This is in response to Mia Lorena's recent posting about what's working with WWW sites for museums. Here are several cents' worth of my opinions: After providing several years of access through a dial-up bulletin board, my institution ( a local history museum with three houses and a very microstaff) developed a web site this past summer. It has been wonderfully successful for us as a publicity tool, as one of our museums focuses on the life and career of Joshua L. Chamberlain (1828-1914). Chamberlain's cultish stature as a Civil War hero, Maine Governor, and Bowdoin college president, has assured us of an audience that extends beyond our immediate region. The web has helped us serve the needs of this audience, most of whom find out about us through keyword searches on "Chamberlain". As far as I'm concerned, the key to success with the web site has been *CONTENT*. We have developed our site with this first and foremost in our mind, and a "meaty" Chamberlain biography we have posted has been extremely popular, as has a massive inventory of Chamberlain correspondence, and a detailed account of our restoration activities on the Chamberlain house. These three files (particularly the last two) provide some real information that is not easily obtained elsewhere. Content, above all else, is what people seem to appreciate the most. Having some good research material up also makes it possible for researchers to make specific, educated requests for further information, such as "I want to see a copy of the letter of 9/17/1886" rather than "what information do you have on _____" This makes it far easier to respond to research requests by e-mail, which have also increased as a result of the site. As for sales, they too have increased, and many orders by e-mail or telephone have resulted from our on-line catalogue. This is not yet (and probably never will be) our chief source of revenue, but we find that many people tell us that reading about the museum and Chamberlain on-line has resulted in their wanting to learn more, which has, in turn, led to increased sales. With all the attention to Chamberlain, we have not done as much with our local history as I want to. We are presently working to develop this end of the site, and we are hoping to have a sample of our archives index up in the next couple of weeks, again, with the goal of providing content rather than fluff. Finally, when you are considering your site, think about the technology. I feel it's important to make sure that people using lynx or other, older internet browsers will not run into trouble. WeUve tried to keep the site low-tech enough to load quickly, to look good with the pictures turned off, and to be easily accessible. We feel we have a very attractive site - it looks professional (but not too slick), itUs growing each month, and it has been completely developed at no cost to the museum, aside from my time in coding and design. Most of the technological heavy lifting was done by two volunteers, and we have handled the computer space issue by teaming up with a local library eager to provide the service as part of their public service mandate. We still have some glitches to overcome, but the site is developing in an organic way, and people are hitting it. I feel this has been one of the most successful and exciting ventures that our small museum has engaged in. And it was done in-house at a rock bottom cost. I hope that museum-L ers will visit the site and send me their impressions we're always seeking to improve it. <http://www.curtislibrary.com/pejepscot.htm> Erik Jorgensen ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Pejepscot Historical Society, 159 Park Row, Brunswick, Maine 04011 USA Erik C. Jorgensen, Executive Director. Phone (207) 729-6606 Visit us at <http://www.curtislibrary.com/pejepscot.htm> or via Yahoo! \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\