6. Virtual museums
A virtual
museum is a museum that
exists only online. Virtual museums are often
extensions of real museums. In their simplest form, virtual museums just
present information and pictures of objects displayed in the exhibition. More complex solutions
provide tours through graphical models of museums In some cases, even virtual
exhibitions are available online. The different approaches of virtual museums
have in common is that they are closely related to the exhibition activities of
the hosting institution. Additionally, there are also entirely virtual museums
that have no real-space counter parts.
Examples - The
following are museums online:
- International Museum of Women
is an online-only museum that does not have a physical building and
instead offers online exhibitions about women's issues globally as well as
an online community. Online exhibitions include "Imagining
Ourselves" (launched 2006) about women's identity, "Women, Power
and Politics" (2008), and "Economica: Women and the Global
Economy" (2009).
- Google Art Project
is an online compilation of high-resolution images of artworks from
galleries worldwide, as well as a virtual tour of the galleries in which
they are housed. The project was launched on 1 February 2011 by Google,
and includes works in the Tate
Gallery, London;
the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New
York City; and the Uffizi, Florence