Virtual+Museums

Virtual Museums toc

Introduction
We aren't the only one. Virtual museums are being developed everywhere because they can reach everywhere (where there's an internet connection.) Because of them, you can visit dozens of museums in the time it takes to drive, park, and walk through a physical museum.

There are at least three types of organizations that are popularly called "virtual museums":
 * 1) Web sites that make the collections of physical museums available online
 * 2) Blogs, wikis and other collections of images assembled by individuals or institutions that are not fully developed as museums
 * 3) Institutions that perform all the functions of physical museums except providing physical public access exhibit space

HCLE is currently a wiki focused on a physical archive (2nd type). Our intent is to grow into a fully developed Virtual Museum (3rd type).

Defining "Virtual Museum"
Currently (July 2014) there is no international standard that distinguishes the three types of web installations mentioned in the section above and defines the features necessary to be a "virtual museum". A working group is convening to address this question. Please go to On Line Museum Working Group to read and possibly join this group.

Kindred Organizations

 * A very diverse list of virtual museums (link no longer available Oct 1, 2014)
 * and another list via a Museum of Online Museums.
 * Plus some specific examples:
 * Americas's Black Holocaust Museum
 * Barnard
 * Bitsavers.org
 * Bugbook Historical Computer Museum
 * Carl Friend's Mini-Computer Museum
 * The Computer History Simulation Project
 * DigiBarn - a computer museum
 * Digital Library of the Caribbean
 * Digital Public Library of America
 * Ludwig van Beethoven's Website
 * IAE-pedia
 * Internet Archive
 * The Mac Photographic Archive
 * Morgan Library & Museum (Google Cultural Institute)
 * National Archive of Educational Computing (UK)
 * North Carolina Digital Collections
 * Play It Again Project (NZ)
 * Russian Computer Virtual Museum
 * SEC Historical Society Virtual Museum
 * Smithsonian Latino Center
 * Virginia Tech University Libraries
 * Virtual Museum of Public Service
 * Lost Virtual Museums (broken links)