I received this on an education discussion list I'm on.  It seemed
appropriate to the popular discussion of museums presence on the web...so
here is a view from a non-museum professional (although he does
volunteer) who looks at things from an eductional perspective.

Lisa Falk

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 05:33:22 -0500
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Thoughts on Setting up Museums Online...

Moderator's Note: Phil sent this to me this morning to express some
thoughts about bringing museums onto the Net. It was Classroom Connect's
recent story about Online Museums (p. 9 of the October issue) that got him
thinking... Enjoy! -- Tim Mc. <[log in to unmask]>

--------------

In my free time I do some volunteering at the Capital
Children's Museum, here in Washington DC.  I was excited to
hear last week that the museum will be soon setting up a
home page on the world wide web.

The ramifications of such a web page could bring a profound
new dimension to the museum's work.  This museum already has
a large following and fan club. With a public presence on
the web, the museum's fan club is bound to grow
exponentially.

This particular children's museum happens to be much more
than a museum. The museum actively involves youth of  the
city in various creative projects, including the creation of
video documentaries (amongst other things). The museum gives
teens access to a full video production facility that was
donated to the museum. Students plan, shoot, and edit their
own documentaries - - - sometimes even adding their own
computer generated animations.

The museum is everything a museum should be, and more.  It
takes seriously its mission to celebrate human culture and
creative expression.  It excels at helping young minds
awaken to the wonders of the world.

Yesterday I was explaining to a friend how hugely
significant it is for the museum to set up a presence on the
web.  The very existence of a home page will let the
metropolitan community know that the museum is comfortable
extending its presence into cyberspace. And the existence of
this home page is an implicit invitation to all interested
persons to help support the further construction of the
page. (And to help support the mission of the children's
museum in general.)

To be sure, it's a bit scary to contemplate how much
incoming e-mail this web page might generate. The museum's
hard-working staff already puts in long hours of work.
Having to answer an extra 30 to 40 e-mail messages per day
is no small undertaking. And the volume of e-mail arriving
at the museum could rise to 80 to 90 messages per day within
just a few months.

I admire the leadership of the museum for their foresight
and courage in setting up a web page. Since the web is such
a new creation, there are few precedents about what happens
when a popular museum sets up a web page.

For families and schools in the metro area, the museum's web
page is sure to be a treasure.  People will be able to plan
their visits to the various exhibits at the museum, whetting
children's interest before the kids even set foot in the
museum.

To help you picture the Capital Children's Museum, imagine a
huge three story red brick structure with dozens of exhibit
rooms and oodles of nooks and crannies. This museum is so
large that I quite regularly get lost traveling from one
end of the museum to the other.

What makes this museum so interesting to me is that the
museum has a certain magical aura. Soon after the museum's
doors open each morning the sound of children's laughter and
giggling fills the air.  Almost all the exhibits include
discovery-based learning activities. And now this museum is
on the web.

What will the museum's home page help the museum accomplish?
In some respects a web page is an ongoing, ever growing
newsletter. News about events and happenings at the museum
can be easily disseminated to anyone interested in such.
Solicitations for specific volunteer help can be posted on
the museum's web page each and every week.

If the museum needs help with a project involving desktop
publishing, the museum staff can post an appeal for help on
the museum's web page. Chances are good that some kind soul
in the greater metropolitan community will step forward to
assist with such an appeal.

The opportunities for "remote volunteering" abound when a
museum sets up a web page. The desktop publishing volunteer
mentioned above is just one service that remote volunteers
could offer to the museum.

And the nice thing is that the museum can express their
appreciation for completion of volunteer tasks by expressing
their gratitude right there on the museum's web page - - -
in public, for all the world to see.

Do you think local businesses might take a greater interest
in supporting the museum once the museum has a web page set
up? I suspect they might.  I do believe that might be the
case.

The aspect of this story that fascinates me the most,
though, is the possibility that the museum could choose to
exhibit local youth's creative work on the museum's web
page. Since a web page is theoretically a museum with
unlimited wall space, this possibility tickles my
imagination.

It would not be difficult at all for the museum to put out
an appeal to all school art teachers in the metropolitan
area to submit (in electronic form) the best of their
student's  graphic art work. A similar appeal could go out
to school music teachers in the metro area to submit
digitized samples of some of their students' most creative
work. And English teachers could be asked to submit in ASCII
form some of the most creative writings of their students.

The museum could assemble a large collection of these
submissions and exhibit  them for all the city (and all the
world) to appreciate. Imagine that. A museum with limitless
wall space celebrating the creative spirit of the city's
youth.

The social ramifications of having a museum on the web are
just beginning to be understood. I'm quite sure, though,
that many positive things are going to be happening soon at
this museum. The museum's original mission, which it has
succeeded so well in fulfilling, is going to explode into a
whole new dimension.

Phil Shapiro

The author takes a keen interest in technology access issues. He can be
reached at: [log in to unmask]    and  http://users.aol.com/pshapiro/