Some initial thoughts on museum web pages, having looked at a fair number in
relation to studies and also just personal interest (in no particular order)

All the normal visiting hours etc will need to be there, but i would also
want to see maybe pictures of galleries or objects, including stuff that
isnt on display.

Information on particular projects - such as outreach or temporary
exhibitions might be good - particularly for discussions of methodology if
its unusual. i once spent a long time looking for information on a rapid
response exhibition team in australia which sounded fascinating. Being in
the uk i was never going to see their work, but all their information was
very basic and visit driven - with no aparent discussion of the more behind
the scenes stuff. - Maybe I'm wierd, but i think that telling people more
than what they'd see if they turned up on the doorstep is the way to go.
Talk about how things develop, show pictures of stores, give the basic
documentation records in a searchable format, give links to other sites,
make it a research tool. Make it interactive so people can post comments and
see the discussions

That way the site becomes useful in its own right rather than just being a
virtual flyer.

At a guess, people will need to make some money & I've nothing against
remote selling, but the shop should be secondary to the content in exactly
the same way as it should be in real life.

 One final thought, it should be accessible! by which i mean using software
people can use & not having zillions of enormous graphic files. I'm using a
pentium 2 but even that couldn't cope with the smithsonian's site.

rant over.
Jane


>mda (formerly the Museum Documentation Association) is involved in a
>project to create a web portal site to the web sites of museums in the
>United Kingdom. The URL for this is http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk.
>
>As many museums are asking for advice on web site content, the project
>aims to issue guidelines and examples of best practice. There are plenty
>of the latter, but we would appreciate the views of the members of this
>list- This information might relate to brochure-ware (e.g. How do you
>get to the museum, opening hours etc.) or it might include descriptions
>of galleries, facilities for the disabled etc. We will collate the
>results and make them available to the museum community via the mda web
>site (http://www,mda.org.uk).
>
>We want an international perspective on this- What might foreign
>visitors be looking for in a UK web site? The more responses the better!
>
>I look forward to reading your views.
>
>With thanks...
>
>Matthew Stiff
>Standards Manager
>mda, 19 Riverside Road, Oxford, OX2 0HT
>Tel:    +44 (0)1865 200561
>Fax:    +44 (0)870 054 7783
>
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>URL:    www.mda.org.uk
>
>mda: Supporting Cultural Information Management
>