Museum Web Page Survey

All, I'm interested in getting some feedback regarding how people interested in paleontology view the quality of the various 'Museums of Natural History' webpages.

I've looked at quite a few of them, and linked several to my Oceans of Kansas Paleontology site.... but I haven't found many that really impress me, quality or content-wise. Mostly (IMHO) they seem to go to great lengths to use slow loading, heavy duty (expensive??) graphics to show ..... the hours they are open, dates of traveling exhibits, etc.

On the other hand, I may be way off base when it comes to the use of the Internet as a source of current information about paleontology.

What do you think?

1) Are there hidden adminstrative, budget, legal, or organizational reasons why our most prestigious museums don't put more info on the net?

2) What other constraints might be restricting the quality/quantity of information on museum websites?

Just to be even handed ... I'll even recommend one of several museum webpages that I think are very well done (Great job, Celeste!): < http://museum.montana.edu/ >

We can have this as an open discussion, or you can reply to me at:

Cheers,

Mike Everhart < http://www.oceansofkansas.com > Adjunct Curator of Paleontology Sternberg Museum of Natural History Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS

I think the American Museum of Natural History's site is all a museum's site should be: http://www.amnh.org/ In addition to hours, location, a map, etc, this covers a great deal of paleo specific info.

They have a virtual tour of the fossils and related exhibits in the museum: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/ I especially like the personalities of paleontology exhibit with paintings of Charles Knight: http://www.amnh.org/Exhibition/Fossil_Halls/ Personalities/index.html

If you want actual collection data, try starting here: http://nimidi.amnh.org/

They discuss the staff: http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/publ/ deptvert.html and in more detail: http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/publ/ curnova.html

They discuss current science contributions by their staff: http://www.amnh.org/enews/

They discuss recent expeditions that their staff have been on....including several trips into Mongolia for dinosaurs-wth pictures: http://www.amnh.org/enews/gobi.html and Patagonia, with pictures: http://www.amnh.org/science/expeditions/dinosaur/ patagonia/

They talk about educational programs available at and through the museum: http://www.amnh.org/education/ and programs for higher education available through the museum: http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/center/ center.html

And for the just-graduated paleo major, they have a job board: http://www.amnh.org/welcome/jobpostings.html

What do you feel is missing from this list? To me, this covers EXACTLY what an amateur or professional paleo type would want from a museum. I can't evaluate the graphics' d/l time as I use a T1 here at work and they all load just fine, and they certainly are of a high-enough calibre to satisfy me.

-Betty Cunningham

Just to be even handed ... I'll even recommend one of several museum

I can't seem to reach this site from this URL. What's my problem? A typo, a busy server, or a defunct link?

The web site was down temporarily, but is back in operation. Definitely worth a look! I wonder how much longer we will have to wait to see the Jack Horner

(Shameless plug)

Have you seen the web pages of the Paleontological Museum in Oslo? We have our complete, rather large exhibition on the web, with pictures, text and links for every specimen.

The English version can be found at
http://alun.uio.no/palmus/english.htm

Oyvind Hammer Paleontological Museum University of Oslo

Hallo Oyvind, Fint å høre fra deg igjen!

Thank you for your 'shameless plug' of the museum at Oslo.

I will add it to my list of sites on my Oceans of Kansas link page.

Tusen takk,

Mike Everhart < http://www.oceansofkansas.com > Adjunct Curator of Paleontology Sternberg Museum of Natural History Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS