We're a small university museum (currently 7.33 non-volunteer, non-workstudy people when we're at full strength) that initiated a web site 4 or 5 years ago.  This followed and was more-or-less inspired by a graduate student degree-related project that involved a successful
Museum-associated web site (EPBIONET).

With our budget, all aspects of design and implementation necessarily have been in-house.  The University has provided the web infrastructure, so our out-of-pocket costs there have been zero.  My position with the Museum is 1/3 time and is paid by the University.  As a 9-month
faculty member, I also have considerable time during the summer that can be utilized with web projects.  Currently the Museum is directly responsible for three Museum sites (Centennial Museum, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, and the Chihuahuan Desert pages), as well as still
having final authority over the EPBIONET site.  Each site has a different focus and, presumably, clientele.

I have been responsible for design, implementation, maintenance, and (mostly) content.  My other major project with the Museum during the period has been database design and implementation as we've gone from a SELGEM database of some 19,000 objects to a PC-based database with over
70,000 objects.  I also am involved in some other aspects of the museum activities.  On long-term average, probably about a third of my 1/3 time has been devoted to the web duties.

Design has changed rather radically through the years as I grew from a complete novice to a semi-proficient webmaster.  Two of the sites require minimal maintenance (keeping current with exhibits, workshops, etc.) which is undertaken whenever desired by other Museum personel.  The
Chihuahuan Desert site is actively building with equipment and supplies support from a NASA MU-SPIN grant--this summer, some 30 to 50 hours a week is involved.

The setup works reasonably well for us for several reasons.  Probably most importantly, my position as a faculty member allows considerable flexibility, while commitment to the Museum adds a component likely absent with  contract personnel or a 40-hour per week hireling.  With few
family obligations remaining, I can devote excess time to a project when I deem it desirable.  The Museum administration has supported the sites enthusiatically.  On the down side, most of the knowledge of the organization of the sites, style, subject-matter knowledge, etc., is
invested in one person, the loss of whom could stimulate a min-crisis.

I have tried to keep the sites handicap accessible, but have no confidence that I've accomplished this throughout.

"Barbara G. Scott" wrote:

> I would like to hear from people at small to medium-sized museums about how
> their museums handle the creation and maintenance of the museum web site.
> Did you contract the actual design out to someone else and provide them with
> the text and images and updates? Did you contract for the original design
> and then start doing the updates yourself? Or is someone on staff
> responsible for the actual web site creation and maintenance?
>
> If this is part of a regular staff position, what percentage of the person's
> time is devoted to web stuff and how much to other duties? Did your museum
> hire someone who already knew about web site development or did someone have
> to learn on the job or through museum-paid workshops/classes? And are you
> happy with the result? Have people had problems with board members or other
> staff members underestimating how much time maintaining a web site requires
> and how have you dealt with this problem? Is your web site handicap
> accessible?
>
> Thanks.
> Bobbie Scott
>
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--
Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX  79968-0915
phone (915)747-6985; fax (915)747-5808; [log in to unmask]
http://www.utep.edu/leb    http://nasa.utep.edu/chih/chihdes.htm
http://www.utep.edu/museum

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