It seems to me that if someone got lost in this site (Cdn. War museum) there
needs to be clearer directions on the web pages as to what your audience is
supposed to do (KISS priciple perhaps?).  An alternative would be to have
the sign-up forms embedded a couple levels down so no-one will accidentally
click on it.

Along these lines, I did a seminar with a museum studies class in Sept. 96
dealing with the internet as a medium for research.  The topic eventually
swung around to accessing password-protected web sites; apparently a few of
the students came across some museums in England that were almost entirely
"members-only" (although again this could have been a misunderstanding on
their part).  For example, a fee was expected before you could access the
site.  I was amazed at the amount of hostility that came from the class when
we started talking about it - I'm sure a few of the museums they mentioned
were close to a public lynching! (well, in their minds, anyway).  NOT good
for business!

I have decided that whenever I come across a site like this I will inform
the contact person they are making a big mistake.

Especially in the case of on-line databases, you can still give the public
access to your collections without telling them the stuff they don't need to
know.  It's just a matter of not including "sensitive" information.  If you
want to use the web as a medium for collections management, that's fine;
just include everything and then restrict the info that you have to.  A
great example (a site I worked on) is:

Point Ellice Collection of Household Victoriana

http://www.schoolnet.ca/collections/victoriana/

In the case of general web pages, usually those are intended as advertising
for the museum.  Your site will be ineffective if people have to pay to see
it (remember, the avg. attention span of a gen-X'er is about 3 to 5
minutes...).  It's much more effective if you welcome them in, get them
thinking, and get them participating.

-Troy Whitbread [log in to unmask]

>Hank;
>
>I suggest you take another look at our site, which I myself have just done.
>
>You will find that you can get into ANY part of it, save one which is
>restricted to people who are in our "Friends" organization. If you take the
>time to look at the very first screen for this one small section, this should
>be apparent, as it asks you for a "lon-on" and tells you that if you are not a
>member of FCWM, you can register on-line. The registration form, which is NOT a
>market research or other survey, follows - if you select the appropriate
>response. Completing this form is NOT a prerequisite to visiting our site,
>which is what you told the world on MUSEUM-L.
>
>ALL the other choices are wide open to ANYONE who wants to look at them, had
>you bothered to look. These include:
>
>General Information
>Gallery Tour - New!
>Institutional History and Mission
>Exhibitions
>Public Programmes, Facilities and Services (includes our interactive multimedia
>CDs produced to date)
>Cyberboutique
>Education Programmes, including the CWM Trivia Challenge
>
>oh, and Hank? There's another button that lets you get DIRECTLY into the
>questionnaire if you want to become a Friend of (well, perhaps a little more
>civil to???) the Canadian War Museum.
>
>Now why on earth did I apologize to this individual? Oh well, call me Canadian.
>It reminds me of an episode from one of the old Stan Freberg comedy shows on
>radio (wot we used to listen to in days of yore). The show was a spoof on
>westerns, called "Bang Gunleigh - U.S. Marshall Field" and, at the end of the
>episode, the hero's sidekick, sudenly appears when Bang says, "Well, come on,
>Pedro, our job is finished here."
>
>At this the female love interest says, "Where did he come from?"
>
>(Bang) "Oh, Pedro? He materializes at the end of each episode."
>
>(FLI)  "Pedro! Are you Mexican?"
>
>(Pedro, in strong Mexican accent), "No, Senorita, Swiss. This way we don't
>offend nobody."
>
>We tend to have the same problem.
>
>Harry Needham
>Canadian War Museum
>
>

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Troy Whitbread                                  [log in to unmask]
Consultant / Internet Publishing
Royal British Columbia Museum
Victoria, BC