QR Codes and the Rubin Museum

When it comes to providing educational resources to the public, one of the most frequent questions that we often ponder is “how can we distribute these resources to educators for them to use in their classrooms?”  While the museum regularly uses social media (Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter) to promote some of these great creations, we often found that educators, and visitors alike would, in many instances, visit the museum and while wandering in awe over the works of art, would then ask for the location of resources that they may use in the future.  While a simple web address may seem like an easy enough solution, we found that people would at times leave the museum and forget to write the web address or lose the brochure they were given.  One solution we thought of was the use of QR codes in the galleries.  But what is a QR code?

A typical QR Code for our interactive Timeline for our exhibition The Body Unbound.

In short, QR Codes or “Quick Response codes,” are types of barcodes that a person can scan with their mobile device (smart phone, iPad/tablet) and quickly access various information without typing in a single address!  First created by the automotive industry, these codes are an easy way of accessing any information quickly and conveniently.  Since 2000, QR codes have evolved into a common marketing tool to help connect individuals to the vast cosmos of the world wide web.  By downloading a QR scanner application (often free), a person can easily use their phone or mobile device to access these codes for all different purposes.  Recently, we began to test this theory by adding these QR barcodes on our Additional Resources signs for this very purpose.

Signs for Related Resources can be found on exhibition floors.

So on your next visit to the Rubin Museum, be sure to check out these QR codes to download our educational resources!

One example of QR Codes being used in the galleries.

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