The vast archival resources of the traditional museum, most of which could never be displayed on the limited wall space of the physical building, can now be digitized and shared through the wonders of the multimedia computer. A local citizen walks in, sits down at a monitor and reviews a hundred photographs of the canning industry shot at the end of the previous century. At the same time, an electronic visitor from Iceland reviews the same photographs. The museum has an international presence. This chapter offers strategies for the creation of virtual museums in schools which will engage students in collection development as curators.
Museum building begins with exploration of existing virtual museums.
A team of ten or more students and staff members spends a morning visiting both adult and student created virtual museums. Examples of Adult Virtual Museums Bellingham Antique Radio Museum - This special collection museum goes global with a well designed WWW site. High Museum - Excellent collection of paintings and photographs. Startling and dramatic images from the recently discovered cave. SeaWorld Animal Database Smithsonian - This site leads you to some very good national collections.