Places must satisfy two criteria: they are 'managed' by an organisation and are open to the public. In practice this can include places such as: museums, galleries, historic houses, zoos, botanic gardens, religious places, archaelogical sites, town centres, woodlands, parks, beaches or any place that wants to attract visitors. Back to top

Only an employee, director, trustee or agent can register a place. All registrations will be authenticated. Back to top

Yes, you can manage multiple places with one account. Back to top

Yes, you can upload information relating to your collection. There is also a 'bulk upload' facility to help you. Back to top

There is none. Places can join OOKL and publish content to the web for free. OOKL is also free to end users. OOKL does offer a range of premium services to places such as mobile apps and learning platforms but these are optional. Back to top

You need to register your place on the website. You can then log in and update your place's details. It's free to register and publish content on the web. Back to top

OOKL has been the subject of several external reviews undertaken by leading academics (including the Institute of Education and Nottingham University) and internal assessments from participating venues. All are available here. Back to top

The solution works on iPod Touch devices (4th generation), iPads and iPhones (via a WiFi or 3G connection). These devices can be purchased from most electrical retailers or Amazon. OOKL does not supply these devices. Please test the solution on one device before they are bought in larger quantities. Back to top

WiFi is required as all of the content created or consumed by pupils on the iPod Touch is streamed to and from OOKL's website. Back to top

Yes they can. They can download OOKL SV onto their device for free. However, they will require a username and password (which can be created by their teacher) in order to use the app. They will also need a 3G connection or access to public WiFi. Back to top

Yes, they can download individual pieces of content and save onto their desktop or they can create stories and export to powerpoint. Back to top

The OOKL learning platform is designed for students aged 8 to 13/14. Back to top

OOKL does not charge schools. Some venues may charge schools for the use of the service. Back to top

Students are required to log onto the OOKL application on the mobile devices. This personalises the experience and everything they do on the device is uploaded to their own personal space on the website. Teachers log onto the website and create 'classes'. They add their students to the class and all of the individual user names and passwords are automatically generated by the system. The teacher prints off the page and brings it on the day. Back to top

There are a number of reasons whey they aren't the same. First, Android devices are made by many manufacturers and they have different screen sizes, capabilities, user interface and so one. We also like to test new features on one app at a time. If it shown to be of interest to venues & users then we add it to the other one. Back to top

Yes, you can provide the app on a dedicated set of smartphones or tablets connected to OOKL via WiFi. Back to top

No. If you have the LITE app (that is, you have not purchased an upgrade to LOADED) then only some of the content you publish on the website will appear on the app. Back to top

Your visitor information, all of your events and up to 20 objects, 1 trail and 1 game will be accessible on the app automatically. Want more? Upgrade to the LOADED MOBILE GUIDE. Back to top

The app will work on iOS and most Android devices. The issue that all apps have, particularly on the Android Platform, is that they can behave differently on different devices/operating systems/network operators. The app is optimised to work on 80% of devices, however some functions on the app may not perform as normal on some devices. If you encounter any problems please let us know the details and we'll get it fixed. Back to top

There are many ways to get content into OOKL:
-1- OOKL website. Log onto the website as an administrator, create new object, upload an image/audio commentary/video, fill in 5-10 fields, save, repeat.
-2- Bulk import. If your collection is already digitised, give us a file and we'll import it.
-3- Scrape it. If content about your objects is on your website we can import it directly.

All objects uploaded to the museum storeroom are assigned with a unique code. Print the codes and attach them to the objects and you're ready to go. Back to top

Yes, all of the content you upload to the website can be linked back to your website. Back to top

The place owns the IP. OOKL has no interest in the content uploaded to the site by places. Places are in full control and can add, edit and delete content. If a place does not own the IP relating to content that it uploads to the site then it must be sure to have the necessary permission to do so and state who owns the IP in the appropriate fields. Back to top

Yes, the source of the content is not a matter for OOKL as long as the IP rights are cleared. Back to top

Visitors can either enter a search term or a short code to access the object information on the app. Each object uploaded to the website by a venue is automatically assigned a unique short code (2-4 letters). Venues are required to attach labels with short codes or object titles to their objects. Back to top

We are not yet convinced by QR codes. There are still quite a few problems (users cannot get close enough to take a picture, light conditions can affect them etc) that mean they are not yet a full-proof way of accessing content. On balance, we prefer the use of a search term or short codes, but we'll keep it under review. Back to top

OOKL is really simple and anyone with a non-technical background can set it up and operate it in a place. If you can fill in fields on a website, then you can use OOKL. If you do need help then get in touch. Back to top