In regard to your questions about members-only sections on web sites-

The Metropolitan Museum site does in fact have a special area for members,
both for our "standard" levels of membership as well as for our "MetNet"
level of membership, which was created specifically for the web several
years ago and currently has several thousand members in and of itself.

I think you hesitancy is well-founded. Unless you are providing something
of real value to your members, it is unlikely you will see any benefit for
what could be a significant expenditure of time and money. In our case, we
are offering members downloadable screen savers from the collections,
additional virtual tours and the like, and we regularly rotate in special
merchandise from the Met store that is discounted in addition to the
standard members discount. In the near future we hope to be webcasting
museum concerts and lectures for members through this area, as well.

But obviously the difference in scale here is great- I can't imagine it
being worth the investment even for mid-size city museums...

Regards-

Dennis Kois
Design Department
The Metropolitan Museum of Art



How many museum web sites have member's only sections?

If yes, how have they worked out in terms of time and resources invested
versus benefit to members or recruiting new membership?

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