Studying the Type of Online Access Provided to Museum Collections

Information and Communication Technologies offer considerable possibilities for supporting cultural institutions, in terms of conservation, dissemination and communication with different audiences. One of the most widespread technological developments has been the creation of institutional museum websites. However, simple static websites are proving insufficient for fulfilling the expectations of digital users, as these increasingly ask for wider inclusion and greater versatility in the presentation of collections and related information. The current trend for cultural organisations is to move in this direction, providing web access to their collection information systems, as part of a wider effort to increase public access to collections for diverse audiences. However, the effectiveness of these tools has not been tested so far, nor has its use been examined in depth. This paper is part of a wider research project, aiming at studying how digital cultural collections are used by end users and identifying some clearer patterns of use. This will be related with the various communication and technological approaches adopted by museums in presenting their collections on the web. The results presented here are part of a broader discussion about accessibility, dissemination, and use of cultural information by different users in various contexts