Richard Rinehart wrote:
>
>I have heard that AAMD is working on a
> distribution/marketing model in this area (?), and of course the Getty's
> MESL project proposes one potential model too.

Asking for the rights to use a reproduction of an object in the
collection is one thing, wanting the contents of an online exhibition
seems to be quite another and, perhaps, entirely new profit area for the
museum.

It may be more worthwhile to keep an eye on what is taking shape
culturally than to continue to think of the museum as a kind of cultural
photo stock house. Movie studios went ballistic over home videorecorders
until they realized home recording had created an entirely new, and
extremely profitable, market in video sales and rentals.

I hope with wider distribution of interpretative information over the
Internet museums will start to be seen as more than collections of
objects to reproduce but as desirable content creators as well.

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