Since I regularly use museum websites to update my database, I'm going to
pipe in and say what I find useful:
        - the director's name somewhere on the website. Makes your museum a
bit more human and helps us who need to keep track of directors, who move
about a lot! (there's one director out there who has moved around so much
recently s/he is listed on four different websites as director!)
        - a staff list. Doesn't need to have e-mails, just names. Maybe even
only department heads. This way if you want to contact someone at a museum
you have a name to address the letter to. If you're a bigger museum it will
also guarantee those blind resumes end up on the hr director's desk and not
the directors.
        - an address. It's amazing how many museums don't have their
addresses listed! They'll have a location- "visit us in the heart of
downtown on the corner of Main and Elm" but don't have a mailing address.
What if someone wanted to send you a million dollar check??
        - Keep it recent! Not just your staff list (see the director above)
but if a potential visitor visits your website and nothing has been updated
for months and the most recent events are from the summer, you don't look
like a very vibrant and exciting institution. There are theories in the web
design world that updating your website often encourages repeat visits and
builds a relationship, but I would say more, it shows the one-time visitor
that there are live people in your museum and they want to visit.


Pamela

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).