The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, now has
extensive information on its collections, publications, and activities
available to personal computer users subscribing to America Online. Selected
publications, including articles from AMERICAN ART, the museum's quarterly
journal, and the complete text of the best-selling book FREE WITHIN OURSELVES,
complete with images, can be read online or downloaded for printing. The
program offers such interactive aspects as an electronic bulletin board for
art-related topics and a board for art reference queries, which are personally
answered by a staff librarian. Information on the research collections--for
example, the museum library, slide and photo archives, Inventory of American
Paintings Executed Before 1914, Inventory of American Sculpture--as well as on
the permanent collection, is available. Current press releases, upcoming
exhibition schedules, informational brochures, and up-to-the minute museum
events information have also been posted.
In addition, digital images from the museum's permanent collection are
available to America Online's home and school users. Note that currently the
images must be downloaded from the system to one's computer, a process that
takes from eight to twenty minutes per image. In coming months, it will not be
necessary to download in order to see images.
To access NMAA's offerings by personal computer, America Online subscribers
select the "Learning/Reference" option from the America Online menu, click on
the Smithsonian Institution icon, and then choose "NMAA Online" in the text
choices or choose keyword: NMAA.
NMAA Online is part of Smithsonian Online on America Online. Smithsonian
Online provides additional information about the Institution, including a
large area for educators, articles from AIR & SPACE magazine, and hundreds of
photographic images that represent a wide range of collections at the
institution.
For more information about America Online, call (800) 827-6364, ext. 7822.
Joan Stahl, National Museum of American Art: Room 331,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
(e-mail)[log in to unmask] (voice) 202-357-1348
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