The thing that I find missing from this discussion of
          virtual museums is a sense of "place." A principal
          experience, for me,  in going to a museum is the pleasure I
          get in *being* somewhere. I know that this same sensation is
          a major impediment for many museum-goers, they find the
          museum atmosphere daunting or otherwise off-putting (for
          reasons of class, culture, etc.) But in any case, it is a
          major component of the museum experience, with all of its
          social, emotional, and cultural resonances. Those who
          describe this experience as solely visual are simply not
          paying attention to everything that goes on during a museum
          visit.
 
          And then there is the indescribable and complex aura that
          surrounds an actual artifact, as distinct from a
          representation. Everyone is familiar with the difference
          between a book of pictures and a gallery of pictures. To me,
          there is simply no comparison between the richness of the
          experience in encountering an actual thing, and encountering
          a representation of the thing.
 
          I am pretty dubious about the value and future of "virtual
          museums." I have visited many of these on the Web.  For the
          most part, they are interesting and occasionally well done.
          But the experience is more like watching a frustratingly
          slow, ill-produced, and lo-rez documentary about the Louvre
          than visiting the Louvre. (By the way, the Louvre web site
          has a disclaimer saying that it is not connected to the
          museum itself.)
 
          The farther we move away from the primacy of the object and
          the pleasure of the actual physical contact, the more we
          enter into competition with other media such as movies,
          edutainment CD-ROMS, etc, a competition in which I'm afraid
          museums will come out the losers.
 
          But, people seem in love with this conception, and alot of
          good creative thinking is going into it, so maybe I'll be
          pleasantly surprised.
 
          Eric, who is sounding older every day.
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