What’s The Point of a Museum Website

2011 Museum Computer Network (MCN) conference in Atlanta, GA Panel discussion on November 17, 2011 PRESENTERS: Koven Smith, Director of Technology, Denver Art Museum Nik Honeysett, Head of Administration, The Getty Museum Mia Ridge, PhD Student, Open University Eric Johnson, Head of Outreach & Consulting, Scholars' Lab, University of Virginia Suse Cairns, PhD Student, The University of Newcastle What's the point of museum websites? What purpose do they serve? Building on an unconference session from Museums and the Web 2011 and Koven Smith's recent Ignite Smithsonian talk, the panelists will ask what the museum website of the future should do. The panelists will examine the meaning of online collections, issues of trust and authority on the Web, and how to establish meaning and purpose in a highly networked world.