My Microsoft puppy is waiting for me to write something profound…By this point in the week I think I might have used up anything that smacks of profound. I’ve been working on a nasty collection and development project for another class. I’ve been chasing down electronic resources on videos, both educational and instructional, about art. I think the hardest part is keeping focused. The web offers so many side tracks to be followed and I am usually willing to go anywhere. (Like did you know that there is a complete set of lyrics to “Be kind to our web-footed friends”?– scroll down-). The project has given me a small excuse to look at some really cool museum sites, which takes some of the sting out sitting in front of a computer monitor for 8-10 hours.
I love art, but don’t really have the money (nor the time) set aside for extensive travel to museums. It is amazing how various museums are starting to harness technology to give others a museum-esque experience from their home computers. All three of the museum sites (Smithsonian Art, Los Angeles County Museum, & Museum of Modern Art- MoMA) I listed in my collection recommendations offered viewers the ability to form their own collections, to zoom in on small details or some small film clip that expanded on the object. Smithsonian Luce collection was probably the most user friendly for the home explorer. I also noted that the sites all had podcasts or pod tours. You could down load a sound file at home and bring it with you to a particular museum. I think that you can also still rent the nasty headphones and audiotapes. I think I like the pod tour since it would allow you to more easily tailor your trip to your own interests versus the traditional audiotour.
MoMA and Smithsonian had some neat online games and exploration spaces for kids. The Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian has a small section of picture rollovers that is fascinating (okay, for me its fascinating). Makes me wonder if some of these things could be applicable to a library.
