Online cultural heritage exhibitions: a survey of information retrieval features

Purpose - What kinds of online cultural heritage exhibitions are now available on the internet? How far have these cultural heritage institutions voyaged in terms of harnessing the power of information and communication technology and the interactivity of multimedia systems to exhibit cultural heritage resources? This study aims to highlight the major initiatives and developments across libraries, archives and museums, and to provide an overview of the characteristics and features of current major initiatives - specifically of the objectives and purposes of the exhibitions, their contents, the available information retrieval (search and browse facilities) and interactive features. Design/methodology/approach - Reports the findings of a personal investigation of 15 online exhibitions, conducted between February and June 2004. Findings - A number of key characteristics of the information retrieval features of the surveyed online exhibition sites are identified. Research limitations/implications - This is by no means a comprehensive or all-inclusive survey of all relevant initiatives. It is meant to be an exploratory study of the current landscape and architecture of major cultural heritage online exhibitions available on the web. Changes in the online exhibitions after June 2004 are not reflected in this paper. Originality/value - Based on the findings of this survey, major areas of research that would improve the features of online exhibition systems are indicated.