Wow!

So much fascinating discussion all in one day! I am doing research for a
master's project (paper and web-exhibit) about museums on the web. Your
comments have been really helpful!

I have some more questions for the group, related to the present
discussion:

Is it safe to assume that the larger museums are more likely to have a
full time, part time, or contract employee specifically for designing and
maintaining web pages? Is this common? Does this person usually have a
museum background, or a computer background?

What are the goals of museum web sites? How does your web site fit your
museum's mission? From the discussion so far, it appears that most museum
web sites are marketing tools to provide visitors with basic information
(upcoming events and exhibits, hours, address, etc) for a "real" visit. Is
this correct?

In what ways are museums using their web pages to reach audiences that
are not planning to visit the real museum, so that the web site "stands on
its own"? I have not seen many web sites with educational materials,
stand-alone exhibits, or other information about the collections,
probably because of bandwidth, security issues, and the expense. Are
museums preparing to do more with the technology as it gets cheaper and
faster? More importantly, SHOULD museums be concerning themselves with
virtual versions of their traditional work?

Lots of questions--Any comments?

Carrie Beauchamp
University of Denver