Today the Smithsonian issued a press release announcing the opening, next spring, of a Hall of Human Origins at the National Museum of Natural History.
The thing that excites and intrigues me most about this, other than the fact that there will soon be an exhibition in a museum on the Mall explaining what it is to be human through evolution, is the "revolutionary virtual experience" the press release promises. The website they're planning to launch will include "a complete reproduction of the physical exhibition plus additional features visitors can only experience on the Web."
...Awesome. Despite my passion for tangible things, I also am really enthusiastic about the idea of museum collections having a larger digital, online presence. In this case, it seems to be less about making collections accessible even if you can't make it to the museum, and more about expanding the Hall's educational mission as far as it can possibly go. In fact, the exhibition itself (like many exhibitions in natural history museums, and the National Museum of Natural History itself) is less about the collections and more about education. The emphasis is not on authentic artifacts, but on learning through "engaging" with forensically-reconstructed faces and plaster-cast skulls.
I feel that an exhibition on human origins and evolution in the nation's capital is an excellent thing, but that's not the point of this post - I'm also looking forward to seeing the realization of an exhibition promising such a strong online presence and emphatic program of outreach and education. I really want to know how, exactly, the exhibition will be reproduced on the website, and it's interesting to see that not only has the museum rejected the unrealistic idea that putting everything online will make it pointless to visit, but they're adding special things to the website that you won't get in the physical exhibition. It seems that the educational mission is driving everything, ensuring that everything is as accessible (in some form) online as it is in person. Perhaps this is a good example to follow, not only with controversial, major issues like human origins, but with all exhibitions regardless of topic. I, personally, think I'd be more excited to visit a museum after getting a thorough online tour of an exhibition - there is nothing that compares to physically being there, and it's always exciting to see IRL something you got to know online, however briefly.
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