Talk presented as part of Creating Online Exhibitions on 2 Nov 09 at the British Museum, run by the E-Learning Group for Museums, Libraries and Archives
will look at some of these issues from the Fitzwilliam’s point of view why do we call some things online exhibitions but not others, although the content may be very similar is it an online exhibition because it is object based? online gallery in which to put an online exhibition – space in which a series of images is arranged for viewer labels and interpretive text but can also be much more – dynamic hyperlinked environment online exhibitions – subset of online resources value of the notion of an “online exhibition” – carrying through concept from physical to digital environment can be useful but also restrictive
example of something which shares a lot of the characteristics of an online exhibition but which we have chosen not to call an exhibition
podcasts are used for marketing (and developed by the marketing dept at the Fitzwilliam) but some are essentially small exhibitions in themselves or guides to exhibitions in the Museum could be argued that they are online exhibitions using video and audio rather than just images and text
produced by Duan Wu, an architect working on a PhD at Cambridge
move through the virtual space of the gallery into the representational space of the painting. Pieter Breughel the younger A Village Festival, With a Theatrical Performance and a Procession in Honour of St Hubert and St Anthony 1632
how helpful is the virtual exhibition does it really allow you to do more than is possible in a flat space more distracting than engaging, when viewed as part of a learning experience?
how helpful is the virtual exhibition does it really allow you to do more than is possible in a flat space create your own narrative experience, which sticks in the memory but cannot move so quickly between various elements of the resource more distracting than engaging, when viewed as part of a learning experience? unless spending a great deal of money will always be inferior in presentation to virtual gaming worlds
website survey conducted Dec 09 to March 09 not a large sample and wary about drawing too many conclusions over 18% respondents said they used the website to view online exhibitions or other online resources
problems of navigation most have a very linear concept of “exhibition” moving from one image to the next
introduced a template for online exhibitions around 2004 micro-site, maintaining the same type of navigational structure but moving from Fitzwilliam’s main navigation bar to a dedicated navigation bar
variations but sticking to the basic style relatively easy to create
several of the online exhibitions accompany small-scale gallery exhibitions, particularly of prints and drawings
from visitors’ point of view, we’ve found that online exhibitions are effective both as a marketing tool, encouraging visits and as a follow-up very close connection between use of the website and visiting the museum much less use as an at distance learning tool
presents information in a way that adds to and goes beyond just a basic catalogue record
results presented as thumbnail experimented with a number of different variations of results screen, some including captions would like to add more options to refine search by date and country of origin – but that is asking more of an already overstretched IT dept
individual catalogue record presented in the context of the online exhibition
illuminated manuscripts and bound volumes are prime examples fragile material that can only be displayed in a very limited way within a case
simple mouse rollover to switch between images of different states of a print or between images of a print under different lighting conditions to demonstrate the use of particular techniques and effects such as embossing, textile and woodgrain effects, mica sparkle and burnishing
Utamaro interactive – case study Insect book 1788 Shell book 1789 Flower book 1790