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Balboa Park Online Collaborative Blog

Timken’s collection of European, Russian, and American art available via a free app for iOS devices

PR Contact:
Maren Dougherty, Balboa Park Online Collaborative
Email: mdougherty@bpoc.org Phone: 619-819-9200

The Timken Museum of Art, together with Artfinder and the Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC), has launched a mobile app for its world-class collection of European old master paintings, Russian icons, and American art.

The Timken is the first art museum in San Diego to make its entire collection accessible through an application for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices. The app is free, just like a visit to the museum. It can be downloaded from the App Store: http://bp0.co/HZMqT9

"The Timken is all about free access to explore and learn about great works of art,” said John Wilson, the Timken’s executive director.  “Our collection app brings the range of our collection, and information about it, to an all-but unlimited audience and we hope they'll make the journey to Balboa Park and see these masterpieces first hand.”

The Balboa Park Online Collaborative (BPOC), of which the Timken is a member, helped complete the digitization of the Timken’s collection and coordinated with London-based Artfinder for the app launch. This app builds on the success of the Timken’s first mobile effort with...

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BPOC is happy to announce that Mitchel McCullough, technical services intern, has been hired as a Help Desk technician at the Midway Museum. Mitchel entered BPOC’s From Convoys to Computers IT training program in August 2011 after completing five years as an Intelligence Specialist in the Marine Corps. Mitchel has been working as an intern on numerous projects with museums and technology infrastructure throughout Balboa Park.

The Convoys to Computers program was designed to assist young veterans interested in beginning IT careers as they transition into civilian life. While California’s current unemployment rate is just under 9%, the unemployment rate for returning service members under the age of 24 is 34%.

BPOC engages the interns in technology-focused training and projects such as computer networking, server engineering, and video editing. In its pilot year, the Convoys to Computers program achieved an 85% success rate. BPOC's program design emphasizes hands-on practical experience.  Employers consistently state that experience is the most important characteristic they are looking for in a job candidate. BPOC’s network and systems provide multiple platforms and scenarios in which interns can apply their IT training.

Mitchel credits the opportunity to work with experts from every aspect of IT at BPOC and the hands-on experience for accelerating his skill level and employability. Mitchel strove for complete customer...

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Representatives of BPOC are participating in several technology-related sessions at this week's AAM Annual Meeting. Others of us will be watching from afar via Twitter (#AAM2012) but if you're there, be sure to say hello and learn about some of the collaborative technology projects BPOC has been leading in San Diego's Balboa Park. 

Yesterday, BPOC Deputy Director Vivian Kung Haga discussed an IMLS-funded project to develop an open source online contest solution during the session "Investing in Innovation and Creativity: Results from IMLS's Sparks Ignition Grants." Future sessions with BPOC staff include:

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Our parkwide cellphone adventure Giskin Anomaly is featured in the May 2012 issue of Sunset Magazine. We've had 9997 calls into the Giskin phone system so we anticipate that this mention will put us over 10,000 calls. 

Haven't played yet?

You have a few more months to get your game on. Look for the first marker near The Old Globe box office. You don't need any kind of smartphone to play; any regular cellphone will do. Learn more at www.giskin.org.

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San Diego Congresswoman Susan Davis visited BPOC's office yesterday to learn more about our Wounded Warrior/Veterans Technology Internship Program. She met with some of our interns and learned about the work that they're doing in areas of IT support, video editing, and kiosk development. 

Susan Davis

Congresswoman Susan Davis with Director Rich Cherry and four of our technology interns

From left: Mitchel McCullough, Rich Cherry, Andre Rowe, Congresswoman Davis, Brian Levinson, and Corey Pike

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