An Abstract image with pinks and purples is used for a banner with the name Katherine Burton Jones.

Katherine Jones holds the role of Program Director for the Museum Studies program at the Harvard University Extension School, where she has been an integral part of the faculty for over 15 years. Since 2004, she has also served as the Research Advisor for the program.

Beyond her academic contributions, Katherine is the principal of Katherine Jones Consulting, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, particularly in the realms of strategic technology planning for higher education and non-profit sectors. Over the past two decades, she has provided consultancy services to several museums in New England, the Northeast, and the Dominican Republic.

Active in the non-profit sector, Katherine volunteers for organizations in the New England area. She currently serves on the Museum Committee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum in Newport, RI. Additionally, she holds the position of Secretary on the board of the Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, MA, and is a board member of the New England Sports Museum.

Previously, Katherine served as the Assistant Dean for Information Technology and Media Services at the Harvard Divinity School for nine years. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in shaping the technological landscape of the institution.

From 1994 to 2000, Katherine served as an Assistant Director at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, where she championed the development of websites and visual resources across all Harvard museums.

Katherine is a respected editor and contributor, having co-authored two influential books: “The Wired Museum” (1997), published by the American Association of Museums, and “Museum Informatics: People, Information, and Technology in Museums” (with Paul F. Marty, 2007), published by Routledge. She is currently collaborating with Professor Marty on an upcoming book about the history of museum computing through oral histories spanning 60+ years from professionals in the field. Her extensive research also includes numerous articles and conference presentations on topics related to museum studies over the past two decades.

Her current research interests focus on applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing to museum databases in order to address challenges involving deaccessioning, visitor engagement, analyzing language used to describe collections to make it more accessible and less derogatory, and leveraging museum data to provide insights about climate change.