Stuedahl, Smørdal, Dindler, & Petersen, short paper proposal for ECSCW 2007 Workshop: Techniques and Methodologies for Studying Technology Use ‘In the Wild’ 1 Use of blogs for studying users engagement with mobile telephones in museum environments Dagny Stuedahl Dep. of Media and Communication University of Oslo Norway Ole Smørdal InterMedia University of Oslo Norway Christian Dindler Center for Interactive Spaces University of Århus Denmark Peter Dalsgård Petersen Information and Media Studies University of Aarhus Denmark In this paper we report from methods and supporting techniques used for studying users’ engagement in museum environments by way of mobile phones and web logs (blogs). The methods and techniques are used in two field experiments at the Vikingship museum of Oslo: The first with a group of 13 year old visitors, and a second with individual and twosome adult tourist visitors. Two techniques was tried out; a) collecting clues and publishing them on a visitor blog during the visit and b) mapping the experience of the visit on experience maps. The techniques reported propose different approaches to studying user engagement in information environments and we would like to discuss the methodological issues of the diverging techniques reported, as well as the status of blogs as empirical material. Background We are researching and designing digital environments for cultural heritage research mediation. Empirical accounts from a reconstruction of a Viking boat (e.g. video recorded discussions, model making, and explanations) are mediated by web based solutions and mobile terminals, communicated by means of proximity and location based technologies. The field experiments in the Vikingship museum are part of design related studies that focus on the role of the mobile phone as tools for appropriation. The level of engagement with the artefacts in the exhibition, and the visitors’ interest in mediating the museum experience to others are understood as indicators of appropriation. Understanding meaning making Analysis and design of digital cultural environments is supported by a conceptual framework focusing on meaning making within networks of practices, media content, and artefacts. A combination of central theoretical concepts, such as alignment, configuration and negotiation, from Actor Network Theory (ANT), and the