>>>>From: Aaron Marcavitch [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Well I am sure that the folks who advertised for this website just went
about it in the wrong way. <<<<

It was more than that.  The critiques mentioned only about 3 issues per
listed site.  One of the 3 criticisms of the first site was that they'd used
an ugly shade of green.  Personally, I thought it was quite a pleasant shade
of green.  If it had been garishly bright and distracting, I could see this
as a reason to criticize the site, but it wasn't, so this was a trivial
attack.

Another site was panned for two reasons: (a) having too many pictures on a
single page, so it loaded slowly (I agree); and (b) an ugly background (I
disagree).  This is enough to qualify as one of the worst museum sites in
the UK?!  Sounds like UK museums are doing pretty damn good!

Ironically, the only background this person didn't object to was the one I
thought was ugly--wriggly chains of colored spots (not that I hold this
against the site).  The critic complained that there was a "button" to
proceed to a list of other pages, but that the list was also to be found by
scrolling past the button.  Big deal.  He also complained because the button
was too ordinary.  Big deal.  Again, this all seems like a petty attack.  At
this site, however, there *were* reasons to be discontented.  You have to
navigate through too many pages to get from point A to point B.  Each of
those pages has *very* little on it, but you have to wait for a page to
download so you can proceed to another page with very little on it, several
times to get anywhere with something to read.  [Try finding out about its
bird collections, if you want to see what I mean.]  *This* is a design flaw.
A bland button is not.

I think that there can be a use for a "worst of the web" site, to educate
museum staff about what they should change and what to avoid when they make
a site of their own.  But the critiques offered at this site were
small-minded and controversial, so I say good riddance.

Robin K Panza                         [log in to unmask]
Collection Manager, Section of Birds          ph:  412-622-3255
Carnegie Museum of Natural History       fax: 412-622-8837
4400 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh  PA  15213-4008  USA

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