Hi Darren and the rest of us museum-lers (we need a nickname bad),

I am on a task force looking at several seismic/geology related web sites.
We will be producing a "lay-person" version of these sites for the general
public.  Right now they are very techy and intended more for Geology Grad
students than the general public.

One idea that has been suggested is to arrange the site as if it were an
actual building, the Virtual Museum idea.  I like this approach it would
give the visitor a visual reference to follow.  The main screen could look
like a visitor's map from a real or imaginary museum.  You could have
various exhibit halls, a gift shop, help/information desk, behind-the-scene
rooms for special areas - restoration, development etc., and an area to do
traveling exhibits if you have them.

If you hope to get kids into it I would suggest using friendly text and use
it sparringly.  (Does anybody know of studies done on the reading habits of
people on the web? - Sounds like a good paper)  Another suggestion is to
use small pages (something that will fit on a screen without having to
scroll).  This would speed up the download time

 Kids go for colors, sound, motion, and being in control (watch any kid
oriented commercial).  We need to keep their bodies occupied long enough
that their brains have enough time to look/understand something.  I haven't
looked at cost yet but this implies having Shockwave, Real Audio, and
Quicktime plug-ins at some point.  One thing web pages do allow is
effective layering of information and people can e-mail questions in if you
are planning for support.

Just some random thoughts on a Friday,

Hans


"Strap yourselves in.
This flight's gonna suck and we don't serve peanuts."
 - Lt. Cooper Hawkes   "...Tell Our Moms We Done Our Best"
                        Space: Above and Beyond

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hans Hinners    [log in to unmask]
California Museum of Science and Industry
Los Angeles, Exposition Park
(No, we don't have any dinosaurs. - Ha, laugh it's a joke.)
(213) 744 - 2504    (213) 744 - 2034 FAX