+ " },{ "Event": "Artists Tour: A journey with Emmet Kane", "Start Date": "3rd May 2015", "Finish Date": "3rd May 2015", "Time":"3-3.30pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "A chance to tour the new exhibition, 'A Journey: Twenty Seven Years of the work of Irish", "Booking Information":"Booking essential, admission free", "Format": "Talk", "Audience": "Adults & young people 14yrs+" }, { "Event": "Public Tour of 'Recovered Voices'", "Start Date": "10rd May 2015", "Finish Date": "10rd May 2015", "Time": "3-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Join Lar Joye, curator of 'Recovered Voices: Stories of the Irish at

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War 1914 - 1915' on a personal tour of this recently launched exhibition.", "Booking Information": "No booking required, places allocated on a first-come basis 15 minutes before talk starts", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Adults & young people 14yrs+" },{ "Event": "National Drawing Day", "Start Date": "16th May 2015", "Finish Date": "16th May 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Drop in to Collins Barracks on National Drawing Day to discover what a source of inspiration the Museum can be for budding artists and designers of all ages. There's a free Drawing Day Pack you can pick up at the Museum's reception. Pencils are provided by the Museum, but bring along any other materials and sketchbooks you'll need.", "Booking Information": "Drop in event, no booking required.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "Families with Children 7 yrs+" },{ "Event": "Hands on History", "Start Date": "17th May 2015", "Finish Date": "17th May 2015", "Time": "3-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "A chance to explore some of the artefacts from the Museum's collection of objects for handling with Museum educators - a fascinating drop-in handling session for all ages.", "Booking Information": "No booking required.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "All Ages" },{ "Event": "'Universal Design' - what is it and how can it address ageing?", "Start Date": "24th May 2015", "Finish Date": "24th May 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Join Enable Ireland and Bernard Timmins, Lecturer in Manufacturing & Design at the Dublin Institute of Technology in this participative event. The focus will be on the design of everyday household objects and how their design can be improved to match the needs of older users.", "Booking

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Information": "Booking essential, admission free.", "Format": "Talk", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Tour of the Conservation Studios", "Start Date": "28th May 2015", "Finish Date": "28th May 2015", "Time": "2.30-4pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "A great opportunity to get behind the scenes at the Museum to meet Museum conservators and look at some of their current conservation projects", "Booking Information": "Admission free, booking essential.", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Public Tour of Recovered Voices", "Start Date": "29th May 2015", "Finish Date": "29th May 2015", "Time": "12-1pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "Join Lar Joye, curator of 'Recovered Voices: Stories of the Irish at War 1914 - 1915' on a personal tour of this recently launched exhibitio", "Booking Information": "No booking required, places allocated on a first-come basis 15 minutes before talk starts.", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Adults & Young People 14yrs +" },{ "Event": "Public Tour: Eat, drink and be merry!", "Start Date": "31st May 2015", "Finish Date": "31st May 2015", "Time": "3-3.45pm", "Location": "Decorative Arts & History", "Description": "How did they serve curdled milk and pass around the sweets? Take a look at lavish silver and dining room 'essentials' on this gallery tour with Museum educator Edith Andrees to find out what and how people ate and drank in 19th century Ireland", "Booking Information": "No booking required, places are allocated on a first-come basis 15 minutes before tour starts.", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Adults & Young People 14yrs +" },{ "Event": "Lunchtime Lecture: The Cross of Cong", "Start Date": "1st

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April 2015", "Finish Date": "1st April 2015", "Time": "1-1.45pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "One of Ireland's great national treasures, the Cross of Cong stands as the last masterpiece of Irish art from the early medieval period. Commissioned by the high king of Ireland, Turlough O'Connor, in the early 12th century, it was made to enshrine a relic of Christ's Cross. Join Dr. Griffin Murray of University College Cork to explore the art, archaeology, and history of the Cross, revealing some of its hidden secrets and stories.", "Booking Information": "Booking required, please phone 01 6486339 or email [email protected]. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Lecture", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Artefact Detective!", "Start Date": "9th April 2015", "Finish Date": "9th April 2015", "Time": "2-4pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "Think like an archaeologist for an afternoon and try to solve the puzzle of some mystery objects during this drop-in session!", "Booking Information": " Located next to the Treasury exhibition, ground floor. No booking required. Wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "6yrs +" },{ "Event": "Artefact Detective!", "Start Date": "10th April 2015", "Finish Date": "10th April 2015", "Time": "2-4pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "Think like an archaeologist for an afternoon and try to solve the puzzle of some mystery objects during this drop-in session!", "Booking Information": " Located next to the Treasury exhibition, ground floor. No booking required. Wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "6yrs +" },{ "Event": "Kingly Attire!", "Start Date": "25th May 2015", "Finish Date": "25th May 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "Drop-in and join Laura Fitzachary to explore Ireland at

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the time of Celtic Kings. Find out more about the mysterious bog bodies and what they may have worn to special ceremonies.", "Booking Information": " This event will take place in the Learning Resource Room, First Floor. No booking required. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "10yrs +" },{ "Event": "Bone Stories!", "Start Date": "30th May 2015", "Finish Date": "30th May 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Archaeology", "Description": "Drop in and join osteoarchaeologist Rebecca Martin to find out some fun and interesting facts about the many bones in the National Museum!", "Booking Information": " This event will take place in the Learning Resource Room, First Floor. No booking required. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "10yrs +" },{ "Event": "Teddy Bear Tour", "Start Date": "11th April 2015", "Finish Date": "11th April 2015", "Time": "10.30-11.15am, 12-12.45pm", "Location": "Natural History", "Description": "Learn more with zoologist Catherine McGuiness about animals that are usually made into cuddly toys, but they're not all friendly in real life. Don't forget to bring your own favourite Teddy Bear!", "Booking Information": " No booking required. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come basis. Not wheelchair accessible.", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "Lunch-time Talk: You Talking to Me?", "Start Date": "6th May 2015", "Finish Date": "6th May 2015", "Time": "1-1.45pm", "Location": "Natural History", "Description": "Whether it is finding a mate or deterring a predator, animals have evolved a variety of methods of communicating, from the familiar visual or auditory to the

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unusual seismic or thermal to the downright bizarre such as dance! Join zoologist Donal Vaughan to discover more about the world of animal communication. ", "Booking Information": " Booking required, email [email protected] or call 01 648 6332.", "Format": "Talk", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Kids Museum: Who's Fooling Who Tour?", "Start Date": "1st April 2015", "Finish Date": "1st April 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "This is the one day you shouldn't believe everything you hear! Can you tell who's giving you the facts and who is giving you the run-around on this April Fools tour of the Country Life collection.", "Booking Information": " Booking required.", "Format": "Tour", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "Kids Museum: Easter Painting Eggstravaganza!", "Start Date": "2nd April 2015", "Finish Date": "2nd April 2015", "Time": "2-3pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "Hear about Easter traditions long ago when chocolate eggs were rare! Learn how to design and decorate your own Easter egg.", "Booking Information": "No Booking required.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "Families" },{ "Event": "Mayo Genealogy Group", "Start Date": "11th April 2015", "Finish Date": "11th April 2015", "Time": "11:30am - 1pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "If you have an interest in finding out about your family history come along for free practical tips with the Mayo Genealogy Group..", "Booking Information": "No Booking required. New researchers welcome.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "Adults" },{ "Event": "Craft: Keep Calm and Cast On!", "Start Date": "1st May 2015", "Finish Date": "1st May 2015", "Time": "11am-1pm", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "If you have an interest in finding out about your

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family history come along for free practical tips with the Mayo Genealogy Group..", "Booking Information": "No Booking required.", "Format": "Drop-in Activity", "Audience": "Adults & Children 7yrs+" },{ "Event": "May Altars, Queens, Poles and Flowers", "Start Date": "1st May 2015", "Finish Date": "31st May 2015", "Time": "n/a", "Location": "Country Life", "Description": "Do you know of any customs still being carried out on May Eve, May Day or during the month of May? To register your local customs on our national survey visit www.ouririshheritage.org and follow the link on the home page.", "Booking Information": "No Booking required.", "Format": "Various", "Audience": "All ages" }]; $(document).on("pageinit", "#info-page", function () { //set up string for adding <li /> var li = ""; //container for $li to be added $.each(info, function (i,Event) { //add the <li>to "li" variable //note the use of += in the variable //meaning I'm adding to the existing data. not replacing it. //store index value in array as id of the <a> tag li += ' <li><a href="#" id="' + i + '" class="info-go">' + Event.Event + '</a></li>'; }); //append list to ul $("#prof-list").append(li).promise().done(function () { //wait for append to finish - thats why you use a promise() //done() will run

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after append is done //add the click event for the redirection to happen to #details-page $(this).on("click", ".info-go", function (e) { e.preventDefault(); //store the information in the next page's data $("#details-page").data("info", info[this.id]); //change the page # to second page. //Now the URL in the address bar will read index.html#details-page //where #details-page is the "id" of the second page //we're gonna redirect to that now using changePage() method $.mobile.changePage("#details-page"); }); //refresh list to enhance its styling. $(this).listview("refresh"); }); }); $(document).on("pagebeforeshow", "#details-page", function () { //get from data - you put this here when the "a" wa clicked in the previous page var info = $(this).data("info"); //string to put HTML in var info_view = ""; //use for..in to iterate through object for (var key in info) { //Im using grid layout here. //use any kind of layout you want. //key is the key of the property in the object //if obj = {name: 'k'} //key = name, value = k info_view += ' <div class="ui-grid-a"> <div class="ui-block-a"> <div class="ui-bar field" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: left;">' + key + '</div> </div> <div class="ui-block-b"> <div class="ui-bar value" style="width: 80%">' + info[key] + '</div> </div> </div>'; } //add this to html $(this).find("[data-role=content]").html(info_view); });/** * Created by rwardle on 21/04/2015. */ ***************************End CODE***************************

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List of References --

Olmo, F. & Jimenze,A, (2014) Young People as Users of Branded Applications on Mobile

Devices [online] http://www.revistacomunicar.com/verpdf.php?numero=43&articulo=43-2014-

07&idioma=en [Accessed 19th April 2015]

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Cavia, J. & Lopez, M. (2012) Communication, destination brands and mobile applications

[online]http://www.academia.edu/4001752/Communication_destination_brands_and_mobile_ap

plications [Accessed 19th April 2015]

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Liyakasa, K (2012) Reaching customers via smartphones and tablets requires a cross-

channel strategy and investment. [online]

http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=86256&PageNum=2

[Accessed 20th April 2015]

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Phone Gap (2014) General information [online] http://phonegap.com/about/

[Accessed 20th April 2015]

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BBC (2012) BBC Olympics Application [online] http://phonegap.com/app/bbc-olympics/

[Accessed 15th May 2015]

--

Rodney Wardle

An Event Guide for the National Museum of Ireland

Documents

Transcript of An Event Guide for the National Museum of Ireland