Putting the Museum Experience in the Web-User's Home

The content of museums falls into distinct classes: Objects, Information and Experience. Information clearly has a place on the web, while objects and the magic of their presence cannot be sent over wires. But what about experience? How can the museum-going experience be delivered on the web? A web-based experience may be intrinsically tied to content - in a sense it may be the content. Or it may be extrinsic, one of many possible content presentation methods. It may involve using the computer as a presentation medium, as an object, or not at all. This paper will examine these various approaches to web experience, with examples from the International Digital Media Award winning Ontario Science Centre Interactive Zone.