Breaking the Bottleneck: Using pseudo-wikis to enable rich web authoring for non-technical staff members

This paper addresses how the use of wiki-style authoring tools paired with a traditional content management system can offer significant advantages for museums seeking to support rich content authoring for non-technical users. Additional advantages can be realized by segmenting the content and user interface, thereby allowing software developers to incrementally improve and change the on-line presentation without re-writing content. This approach was employed in the recent development and deployment of the Indianapolis Museum of Art's Web site. Feedback from users of this system will be presented as will a description of the inherent challenges and recommendations for future development.