The networked museum

"Channeling" implies the idea of the network as a medium, a transmitter. An explicit way of thinking about this is as the "networked museum," meaning the process and result of extending the role(s) of the museum via--and into--the network.

According to Kenerdine (1999), this is precisely how The Mousseion Project defined the "networked museum." It

  • is derived from the works and objects in a museum;
  • is specific to themes referring to works and objects conserved in museums;
  • is reflective of the disciplines associated with work in museums;
  • includes forums, lists of museological and museographic matters, or themes connected to the area of research of any museum;
  • provides general information about hours and services; and
  • includes services on offer such as the sale of publications
Likewise, Neimanis and Geber (1998), define the salient characteristic of the networked museum as being a "meta-center" for the "integrated state of the accessible or available information. . . . [T]he Meta-Center has the potential to build up a more complete knowledge of the information environment, acting as a specialized gateway or access agent."

There is no question that the "meta center" is a significant advance over so-called "brochureware" online, but is it the best definition of a virtual museum? What is the relationship of information about a museum's collections, preservation efforts, research, interpretation, and exhibitions to the idea of a museum itself?

What is the networked museum?

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What is a museum 2.0?

THE MUSEUM
Physical Networked
Wunderkammer* meta-center**
collecting collections online
preserving preservation online
researching research online
interpreting interpretation online
exhibiting exhibitions online

"The Mousseion Project was launched in December 1994, as a joint research project to be run by the Institute of Multimedia Information Technologies of the Italian National Research Council of Milan and the Refresher Course on Information Systems for the National Cultural Heritage of the Faculty of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, the object being to research and set up an Internet node devoted to museums, museum technology, and associated subjects. The project was inspired by analysis of the existence of museums in Internet and by consideration of the means of gaining access to network users." (Robbin Murphy)

Sarah Kenerdine, "Inside the meta-center: a cabinet of wonder"

Karen Neimanis & Kati Geber, "From 'Come and Get It' to 'Seek and You Shall Find'; Transition from a Central resource to Information Meta Center.