n.a curated display of archival resources accessible via the internetKalfatovic 2002, 1What is an online exhibition? Is a collection of objects on the Web an exhibition? What about digital collections? Can they be an online exhibition? ¶ It is very important to remember that a collection of objects does not make an exhibition. It is only when objects are carefully chosen to illustrate a theme and tied together by a narrative or other relational threads that they become an exhibition. The Web has enabled museums, libraries, and archives, as never before, to present their collections to a wider public.Thiel 2007, 1Several trends feed the enthusiasm for online exhibitions. Participation in well-funded digital collaborations, the ongoing need to improve access to collections, and a growing fear that being without a digital presence will leave institutions behind and inaccessible are just a few of the motivators.Gracy 2013, 364–365For some archivists, the transition to online exhibition and consumption of archival moving images represents a threat to the traditional responsibility of the archives to provide context for the viewer through exhibition practice.Lacher-Feldman 2013, 82Online exhibitions may easily incorporate diverse formats, such as full-text documents, page-turning software, and digitized materials, as well as audio, video, and virtual tours.Punzalan 2014, 347How can we represent the temporal, provenancial, geographical, and material aspects of collections in creating online exhibitions?Duff and Haskell 2015, 43The short, online exhibition of the exposition requests readers to add their stories about their experiences of the GGIE and to “pin” (add) their photographs to a map of Treasure Island. Participants can also overlay their historic photographs onto a current Google street view of the area.
Notes
An online exhibition is also called an online exhibit, a virtual exhibit, or a virtual exhibition.Not simply a digital collection, an online exhibition is a collection of interrelated archival resources focused around a theme. An online exhibition may accompany a physical exhibition. However, an online exhibition does not necessarily present every item of the physical exhibition or try to duplicate its appearance.
