Robert A. Baron writes:
 
> In fact museums tend to have three collections (following your
> thought): the one on view (including those rotated into view),
> the one in permanent storage, and lastly a virtual collection
> made up of those items that have been on view.
 
I think we agree but I would add that the objects in the
collection have links outside the museum (as anyone involved
in NAGPRA will attest) with communities with their own
histories of the objects. That student downloading images
from a database should have access to both the museum
interpretation and the outside history and related non-museum
sources. We have the technology for that now and I don't like to
think it's going to be used to present only the "official"
museum view or just to digitize Gardner's. The AAM made it clear
in "Excellence and Equity" that education should be expanded
through new technology. Of course they didn't say HOW that can be done...
 
Robbin Murphy
Managing Editor, ArtNet
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