Adding Value To On-line Collections For Different Audiences

David Gerrard, De Montfort University, United Kingdom
Stephen Brown, De Montfort University, United Kingdom
Helen Ward, East Midlands Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (EMMLAC), United Kingdom

Session: Learning On-line and On-Site

This paper is about models for effective on-line museum, library and archive design for diverse audiences. Successful Web site design depends inter alia on understanding and accommodating users’ needs, and the more heterogeneous they are, the more difficult this is to achieve. In this paper we examine two models for handling diversity in on-line audiences, one developed specifically for museum Web sites, the other developed for curriculum design and media selection. Both models consider the need to go beyond mere publishing of information. We argue a case for synthesizing the two models and use a hybrid version to deconstruct the design of two different heritage Web sites.