Judy:

1.  The internet allows museums unique opportunities to enhance the
museum visit.  Keep in mind research shows there is little learning on
the first visit without a preorganizer.  They can use WWW pages to
preorganize students for field trips, set a happier tone with visitors
who will know where to park, where the restrooms are, how much it costs,
what they will see, etc.  and allow the visitor to revisit favorite spots
from home after the trip.
        Museums need computers which have enough power to be servers for web
sites, computers that can handle scanning, improving, and displaying large
images, and visuals so computers can bring the curator and collections to
visitors through the internet.

2.   The home use of the internet, although growing, is not growing as
fast as people are wanting to get on.  Museums should be places where
computer centers can be accessable for people who want to get on the
net.  This would benefit lower socieoeconomic groups who have little hope
of getting a computer in the home, exceptional students who want to study
during weekends and holidays, people who want to use the system before
they purchase equipment.

Betsy



On Tue, 16 Jan 1996, J H Rand wrote:

> I've been invited to a brainstorm session to help Microsoft come up with
> "new directions for corporate giving" on Thursday, 2/18. The company is
> looking to divide their philanthropic giving into three fields:
> Tech/Computers; Education; and Creativity (rather than "the Arts").
> They're interested in hearing ideas from the museum field about things
> they might do, what the current issues are, where the museum field is at.
> I'd be happy to represent any big ideas you've got (i.e., it's not at the
> "Fund me! Fund me!" stage, it's at the big picture/gathering background
> stage.) The catch: I need to hear from you quickly, since the meeting's 48
> hours from now.
>
> If you're interested in contributing ideas or points of view, you can
> e-mail me directly at [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks!!
> Judy Rand, Rand and Associates
> [log in to unmask]
>

Betsy Price, Project Manager            A joint project sponsored by:
The Natural History of Genes            Eccles Institute of Human Genetics
UMNH                                    Utah Museum of Natural History
University of Utah                      University of Utah Medical School
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

801-581-6286
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