Beyond the On-line Museum: Participatory Virtual Exhibitions

Rather than creating a substitute for a real museum visit, Internet
technology has the potential to extend and enrich the total museum
experience, particularly in the areas of personal engagement,
participation and community involvement. Participatory virtual
exhibitions are one way this can be achieved. This paper examines a
number of participatory virtual exhibition projects and discusses their
different functional models and interfaces. One project, the recently
launched myVirtualGallery (Art Gallery of NSW) is examined in detail,
including discussion of important and interesting philosophical issues
raised during debate amongst museum professional staff shortly before
the project’s official launch.