On the subject of Virtual Museum exhibitions--
 
One thing that I liked about the original post from the teacher who took the
concept of a museum as the basis for class project is that he thought broadly
and he was encouraging students to look at connections abd interconnections,
which is something this new technology supports.  It is one of the reasons I
got into museum work.
 
I've only "visited" a couple of the on-line museum web pages so far.  The one
thing I see missing is extensive use of this connective ability.  Just think of
all the sources we use to research and produce an exhibition and related
programs.  Wouldn't it be neat if some of the on-line exhibitions allowed
viewers to follow some of those links?  An on-line virtual exhibit is not a
real object experience, but it is a real experience and can be a very rich one
if we look carefully at what we present.  Our web pages don't need to be
"poster" exhibitions or simply pr materials for our museums.  They are a whole
new expressive avenue for museums. Want curators to interact with the audience?
Set up a section for questions and answers.  Want to know which title gets
across the message you want to convey?  Let web visitors fill out a survey,
choosing their favorite title or telling you what they think the exhibit will
be about based on your title(s). I think some of us are already thinking about
the myrid possibilities this new technology offers us.  Good!
 
We didn't coin the word virtual--for me the question isn't what is or is not a
virtual exhibtion or museum, but rather how we can use this new technology to
excite the general public about looking at the human condition over time (isn't
that, afterall what we are preserving, documenting and presenting--evidence of
and reflections of societies?).
 
Lisa Falk
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