Getting Started
Our Getting Started guide contains everything you'll need to install CLIO, replicate a POP kiosk and create your first interactive.
Introduction
Read about CLIO
CLIO is a web application suite to create, manage and display digital interactives that can be used on just about any computer system that can run a web server. You can refurbish an old computer system, build a new one, or take advantage of low-cost commodity hardware like the Raspberry Pi. Not only can CLIO activities be used in a physical space, but they can be used online, too.
Read about POP
The POP prototype kiosk is a low-cost, do-it-yourself option for integrating CLIO activities into pop-up exhibits, performing user and pilot testing or generating a proof-of-concept. The POP kiosk is easy to repair and replicate, in batches or one at a time, as you need them.
Learn about the Development Process
CLIO has gone through a multi-year continuous development cycle with separate host institutions. This project is based on the MUSETECH model, a comprehensive framework for the design and evaluation of museum technology. We document our research, design process and evaluation results.
Requirements
The CLIO web applications were designed to be hardware- and resolution-independent, meaning it can be used on most computer systems. They have few technical requirements and perform well on low-cost commodity hardware such as the Raspberry Pi. It can also be run on web servers accessible through the internet.
Creating Your First Interactive
Creating a Local Development Environment
CLIO is a web-based application, which means that it needs to be developed on your local machine using a Local Web Development Environment (LWDE). There are many free and open-source Local Web Development Environments available, which quickly create a local web server with all of the required tools. These software packages can also be used to quickly create kiosks.
Install CLIO Exhibit
Interactive activities are displayed by using CLIO Exhibit, which means we need to install it on our local webserver.
Create a Program
A Program is a selection of Activities within the same group, exhibit or educational program. Programs can be used to group Activities for pop-up exhibition tables, rooms, galleries, or just by subject. This allows facilitators to run multiple unrelated pop-up exhibits and programs using the same hardware, without having to connect to the internet or download additional data. Programs are provided as a way to create manageable collections of interactive activities that can be customized based on your institutions needs.
Define an Audience
Each Program can have custom audiences groups, which are included as a way to help sort activities for predefined demographics. When setting up the kiosk as part of their pop-up exhibit, facilitators have the power to configure which activities they think would best fit their audience and what they’re trying to achieve.
Create an Activity
Activities are created through easily customizable activity templates, called Activity Types. You can make your own, or utilize the ones that are provided. The CLIO web application suite comes pre-installed with seventeen Activity Types that are designed specifically for use in an informal education or exhibit context. These activities are coded and stored as JSON files for use within CLIO, but we provide word processor templates to assist with collaboration during the development and drafting process.
Create A Kiosk
If you want to display your interactives in a physical space, like a gallery or as part of a pop-up exhibit, you will need a kiosk computer system. You can buy a pre-made one, create your own, or follow our guide to build the POP prototype kiosk.
Guides
Non-profit and cultural heritage professionals often wear many hats and balance numerous responsibilities. Some are educators, some are designers, and some are developers. Many professionals are more than one. In order to help you make sense of the documentation, we've broken them down into guides for different needs.
Administrator
Learn how to use CLIO Create to make your own activities from existing templates, organize them into interactives and install them in CLIO Exhibit. Next, use those activities as part of a pop-up exhibit, a gallery, and interactive, live-facilitated programs - both in-person and remote.
Facilitator
Learn how to set up a CLIO kiosk and working as part of your exhibit.
Designer
Learn how to style the CLIO Exhibit interface to better fit in with your institution's design language.
Developer
Learn about the inner workings of CLIO framework, like how to create your own menus and activity type templates.
