The judges said:
This is a massive collection of scientific and educational materials, made available for free to teachers and students. These are not just discreet resources, but
rather well organized modules of information derived from the various physical galleries within the institution. The visitors actually asked for the site, based
on audience evaluations. Not only did AMNH deliver, but did so in a really effective manner, which is visually appealing as well as rich with well written and
conceived of content. It was a very dynamic and colorful site, which should attract a wide demographic. I liked the amount of imagery used and I felt that the
information architecture of the site was planned out very well. This is very good content, purported to be exactly what it is - a rich resource for teachers and
students. The lesson plans are very engaging. This is a great example of technology being used to both address audience needs, but also to streamline operations
and make content available in the quickest and most efficient way. The institution can now easily and economically control how much, and when they publish a great
variety of material.
A tip from the producers:
Resources for Learning was developed by the American Museum of Natural History to make our extensive collection of scientific and educational materials more readily
available to anyone who is interested in teaching and learning about science. This includes educators, parents, kids, after-school coordinators, and informal
learning center staff. Resources for Learning is a growing collection of essays, images, web sites, curriculum components, activities, and interactive multimedia
that anyone can access and use for free. The search and browse capabilities make it easy to find resources by topic, keyword, grade level, and type of activity.
Evaluation of our audience needs indicated that they would value such supplemental materials if they could quickly find something relevant to their immediate needs.
We believed that a search engine could help a teacher or parent or an after-school coordinator find something in our collection to answer a child's question or curiosity
more efficiently than by perusing our web site page by page. And we thought that learners, such as a middle school student who wants to find something for a homework
assignment, also could benefit from an easy-to-use browsing and searching interface.
CD-ROM
The judges said:
This resource is incredibly appealing for a very diverse audience, both in terms of age and cultural diversity. The content is very impressive with both English and
Chinese translations. The interpretation of Nepalese and Tibetan art that traveled east to China is a wonderful contextual approach to understanding the art. Oddly
enough, when confronted early on with some of the Tantric cast of characters, I had a feeling this could be a computer game (there is even the Diamond Matrix), but I
think they handled this tastefully and with humor — including a game for younger viewers. The presentation was fantastic and the interface design seemed very well
developed. I'm not sure that I would have normally given this the time it deserves, and would normally have criticize this type of program, given its lack of linear
design, need for patience in exploration, and repetitive music track seems here to be wedded with the subject matter in a very purposeful and appropriate way. High marks
for graphic design, and the games were a wonderful example of innovation, as were the 3D animations of six Buddhist scriptures.
A tip from the producers:
Passing through the Himalayas, the footsteps of Buddhism reached the Tibetan plateau and settled there. The convergence of Tibetan figures with Chinese emperors in the
T'ang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties document the meeting of these two cultures that stimulated new artistic impulses in the illustration of Buddhist scriptures.
A special selection of illustrated Tibetan-influence Buddhist scriptures in Chinese, Tibetan and Manchu in the Museum have been assembled with related objects and
Mongolian and Tangut canons, along with more than 300 artifacts from 37 public and private collections all over the world, including China, Japan, Russia, the United
States, and Europe. By using the latest interactive technology, with illustrations and descriptions, this DVD will provide users a glimpse of the wonders of Nepalese and
Tibetan art that traveled eastwards to China.
We believe contents and its representational forms have to transmit the same idea. In Convergence of Radiance, we introduce Tibeto-Chinese Buddhist scriptures written
and compiled upon the ideal combination of "three (body, speech, and mind) secrets" in Vajra Buddhism. Multimedia representation, which combines more than one
media in comparison with traditional paints and palette, serves this purpose properly. On the other hand, the interactivity of multimedia representation coincide with the
mobility of the combination of "three secrets," the Indra Net and mandala, both are the central idea of the DVD-Rom.
According to mandala in Vajra Buddhism, Convergence of Radiance has five galleries with five different colors. And the nature of mandala's interactivity will find
roots in the system of the Indra Net, which also provides foundation for Tibetan medicine and arts. Each element in DVD's five galleries symbolize as one pearl of the
Indra Net. They are independent but connect with each other at the same time; while the production of this DVD-Rom is another pearl of Net, which connects itself with
other related websites through the Internet. Readers will comprehend the connotation of the Indra Net while roaming in Buddhist arts and witnessing the historical moment
when Tibetan and Chinese civilization meet. Five colors, roaming lights, and the media of pearl of nets are part of the symbols represent the central theme of this
DVD-Rom.
In the gallery of "The Six Perfections," the six 3D animations based on six Buddhist scriptures collected by National Palace Museum provides a virtual
reading environment for users who can not get access to these precious cultural artifacts; in "The Engraving Of Buddhist Canons" from the section of "The Roaming
Over," the interaction of map and sundial reveals the historical incidents that Buddhists publish canons in Chinese, Tibetan, Tangut, Mongol and Manchu in different
times and different spaces since 7th century. Besides, "Journey to the East (only in Chinese version)" is a quiz game which allows the user to review the
contents of the DVD-Rom.
The judges said:
An example of good, very clear navigation, with an emphasis on current events and exhibits at the museum. It works well with the out-of-museum web site, with a good
split of content and features. They have also sensibly split out the "interactive learning station" modules and made them only available right at the context/object
location, instead of putting that all within the one kiosk program. I saw many good things about this site, including the emailing of "postcards" from the
collection view, with well-written content and the video introductions, which give a broad overview of parts of the collection. This is very appealing in an of itself,
but the appeal grows when you know something about the source of the content which is derived from three separate database sources, and the site becomes something that
all museums should aspire to. Using technology to distribute the workload through the institution is a forward thinking approach. In the long run, we will all have to
implement similar solutions, in an effort to streamline our operations and better serve our audiences with consistent and up to date information.
A tip from the producers:
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts first installed an interactive Directory in 1989. Designed to inform visitors of their options for attending exhibitions and events,
and to provide previews of the galleries, the Directory was later redesigned — once in 1994, and more recently in 2003.
This latest design incorporates visitor research findings ("Emphasize what I can do right now," and "Help me find specific works of art"), while
building on databases that were unavailable for past iterations. The Museum's events and exhibitions database, and its collections management system are now used to full
effect in satisfying visitor needs.
Producer's Tips: First of all, as much as possible, learn from your audience — whether they're on-site or online visitors. Also, try to confirm what they're
saying by asking questions from several different angles and through various means (observation, interviews, surveys). Just as important is talking to the staff that
have the most contact with visitors (Information Desk people and Security staff). They have great insight.
Secondly, for information flow, look at systems and processes that are already being supported and find ways of incorporating them. For example, our Registration
Department was already tracking object locations for their own purposes. We realized we could piggyback on that work and make it useful for our visitors as well.
The judges said:
I felt the PEM site was a wonderful combination of great design and great content. I can tell that much time went into the information architecture plan, as I easily
navigated throughout the site. The collection material was very well presented and rich in scope. Outside the collection area, the program and events area was one of
the best I've seen on a gallery site. I really enjoyed my visit, and I will return! The site represents a wealth of information that will continue to grow and change,
and therefore provides a long-term solution for PEM. Although we all want to see professional quality images, I applaud the availability of less than desirable images,
when the alternative is to not to show an image at all. The bookmark feature is a great addition, and this personalization of the visit will surely generate return
visits.
A tip from the producers:
The Peabody Essex Museum, one of America's oldest institutions, adopted a new, broad-based interpretive approach in 2003 to complement the dramatic transformation of
its building and exhibition spaces. In this new view, the museum is not simply a static collection of artworks, but a dynamic and unfolding system of objects, their
creators, and viewers, together with the ideas that flow between them. One way in which PEM addressed the challenges posed by the new paradigm is through the launch of
ARTscape, an innovative, web-based interface that uses the museum's objects as a launching point for a user's self-guided journey through art and culture. ARTscape
was conceptualized as a means of increasing awareness of and access to PEM's collections through a personalized approach. The production team strove to deliver an
on-demand database that reflects the institutional culture and allows for multiple interpretive experiences. The team also set the goal of making ARTscape more than a
standard database by taking a "fuzzy logic" approach to the browsing experience.
The ARTscape producers learned some lessons that might benefit other teams planning on undertaking a project of this nature. First, extensive pre-planning in
conjunction with curatorial departments is essential for the heavy content-development requirements of the database. Spending some time during the planning stages
of the project marketing the concept internally is important. Second, recognize that a project of this scope will have heavy maintenance demands that should be
considered during budgeting. Finally, be sure to build in more time for testing than you think you will need.
Gold: Resources for Learning
Bronze: Museum Directories—Today at the Museum
Honorable Mention: ARTscape