Museum websites and museum visitors: digital museum resources and their use

Abstract

This article presents results from an exploratory survey (administered to more than 1200 visitors at nine different online museums) that addressed questions about the role of museum websites in the lives of museum visitors. The results provide details about the use of digital museum resources on museum websites, and indicate that the majority of online museum visitors have clear expectations for the interactions that take place between museums and museum websites. This article documents the role digital museum resources play in the lives of museum visitors, and provides strategies for supporting the information needs of all visitors as they use digital museum resources, both online and in-house. The lessons learned underscore the importance of taking a visitor-centered approach when developing digital museum resources, and the need for museum researchers and professionals to better understand how new information technologies have changed the way museum visitors approach museums and their resources.

Keywords:

• museum websites
• museum visitors
• digital museum resources
• information technology
• new media
• visitor studies

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of the museum professionals who promoted this study by linking to the online survey from their museums’ websites. Without their assistance, this project would never have reached such an international and broad range of online museum visitors. The author would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped to improve this manuscript.