museum. edu : A Guide for Developers of Museum Web Sites That Strive to Educate

Often, as a museum\u27s web site is developed, designers strive to create experiences that educate the web site visitor who may or may not ever visit the actual physical collection. This paper is intended to be a guide for museum educators who are seeking to design or assist in the design of museum web sites that connect with users. The World Wide Web is expanding at a breathtaking rate. It is quickly becoming simply expected that established companies and institutions will have an address on the web. Museums and other educational institutions have helped to pioneer much of what the early web has become. Just a very few years after its inception the World Wide Web has evolved to sophisticated levels. What is possible and what is expected from web site developers has made the plain web site of the past insufficient and outdated. This guide will aid the developers of museum web sites to combine both sound educational frameworks with sophisticated technical techniques. The result can be an effective, engaging and educational impact on potentially millions of virtual and possibly actual visitors to your collection