Department of ALM

Museum and Heritage Studies

Definition and prospects of the

Virtual museum

Elin Ivarsson

One Year Master Thesis, 15 credits, 2009

Department of ALM
Supervisor: Isto Huvila
Uppsatser inom musei- och kulturarvsvetenskap ISSN 1651-6079
Author
Elin Ivarsson

Title
Definition and prospects of the virtual museum.

Supervisor
Isto Huvila

Created
June 2009

Abstract
Virtual museums are becoming increasingly frequent online but the definition of the virtual museum does not
seem to be properly set. This thesis discuss the definition of the virtual museum and takes it a step further to see
if it is possible for the virtual museum to be regarded a museum in its own right.
Through literature studies, and by studying current virtual museums, the definition of the virtual museum is
set as a source of information, generally on the Internet, and accessible to all. A virtual museum presents
information through multimedia, and with the help of an interface that is based on a concept of rooms that the
user navigate to experience the virtual museum. Information is as essential to the virtual museum as objects are
for a physical museum.
By comparing the collect, preserve and display principles of the museum with current applications used in
the virtual museum, I found it possible to apply these principles even to the virtual museum, but other sides such
as educative and social aspects are currently not being translated, however, by implementing Web 2.0, educative
resources and personalization, the virtual museum could be seen as a museum in its own right.

Key words
Virtual museum, On-line museum, virtual exhibition, virtual cultural heritage, digital cultural heritage.
Table of content

Table of content ............................................................................................................................ 1

Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................... 3

1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4

2. Research questions ................................................................................................................... 5

3. Method, material and outline of the study ........................................................................... 6

4. What is a museum? .................................................................................................................. 8

4.1. Collect – Preserve – Display ............................................................................................. 8

4.1.1. Collect ......................................................................................................................... 8
4.1.2. Preserve....................................................................................................................... 9
4.1.3. Display ........................................................................................................................ 9

4.2. Meeting place ..................................................................................................................... 9

4.3. Institution of education .................................................................................................... 10

5. What is a virtual museum? ................................................................................................... 11

5.1. Definitions of a virtual museum ...................................................................................... 11

5.2. Collect – Preserve – Display ........................................................................................... 14

5.2.1. Collect ....................................................................................................................... 15
5.2.2. Preserve..................................................................................................................... 15
5.2.3. Display ...................................................................................................................... 16

5.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 17

6. The virtual exhibition ............................................................................................................ 19

6.1. Types of virtual exhibitions.............................................................................................. 20

6.1.1. In-depth object exhibition........................................................................................ 20
 6.1.2. Thematic exhibitions................................................................................................ 22
6.1.3. Interactive exhibitions.............................................................................................. 23

6.2. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 24

7. Challenges of the virtual museum ....................................................................................... 25

8. The possibilities of the virtual museum .............................................................................. 27

8.1. The virtual museum as a meeting place.......................................................................... 28

8.1.1. Web 2.0 ..................................................................................................................... 28
8.1.2. Museum 2.0 .............................................................................................................. 29

8.2. Virtual education.............................................................................................................. 31

8.2.1. Teacher’s Centre ...................................................................................................... 32
8.2.2. Research.................................................................................................................... 33
8.2.3. The Cyberdocent ...................................................................................................... 34

8.3. The personalized museum................................................................................................ 36

8.3.1. Dynamic hypertext................................................................................................... 37
8.3.2. Dynamic architecture ............................................................................................... 40

8.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 41

9. Conclusions.............................................................................................................................. 42

10. Summary................................................................................................................................ 45

References .................................................................................................................................... 46

Printed material....................................................................................................................... 46

Internet material ...................................................................................................................... 50

Appendices................................................................................................................................... 51

Museum of terra-cotta warriors and horses of Qin Shihuang.............................................. 51

”Pushing the limits” virtual exhibition.................................................................................. 53

”The Augsburg art cabinet” virtual exhibition ..................................................................... 56

“Trafficking” virtual exhibition ............................................................................................. 58

2
Acronyms

AI Artificial intelligence
DH Digital heritage
EXIF Exchangeable image file format
GPS Global positioning system
PE Physical environment
VE Virtual environment
VMC Virtual museum of Canada
VR Virtual reality

3
1. Introduction

Virtual museums and exhibitions are becoming an increasingly popular way for
museums to present themselves, their collections and information online in an
accessible, dynamic environment. Many museums have considered virtual muse-
ums a new step of marketing themselves, and putting their museums on the cyber-
space map. 1
I first came into contact with the virtual museum during a class on digital
documents, and found the concept interesting. Though the class just mentioned
virtual museums very briefly, I found an interest to study them further. The main
quality that caught my attention was that of accessibility, but also the possibilities
in reaching new audiences, and especially young audiences. Young adults have
often grown up with computers and the technology, and generally feel very at
home in the virtual environment.
It was not until I began searching the Internet for virtual museums that I de-
cided on researching this subject further. I soon realized the extremely varied
quality of the virtual museums available online. It seemed like the term virtual
museum had become increasingly popular to use in any case of online content
produced by museums. Everything from a photo slideshow to advanced flash
based websites was by the museum referred to as a virtual museum. There is an
apparent need of definition and framework, or else the term virtual museum
would soon be over used and in the end loose meaning. When I began the research
for this thesis I noticed that very little research had been done focusing exclu-
sively on virtual museums. The research that had been conducted mainly con-
cerned museums and the web at large, not specifically virtual museums. The re-
search involved everything from digitized cultural heritage to websites. There is
also a genre of research that deal with the technological aspects of digitizing cul-
tural heritage, what methods and software that can be used for everything from 3D
scanning of artifacts to software functioning as virtual museum templates.

1
Zorich, Diane, M., 1997, “Beyond bitslag: integrating museum resources on the internet”, p. 173.

4
2. Research questions

Currently the term virtual museum or virtual exhibition is used on a very large
range of material published by museums on the Internet. Everything from photo
slideshows to databases being available online are by many museums labeled vir-
tual museums.2 It is a rather new term that is yet to establish itself fully among the
cultural heritage community, along with the definition of what it actually is.
As the current research on virtual museums is very limited, and mainly con-
cern digital collecting or museums and the web at large, it is crucial to put the
focus entirely on virtual museums. To be able to do this, the basics of the virtual
museum concept needs to be set. Therefore the main questions of this study are
What defines a virtual museum? and What are the prospects of the virtual mu-
seum?. I would also like to research the possibilities for a virtual museum to be
considered a museum in its own right.
Several definitions have been presented about what a virtual museum is, but
as that Internet constantly develops, so do the possibilities and the expectations on
the virtual museums. The first question concerning the definition of the virtual
museum will be discussed in the chapter What is a virtual museum? The concept
of the virtual museum may sometimes go by various titles, such as online museum
or Internet museum, however, these usually refer to the same idea. There is, how-
ever, a difference in the case of the virtual exhibition. The differences between the
virtual museum and the virtual exhibition is often mixed up with one another,
however, while both of them stand on the same base, making a clear distinction
between the terms would also make their respective roles more clear. This is espe-
cially important to the future of the discussion on virtual museums and exhibi-
tions, so that it would be clear what the discussion in question would refer to. Vir-
tual exhibition and its unique definition will be studied further in the chapter The
virtual exhibition.
The second question on the prospects of the virtual museum, and the possibili-
ties for the virtual museum to become independent, will be discussed in the chap-
ter Possibilities of the virtual museums.

2
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environments.”,
p. 1.

5
3. Method, material and outline of the study

The premises of virtual museums are explicated by a comparative analysis of the

literature on virtual museums and their nature and of the conceptualizations of
what is considered to be a “museum”, and applying this to the study of what a
virtual museum is. The literature comprises a selection of theoretical and practical
literature on virtual museums between 1991 and 2008. The majority of the litera-
ture is published in the 21st century. Even though the selection is not exhaustive,
the material presents a recurrence of general ideas, repeated throughout the dis-
cussion.
Considering the advancements in technology related to the Internet, this thesis
will study the prospects of the virtual museum and whether it is possible for the
virtual museum to become a museum in the full definition of the word e.g. if it is
possible to create virtual museums where the principles of the physical museum
can be applied. In order to answer the second question of the prospects of virtual
museums, the study examines central methods and applications that are currently
being used in the virtual world and on Internet, and how these could be applied to
the virtual museum. The methods would therefore not be futuristic per se, but in
general new to the virtual museum environment. Though there are several ideas
on how virtual museums can evolve there are some central themes that are firstly,
making the similarities between the virtual and the physical museum more appar-
ent, and secondly, ideas that are taking advantage of the strengths of the Internet.
As previously mentioned I will conduct this study by first establishing the
definition of what a museum is in the chapter What is a museum? I will then, in
the chapter What is a virtual museum? conduct a comparative study of the defini-
tions of what a museum is and what a virtual museum can do, to answer the ques-
tion concerning the definition of the virtual museum. I will further research the
differences between the terms virtual museum and virtual exhibition in the chapter
The virtual exhibition, I will in this chapter also review some examples of virtual
exhibitions and how various techniques have been implemented to improve the
quality of the exhibitions. I will in the next chapter Challanges of the virtual mu-
seum look into critique and concerns considering the virtual museum, this to bring
a varied picture of the research and debate that is currently ongoing in the research
community and in the scientific literature on the subject. It is of great importance
to take the critique and concerns presented seriously as they are not only concerns

6
of the scientific community but also of museums professionals. The museum pro-
fessionals work daily with exhibitions and collections and know of the importance
and value of the cultural heritage they work with, and the issues that face it by
digitalizing and presenting it in a new type of environment.
Based on the chapters researching the definitions and essences of both the
physical and virtual museum, the chapter The possibilities of the virtual museum,
will analyze in what direction the virtual museum is heading, and what needs to
be developed to make it become recognized as a museum in its full definition, and
in what ways the technologies of the Internet can best be utilized to improve the
virtual museum and exhibitions.
I will finish the thesis through a comprehensive analysis and conclusion re-
garding the subject on virtual museums, their definition and prospects.

7
4. What is a museum?

Since the public museum and the national museums were introduced in the 19th
century, there have been a lot of changes in how museums approach their context
and how they work, however, collecting, preserving and displaying objects have
always been the core of their work.3 The museum has taken on several new duties
such as becoming an institution for education, not just for higher education re-
search, but also as a resource for all types of learning institutions. Museums today
have become a home for exotic objects as well as home for information.

4.1. Collect – Preserve – Display

Collecting and preservation have been around since the proto-museums in the
shape of cabinets of curiosities. Displaying these objects has been essential since
the introduction of public museums.

4.1.1. Collect
The collecting of objects was, and still is the base of museums, and the base on
which museums were first created. Museums are often seen as the physical mem-
ory of the society, and the items found in collections contribute to the understand-
ing of individuals and societies in past as well as contemporary cultures.4 In these
days, however, museums have also recognized the importance of collecting con-
temporary material and incorporating them into collections.5 New sort of material
such as intangible content is also being collected and incorporated into the mu-
seum context, this to be able to preserve a more varied picture of the current for
the future.6

3
Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean, 1992, Museums and the shaping of knowledge, p 1.
4
Pearce, Suzanne, M., 1989, “Museum studies in material culture”, p. 2.
5
Silvén-Garnert, Eva, 1997, “Samtidsforskning som förhållningssätt”, p. 26
6
Bohman, Stefan, 2003, “Vad är museivetenskap, och vad är kulturarv?”, p. 9.

8
4.1.2. Preserve
As part of the collecting, museums also take on the task of preserving the cllec-
tions for the future. As an item is incorporated into a museum collection it be-
comes fixed in history, and is preferably, to be secured in its current condition.7
This preservation consumes a lot of time, funding and space of the museums, so
adding content to museum collections is nothing museum professionals take eas-
ily.8 Once a museum decides on incorporating an item into their collections, it is
there for the future. Whether it turns out to be of importance or not, makes no dif-
ference, the cost and effort of the preservation will essentially be the same.9

4.1.3. Display
Displaying is the public side of the museum. Even though public access to collec-
tions can be granted, it is generally in the exhibitions and the museum’s public
spaces that the audience can take part in the stories the museum wish to tell, and
learn about the collections available at the museum.10 Today the exhibition has
developed more into an experience, and is no longer all about the objects. This
partly began in the 1980s when thematic exhibitions made their way into muse-
ums. In the thematic exhibition the theme is on display, not necessarily objects. 11
Changing paradigms to information-centered exhibitions also gave way to new
types of expression in museum design, incorporating new ways of presenting in-
formation, for instance in the shape of various media or interactivity. Today some
institutions have taken their exhibition design even further in this direction, incor-
porating elements of edutainment, education as entertainment.

4.2. Meeting place

Museum professionals often emphasize the importance of the museum as a meet-
ing place.12 This is apparent in the social aspects of the museums such as tours,
seminars and workshops. These activities turn the museum, not only into a meet-
ing place for the audience, but also a meeting place for audience and museum pro-
fessionals.
Another way in which social aspects have come to be incorporated into the
museum is through the architecture of the museum. Most museums today have

7
Eastop, Dinah, 2006, “Conservation as material culture”, p. 516.
8
Knell, Simon, 2004, “Altered values: searching for a new collecting”, p. 46.
9
Knell, Simon, 2004, “Altered values: searching for a new collecting”, p. 46.
10
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 28.
11
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 188.
12
Bohman, Stefan; Lindvall, Karin, 2003, “Museerna I samhället och samhället i museerna”, p. 89.

9
made room for cafés or restaurants, in some cases even a playground for children.
Even the exhibitions themselves may contain interactive segments, where the idea
is for users to work together.13
Usually these social aspects are being incorporated into the museum as a way
of enhancing the museum visit and favor the emergence of discussion between the
visitors about the museum, its exhibitions, and the collections. 14

4.3. Institution of education

The part of the educational work that is most obvious to the audience is that of
information through tours. Museum docents work with guiding groups in the vari-
ous exhibitions of the museum, informing about their themes and collections.
Generally there are different types of tours available based, for example, on
whether it is a group of adults or children,15 however, as mentioned by Black in
The engaging museum – developing museums for visitor involvement museum
pedagogies is not just a matter of holding tours of the exhibitions and collections.16
A lot of the pedagogic work in the museum is done behind the public scene of the
museum. Such work include the development of tours and input on the develop-
ment of exhibitions as well as construction of pedagogic texts. Creating an exhibi-
tion with the help of a museum pedagogue implements the pedagogies into the
exhibition from the beginning. Not only will that generally make the exhibition
better equipped for sole visitors, but it would also be based on scientific tech-
niques to get the audience engaged and to make the exhibition as easy to under-
stand as possible.17

13
Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean, 1992, Museums and the shaping of knowledge, p. 202.
14
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 34.
15
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 31.
16
Black, Graham, 2005, The engaging museum – developing museums for visitor involvement,
17
Black, Graham, 2005, The engaging museum – developing museums for visitor involvement, p. 142, 169.

10
5. What is a virtual museum?

The first definition of what a virtual museum is, was simply the website of a
physical museum.18 A concept of a museum “without walls” had, however, been
introduced as early as 1953 by Malraux,19 who imagined it being an environment
for the presentation of mainly photography and art. The term Virtual museum was
first coined by Tsichritzis and Gibbs in their article Virtual museums and virtual
realities referring to a museum constructed for a virtual landscape and functioning
as a service rather then a location.20
Another early idea of the virtual museum was the VR virtual museum that
was a copy of the physical museum in its architecture, and it generally contained
2D and 3D images of items from the museum’s collections.21 The virtual museum
later evolved to refer to web sites of museums that contained different types of
media (multimedia) to present information, such as images, text, sound etc.22 This
is still partly the case, but a virtual museum is today considered to hold a larger
complexity then just different types of media-presented information on a site. The
virtual museums have become a matter of not just basic information, but also of
how the information is being presented to the users.

5.1. Definitions of a virtual museum

The definition and idea of the virtual museum is still under construction.23 Just as
with the technology, the idea and definition is under constant change, and what
once might have qualified as a virtual museum in its encyclopedic definition, may
not do so today.
Today the definition of the virtual museum is coming closer to that of what a
physical museum is. It is no longer only a website with information presented

18
Britannica Online Encyclopedia, search for: virtual museum [2009-04-13]
19
Malraux, André, 1953, The voices of silence.
20
Tsichritzis, Dennis; Gibbs, Simon, 1991, “Virtual museums and virtual realities”, p. 18.
21
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environments.”,
p. 5, 10.
22
Britannica Online Encyclopedia, search for: virtual museum [2009-04-13]
23
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 189.

11
through multimedia, 24 or a website with a database connected to it.25 Today a da-
tabase is a database, and a database on a website is a database on a website. Put-
ting a database on a website does not make it a virtual museum.26 As Rayward and
Twidale describes it:

In the same way that a museum is not merely a physical storehouse or repository of artifacts
that has been organised to enable the most efficient access to those artefacts, a virtual mu-
seum is not merely a database of digitised images linked to powerful information retrieval
software.27

One of the most essential parts of the virtual museum is accessibility.28 Originally
virtual museums were created for various medium including CD- and DVD
ROMs. Today, however, when virtual museums are being discussed, they are
mainly referred to as an Internet phenomenon. It is also the Internet environment
that makes the virtual museums flexible and dynamic.29 Virtual museums burned
on disk cannot possess these qualities. The accessibility also gives the museums
the possibility to reach a much greater audience in virtual shape compared to in its
physical form.30 The number of visitors is potentially limitless and so is the geo-
graphic range the museum can reach. 31 But its not just a matter of reaching a
larger audience with information, it is also a matter of presenting the audience
with an experience, and to provide possibility of further in-depth learning through
databases of digital heritage as well as connected references.32
It is information that is the main strength of the virtual museum. The virtual
museum takes what is an authenticity centered on objects in the physical museum
and turn it into an authenticity centered on information in the virtual museum.33
The Internet is constructed based on the distribution of information, however,
most information found on the Internet have little base and rarely references of
scientific kind. Wikis have become increasingly popular as a way of simply creat-
ing collected information databases.34 Wikipedia being one of them, where users
add data such as text and pictures. The wiki is in constant change as the users add,

24
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 151.
25
Strömberg, Håkan, 2008, Islamisk konst ruskar liv i det virtuella museet.
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 39.
26
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 150.
27
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 39.
28
Kaczmarek, Adam Lukasz, 2008, ”Exploring contexts of cultural objects in virtual museums”, p. 1, 2.
29
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 151.
30
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 151.
31
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 40.
32
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environments.”,
p. 1.
33
Anderson, Maxwell, L., 1997, “Introduction”, p. 17.
34
Tepper, Michele, 2003, “The rise of social software”, p. 23.

12
change and delete data.35 Even though it can work as a good way for smaller
groups to oversee information, it is in a case like Wikipedia problematic as there
are very few references and very little information being checked by profession-
als.36 The virtual museum could function as a counterpart to this sort of uncon-
trolled information on the Internet.37 The virtual museum, as with the virtual ency-
clopedias, would work as legitimate information sources in the vast cyberspace.
Another way in which the virtual museums develop the legitimacy of infor-
mation is through multiple narratives.38 The flexibility of the virtual space makes
it possible to relatively easily create diverse narratives, for instance with items or
ideas where several interpretations have been presented and considered possible
and legitimate. The virtual museum can then let it be up its audience to decide on
what they find being most accurate. Multiple narratives also improves the democ-
ratic aspect of the museum as it shows different scientific sides, not just deciding
on one school as truth.
Accessibility and information are two main pillars of the virtual museum,
however, they do not set the virtual museum apart from other legitimate informa-
tion sources online. A function that virtual museums have that differentiate them
from other online information sources is that the virtual museum is a matter of
experience, of experiencing the information rather than one-way learning. 39 Just as
in a physical museum, information is taken in through text and media but at large
it is the experience of the entire museum that contributes to the learning. Just as
physical exhibitions are carefully constructed and planned, so should the virtual
equivalent be produced, and just as visiting a physical exhibition is an experience,
so should visiting a virtual exhibition create an experience to the user.40
Another function essential to the virtual museum and to enhance the creation
of experience is the interface of the virtual museum. Information is presented in a
different manner in a virtual museum compared to, for example, a regular infor-
mation website of a museum. In a virtual museum information is presented
through navigation, with the interface turning it into an interactive learning expe-
rience.
The virtual museum is often referred to as a museum without walls.41 The ar-
chitecture of a virtual museum makes it possible for a dynamic architecture, and
the architecture of a virtual museum is its interface. It is the interface that put up

35
Henning, Michelle, ”New media”, 2006, p. 316.
36
Tepper, Michele, 2003, “The rise of social software”, p. 23.
37
Henning, Michelle, 2006, ”New media”, p. 304.
38
Lewi, Hannah, 2007, “Designing a virtual museum of architectural heritage”, p. 268.
39
Roussou, Maria, 2007, “The components of engagement in virtual heritage environments”, p. 226.
40
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 268.
41
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 191.

13
the premises on how to navigate the virtual museum and exhibition, and it is the
interface that sets the possibilities of the architectural setting. As with a physical
museum and exhibition, the architecture of virtual museum or exhibitions is con-
structed with rooms or halls rather then pages.42 With virtual exhibitions that have
a physical counterpart, this can generally be generated rather easily. Each of the
physical rooms can simply get their own setting in the virtual exhibition’s archi-
tecture. Though it can pose problematic to visualize a physical exhibition experi-
ence in a Internet 2D or 3D environment, care has to be taken to the translation of
the physical exhibition. It is easy to do a straight translation of the physical exhi-
bition to the virtual counterpart; however, implementing the physical architecture
into a VE would limit the possibilities of the virtual counterpart, and would be a
step away from the idea of a museum without walls. It would simply put a static
architecture into a virtual shape.
By rooms or halls it is not necessarily a matter of a VR environment. Rooms
can as easily be generated for a 2D environment. The idea of creating rooms or
halls is generally set to make the interface straightforward and the idea of the vir-
tual museum or exhibition clear to the user. They also turn the virtual museum or
exhibition into an experience, more or less similar to a physical museum and ex-
hibition experience.
To summarize: a virtual museum is a source of information on the Internet, or
alternatively on various storage medium, but then in a form that is fixed and re-
strained in dynamic capabilities. A virtual museum presents information through
multimedia, and with the help of an interface that is based on a concept of having
rooms that the user navigate to experience the virtual museum. Information is as
essential to the virtual museum as objects are for a physical museum. The lack of
object authenticity in the virtual museum is instead replaced with the authenticity
of information. Through its position on the Internet the virtual museum is in the-
ory accessible to all. This gives it an advantage that the physical museums cannot
forge.

5.2. Collect – Preserve – Display

Collect, preserve and display is the three main principles of the physical museum.
This chapter will compare how these definitions of the physical museum can be
applied in virtual form.

42
Henning, Michelle, ”New media”, 2006, p. 307.

14
5.2.1. Collect
Though virtual museums cannot handle objects in the way that a physical museum
can, collecting is not solely referring to physical objects. As mention in What is a
museums?, Collect, preserve, display, museum collections can also contain intan-
gible material e.g. a collection does not necessarily have to be based on physical
objects. Based on this, the virtual museum could to some extent collect material
that could be of interest to the museum as well as the scientific community. 43
One way for a virtual museum to collect data would be through web logs.44
With the help of web logs the virtual museum could track data based on the audi-
ence of the virtual museum. Not only would this provide a lot of information
about how the audiences approach the virtual museum in question,45 but also about
Internet usage in general. This sort of data could be of interest to researchers on
DH and VE. It would also aid in the future development of virtual museums.46 As
contemporary collecting, such as Samdok, is currently being done in various
fields,47 data of Internet usage could also be of interest to save as records of peo-
ple’s interaction with the Internet.
It is, however, possible to collect information in a more traditional sense of
the definition, even in the virtual museum. As will be studied further in Types
virtual exhibition, Interactive exhibitions, the museum could work as a base of
collecting where users of the VE distribute contributions. Through this sort of
collecting, the audience could contribute with various types of multimedia to cre-
ate or increase the collection of the virtual museum. As types of multimedia such
as images and videos are already incorporated into collections of physical muse-
ums today, the collecting of “born digital” 48 items to a virtual museum collection
could be considered as legitimate as a regular museum collecting.

5.2.2. Preserve
As mentioned above, there are ways for a virtual museum to create its own born
digital collection. This would be a requirement for any preservation to become
involved. Though the virtual born digital collections would not require the same
sort of preserving as an ancient object would in the physical museum, there would
still be a need of some sort of preservation, even on this material. Even though

43
Blackaby, Jim; Sandore, Beth, 1997, “Building Integrated Museum Information Retrieval Systems: Practi-
cal Approaches to Data Organization and Access”, p. 142.
44
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 271.
45
Henning, Michelle, 2006, ”New media”, p. 312.
46
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 47.
47
Bursell, Barbro, 1998, “Samdok och föremålen”, p. 116.
48
Cameron, Fiona, 2007, “Politics of heritage authorship: the case of digital heritage collections”, p. 178.

15
born digital material does not exist in any physical form in its original state, pre-
serving ideas have to be put into consideration for the collections to stay available.
The problem with born digital material in not necessarily storage, which is
generally a problem in the case of the physical museum. Storage media is becom-
ing increasingly cost efficient, however, files also tend to grow larger with the
introduction of new, and better quality file formats. The main problem with digital
collections overall is that of digital heritage longlivity. As just mentioned, new file
formats and standards are constantly introduced, and old ones are discontinued.49
To make sure that the collection would be accessible in the future, it needs to be
constantly revised to make sure all the file formats are up to date, however, chang-
ing the file format on a born digital item also changes it from an original to a
copy.

5.2.3. Display
All virtual museums have some way of displaying its content in a VE. The VE
constructed for the virtual museum promotes various types of activities, created to
engage the user in the theme of the museum.50 A vital part of the virtual museum
is the accessibility. Not only does this accessibility turn the museum global but it
also contributes to a sort of democratization of the museum, making museum col-
lections available to theoretically anyone.51 Putting content online in the shape of
databases, virtual museums, personalized exhibitions etc. lets not only people of
various cultures enjoy each others cultural heritage, but would let cultures that
have lost parts of their cultural heritage to other countries, get virtual access to it.52
The idea of bringing the museum artifacts to a larger audience can go beyond
ordinary databases. One way of realizing this could be in the shape of combined
exhibition.53 Virtual museums and exhibitions would make the terms museums
work by, when it comes to putting together combined exhibitions with artifacts
from several museums, increasingly simplified.54 The cost, time and care that mu-
seums have to spend today on every single artifact they borrow from another mu-
seum or institution is making it difficult for most museums to go through this

49
Addison, Alonzo, C., 2007, ”The vanishing virtual: safeguarding heritage’s endangered digitalrecord”, p.
33.
50
Chen, Xiaolei; Kalay, Yehuda, E., 2007, “Making a livable “place”: content design in virtual environment”,
p. 207.
51
Malpas, Jeff, 2007, ”Cultural heritage in the age of new media”, p. 25.
52
Fahy, Anne, 1995, ”New technologies for museum communication”, p 88.
53
MacDonald, George, F.; Alsford, Stephen, 1997, “Conclusion: toward the meta-museum”, p. 277.
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 188.
54
Zorich, Diane, M., 1997, “Beyond bitslag: integrating museum resources on the internet”, p. 179.

16
process.55 These difficulties leads to that ideas of possible exhibitions are over-
looked because of the economic costs it would require.56
The virtual world does not have the same limitations as the physical museums
when it comes to these matters. Putting together exhibitions with material from
various museums or institutions would mainly be an issue of whether all institu-
tions agree on the idea presented, and are willing to contribute with material and
information that otherwise would be under copyright.57 There would still be a cost,
but not much in comparison to moving a large number of valuable artifacts.58
Combined virtual exhibitions would also spare the objects. Not only does it
cost a lot of money to move museum artifacts, there is also the risk of objects be-
ing damaged. Though one would not suggest that viewing these artifacts and ob-
jects online would compare to watching them in the physical environment. It does
pose a possible alternative, 59 which not only would be cost efficient; it would also
be available to the world.

5.3. Conclusion
As Jane Barton states in her article Digital libraries, virtual museums: same dif-
ference? The boundary between regular web information sites and virtual muse-
ums is increasingly blurred.60 So what is it that specifically makes a virtual mu-
seum differ from similar channels of information available on-line?
As have been established throughout this chapter, virtual museums are not
just informative web sites. A complex virtual museum could in theory live up to
the main principles of the physical museum, those of collect, preserve and display,
however, as the VE is constructed in a different way then a physical, they manage
these principles of the museum in different ways. As a virtual museum is a part of
the VE, the collections it would accumulate would be of virtual born digital kind.
The preservation issues of the virtual museums would also struggle with problems
of a virtual kind rather then physical, but in the end the goal is the same, to pre-
serve the collected material for the future, and future audiences.
Museums are looked upon as institutions that stand for authenticity. With
physical museums this authenticity have largely been connected to the objects of
the museum collections. In a world of information and learning, museums have

55
Walczak, Krzysztof; Cellary, Wojciech, 2006, ”Virtual museums exhibitions”, p. 93.
56
Walczak, Krzysztof; Cellary, Wojciech, 2006, ”Virtual museums exhibitions”, p. 93.
57
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 42.
58
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 188.
59
Zorich, Diane, M., 1997, “Beyond bitslag: integrating museum resources on the internet”, p. 179.
60
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 153.

17
been the main institution handling the objects, the real things of history. The vir-
tual museum, however, is not capable of translating this object-centered authentic-
ity, instead the virtual museums is a source of authentic information, in a cyber-
space filled with uncontrolled knowledge.61
One of the most important sides of the virtual museum is, however, the acces-
sibility. It is not a part of a location, but available to everyone, everywhere. Not
only is this an important quality for reaching audiences, but it also put a democ-
ratic aspect to the virtual museum. Content is not just available to the audience
living in proximity of the physical collections, but become a part of the global
cultural heritage.

61
Anderson, Maxwell, L., 1997, “Introduction”, p. 17.

18
6. The virtual exhibition

While the difference between virtual museums and virtual exhibitions is not fully
established, the old idea was generally that a virtual museum was the website of a
museum and that a virtual exhibition was considered something more complex, as
stated in The Encyclopedia Britannica article on the subject.62 In today’s highly
technological world, where change and development in constantly ongoing and
redefined, a museum’s general website is considered being only a museum’s web-
site, not a virtual museum.
Another early idea of what a virtual museum is, was generated out of the same
idea as the website, that holds the physical museum is its base. In this idea a vir-
tual museum is an exact VR copy of the physical museum and its exhibitions.63
These museums generally focus on objects from the museum’s collection and
display them in 3D in a VR environment.
I consider it being a good idea to look at the differences in the definitions of
museum and exhibition in the physical counterpart. In the physical museum world
,a museum is something more complex and multifaceted then an exhibition. An
exhibition is one part of the museum as a whole, usually one exhibition of many
that make up the museum. A museum is, as previously established, an institution
concerned with collecting, preserving and displaying cultural heritage. It is also
defined as a meeting place and an institution of education. Whereas many exhibi-
tions are meeting places and educative, they are part of the display principle of the
museum definition. When museums create virtual displays of their cultural heri-
tage it is generally in the shape of a virtual exhibition, however, there are larger
virtual projects such as the VMC that contains several different virtual exhibi-
tions, and also have several ongoing educative projects for students as well as
teachers.64
When one read articles on the subject, the authors generally use the term Vir-
tual museum, however, what they discuss can usually be applied to both virtual
museums and virtual exhibitions. In general they distinguish between the two
through differences in complexity.

62
Britannica Online Encyclopedia, search for: virtual museum [2009-04-13]
63
Kaczmarek, Adam Lukasz, 2008, “Exploring contexts of use of cultural objects in virtual museums, p. 1.
64
Virtual museum of Canada, URL: [Link]

19
6.1. Types of virtual exhibitions
As with their physical counterparts, virtual exhibitions can be highly specialized
and utilize the virtual media in different ways. The following chapters focus on
various types of virtual exhibitions and presents examples in each category.
This classification of virtual exhibitions is based on the material of virtual ex-
hibitions found in the scientific literature and examples of various virtual exhibi-
tions I have studied further as part of the research for this thesis. All categories
and examples follow the definition of what a virtual museum and/or exhibition is,
as stated in the chapters Definitions of a virtual museum and The virtual exhibi-
tion.
These categories are naturally simplified. Virtual exhibitions are generally
more multifaceted in their construction and hold many more applications then
what is the characteristics of the specific category.

6.1.1. In-depth object exhibition

In-depth object exhibition centre around the object, which can seem difficult in
the case of the virtual exhibition, however, in-depth object exhibitions presents
the object in a different manner compared to how it is presented in a physical ex-
hibition. The in-depth object exhibition does what is difficult to do with a physical
exhibition, it takes the audience close to the object, making it possible to view the
object from all angles and positions and enabling zoom functions where the user
would be able to come closer to the item then would be possible at a physical ex-
hibition. 65 In many ways, virtual in-depth object exhibitions actually presents ob-
jects in a more thorough way then what would be possible in a physical exhibi-
tion, 66 and could pose an invaluable source for research, locally as well as glob-
ally.
In-depth object exhibitions make this possible through various VR and 3D
photography techniques.67 Exhibitions may vary from VE style exhibitions to
more regular website presented exhibitions. The techniques used to create these
virtual exhibitions involve everything from template-style software with low
learning-curve, such as the ARCO software,68 that creates a VR environment in
which the museum places the 3D pictures of their objects,69 to highly specialized
tools and software that demands professionals in the specific field. Even though

65
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 42.
66
Besser, Howard, 1997, “The transformation of the museum and the way it’s perceived”, p. 157.
67
Walczak, Krzysztof; Cellary, Wojciech, 2006, ”Virtual museums exhibitions”, p. 93.
68
Patel, Manjula; White, Martin; Walczak, Krzysztof; Sayd, Ratrick, 2003, “Digitisation to presentation –
building virtual museum exhibitions”, p. 1.
69
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environments.”,
p. 9.

20
the audience may not see the object in question in real life, one can often study the
object to a greater extent in these sorts of virtual exhibitions, then one would be
able to through thick security glass, 70 as Maxwell Anderson discusses in the intro-
duction to the book The wired museum: emerging technology and changing para-
digms:

The Mona Lisa could be more easily studied today in a high-resolution image over the Inter-
net than in the galleries of the Louvre, where dim lighting, thick ultraviolet-filtered, bullet-
proof glass, zealous crowds, and protective guards keep us at arm’s length from the painted
surface. We are in effect looking at a painting through a glass screen anyway.71

Advanced in-depth object exhibition cannot only function as an exhibition experi-

ence for a general user, but it could also, as mentioned above, become a tool for
research. Especially considering the accessibility of the virtual exhibition. In the-
ory, researchers from all over the world would be able to study objects in-depth
that in real life are very remote to them. Of course for major research, hands-on
experience is crucial, but the in-depth exhibition could prove valuable in the se-
lection of items that were to become researched.
Not only could the in-depth object exhibition contribute with information to
the public and researchers globally about a specific object, but it could also be
taken further to provide multiple narratives. If investments have been made to
create a virtual in-depth replica of a specific object, it is on top of that possible to
create a reconstruction of it, given such would be of use. Usually reconstructions
of objects is a guesswork executed by an experienced archaeologist, art historian
etc. There are, however, often disagreements in the scientific community regard-
ing reconstructions. The virtual in-depth object exhibition could solve this by cre-
ating multiple reconstructions, where the audience can study the various options
and come to their own conclusions. Even more important, the diversity of the sci-
entific research community would be presented in the exhibition, not just one
fixed truth. 72
An example of an in-depth object virtual exhibition could be The Augsburg
art cabinet created by Museum Gustavianum at Uppsala University.73 The object
is a cabinet of curiosities, a large cabinet with a multitude of doors and drawers
that all keep the different objects that are part of the cabinet’s collection. In real
life one can look at the cabinet on a distance, but not touch nor study it further. In
the virtual museum one can open every door of it, pull out the drawers, click on
each object and be presented with further information on it from the collection

70
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 42.
71
Anderson, Maxwell, L., 1997, “Introduction”, p. 21.
72
Zheng, Jiang, Y., 2000, “Virtual recovery and exhibition of heritage”, p. 32.
73
The Augsburg art cabinet, URL: [Link]

21
database.74 In real life one would never be able to study the cabinet as thoroughly
as in this virtual exhibition unless one would receive special permit to.

6.1.2. Thematic exhibitions

The core of the thematic exhibitions in as well physical as virtual shape, is the
theme rather then the object. The shift in paradigm began in the 1980s when the
idea of information and learning rose from being secondary to become the centre
of importance.75 Since the virtual exhibitions were first introduced, there have
been concerns regarding virtual exhibitions and their lack of object-centered
authenticity. The thematic exhibition, however, make an example on when this is
of no major concern, as objects are not as necessary to a thematic exhibition. In-
stead the qualities of the Internet can be utilized according to their strengths to
produce diverse applications suitable for the thematic exhibition.
The museum of world cultures, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, has developed
several virtual exhibitions. In general these are based on exhibitions in the physi-
cal museum, but presented on the museum website. One example is the virtual
exhibition Pushing the limits,76 where the main theme concern how it is to live in a
conflict region. Pushing the limits is a VR walkthrough virtual exhibition. The
exhibit is almost an exact replica of the physical exhibition with VR rooms to
navigate through. Though the options of movement around in the exhibition are
limited, it is interesting to see how they utilized multimedia such as sound, im-
ages, video and text. The Internet is created around the distribution of information
in various shapes and multimedia is one of the ways where one can utilize the
strengths of the Internet. Where a 2D image of an object in a virtual exhibition fail
to live up to the greatness of the original, the multimedia offers a very similar ex-
perience online as in the physical environment.
Another example is the virtual exhibition Trafficking.77 Its theme is based on
the trafficking of humans around the world. As with Pushing the limits, this vir-
tual exhibition also has a physical counterpart. The virtual exhibition is greatly
influenced by its physical counterpart, however, in difference to Pushing the lim-
its it is not constructed of VR rooms but rather 2D interpretations of the physical
rooms. As with a large part of the thematic exhibitions, the information is largely
presented through different medium, in this case through sound, text and images.
Though much of the media used in the virtual exhibition relates to the physical
exhibition, they have still decided on leaving out parts that could rather easily be
incorporated such as video, however, the interface itself is well developed through

74
Attatchment: The Augsburg art cabinet, figure 10-14
75
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 188.
76
Pushing the limits, URL: [Link]
77
Trafficking, URL: [Link]

22
flash technology and turn in itself this virtual exhibition into an experience to
visit.

6.1.3. Interactive exhibitions

Interactive exhibitions are virtual exhibitions where the museum or cultural heri-
tage institution provides a framework for a virtual exhibition, but where the user
and audience contribute material to the virtual exhibition.
One example is the virtual exhibition Silence of the Lands78 that is dealing
with the theme of natural heritage. This specific virtual exhibition aims to pre-
serve the natural quiet of a natural heritage site in Boulder, Colorado.79 The cul-
tural heritage institution developed software and the website of the virtual exhibi-
tion, that largely consists of maps over the area. They also held workshops for
residents so that they could learn how to use the system. The users in turn collect
sounds when they are around in the natural heritage area and position the sound
with the help of GPS receivers. As they upload their media as well as metadata to
the system, it becomes a part of the virtual exhibition database and available on
the exhibition website.80 The virtual museum also features chats and discussion-
boards where users comment on and interpret the various sounds.81 As part of the
virtual museum project, so called soundwalks are also being offered, where users
and visitors walk the physical landscape on tours based on the sound material
found in the virtual museum. This takes the virtual museum a step further, con-
necting it directly to the PE and have the physical and virtual landscape work to-
gether seamlessly.82
Interactive virtual museums are rather unusual but Silence of the Lands is an
example of one. Having users also be producers is a way of getting the audience
engaged in the museum. It also makes the work of creating the museum less com-
plex, as the users themselves contribute with the material. The museum just has to
develop a software framework and educate users in how to utilize it.
The interactive virtual museum or exhibition take the virtual museum a step
closer to the physical museum as it through the “user as producer”83 approach be-
come and institution that not only displays material but also collect and preserve
it. As previously mentioned in this thesis, collect and preserve are two of the main

78
Silence of the lands, URL: [Link]
79
Giaccardi, Elisa, 2007, “Cross-media interaction for the virtual museum: reconnecting to natural heritage in
Boulder, Colorado.”, p. 112.
80
Giaccardi, Elisa, 2007, “Cross-media interaction for the virtual museum: reconnecting to natural heritage in
Boulder, Colorado.”, p. 119.
81
Giaccardi, Elisa, 2007, “Cross-media interaction for the virtual museum: reconnecting to natural heritage in
Boulder, Colorado.”, p. 119.
82
Giaccardi, Elisa, 2007, “Cross-media interaction for the virtual museum: reconnecting to natural heritage in
Boulder, Colorado.”, p. 125.
83
Zorich, Diane, M., 1997, “Beyond bitslag: integrating museum resources on the Internet”, p. 175.

23
principles of what a museum is, and UNESCO offer born digital resources protec-
tion status as heritage.84
As well as with physical museum collecting there may come up issues regard-
ing the authenticity of the material and information contributed by the
user/producer. As with most digital heritage sites that let users contribute with
material, the Silence of the Lands project have professionals monitoring the mate-
rial that is being contributed.85 This mainly concerns the sound material (object)
and the information regarding it (meta-data). When it comes to communicative
additions such as chats and discussions, there is generally no need for museum
professionals to get involved unless the chat is set up as a communication tool
between user and museum. This may pose a problem to smaller heritage institu-
tions as there may not be any financial possibility to have professionals control
the contributed material, however, the situation is very similar to that of acquiring
physical collections. It would be up to the professionals of the heritage institution
in question to decide their priorities with their collecting.

6.2. Conclusion
Though the literature does not strictly set any definition to separate the virtual
museum from the virtual exhibition, the general idea is that the virtual museum is
more complex. It can for instance be a VE constructed out of various different
virtual exhibitions. It can also be a VE that lives up to the principles of the physi-
cal museum: collect, preserve and display. Virtual exhibitions on the other hand
function much like an exhibition does in the physical museum. It is a place where
objects and information are displayed, but is usually just one part of all the vari-
ous activities a museum could offer.
Virtual exhibitions can look and function very differently. Based on virtual
exhibitions studied for this thesis, three categories of virtual exhibitions have been
distinguished. These are in-depth exhibition, thematic exhibitions and interactive
exhibitions. Though not all virtual exhibitions can be placed in these categories, or
does not fit them exclusively. These categories still give a picture of how muse-
ums may work on producing a virtual exhibition, depending on the material that
would become the base of the exhibition.

84
Kvan, Thomas, 2007, “Conclusion: a future for the past”, p. 310.
85
Giaccardi, Elisa, 2007, “Cross-media interaction for the virtual museum: reconnecting to natural heritage in
Boulder, Colorado.”, p. 126.

24
7. Challenges of the virtual museum

The technological possibilities of today are under constant development. New

types of Internet tools are introduced daily and the standards that are developed
today seem to be outdated before they even hit the market. Keeping up with the
Internet and its possibilities is a challenge few master. In this race of technological
development it is hard not to have concerns about the present as well as the future
of the Internet.
Though new technology has always been of interest to heritage institutions to
aid their work, it has always been of great importance to evaluate the new tech-
nology before implementing it to the museum work. A lot of technology have
come and gone, today faster then ever, and so have the standards of the techno-
logical world. Investing in new technology is a substantial decision to a museum,
and it is important for museums, which generally already have strained budgets, to
make sure that the advantages would surpass the disadvantages.
Many museums have taken the step to digitalizing their collections and cul-
tural heritage in databases. Though this helps a lot in keeping records available,
accessible and standardized, these standards also pose a problem. Though catalogs
have usually been made prior to creating databases, setting standards for what the
databases are to contain is no easy decision. Though Dublin Core is often used as
standard on museum and heritage databases,86 there is no fixed standard for how a
museum database should be designed, like in the case of images where the EXIF
standard has been set.87
Not only is there no fixed standard for museum databases, there is also a prob-
lem with standards at large. As Yehuda E. Kalay discusses in the conclusion of
the book New media: new media and cultural heritage, turning cultural heritage to
a standardized database is like taking a story originating from an oral tradition,
and writing it down in print. According to Kalay there is a vast difficulty in taking
something as complex as cultural heritage and describing everything of it in a
database based on fixed premises.88

86
Dublin Core Initiative, URL: [Link]
87
[Link], URL: [Link]
88
Kalay, Yehuda, E., 2007, ”Introduction: preserving cultural heritage through digital media.”, p. 2.

25
 Another problem concerning standards is that of longlivity. Museums invest a
lot of time and money in digitizing their collections, and as technology evolves so
does the standards of it. New medium as well as new formats are under constant
development, and the museums cannot afford to constantly change along with it.
For example, one can look at the various image formats available today: JPEG,
TIF, GIF, BMP, PNG, RAW and PSD being just a few of them.89 Museums need
to know that their investments in the technology will be worth it and that despite
the constant change, their work that will be lasting.
In the case of the virtual museums, there is also the matter of the public
sphere. Where museum databases are still largely for internal use, though some
museums today have all or parts of their databases available on their websites,
virtual museums are created with an external audience in mind. Problems emerge,
however, as the objects are often seen as the museum’s base of authenticity, and
object authenticity can never be translated in the virtual world. The virtual world
can only present virtual replica of the authentic object.
To the cultural heritage institutions the virtualization of objects pose problem-
atic. How can institutions dedicated to the preservation and presentation of
authentic objects, at the same time create digital models of their pieces? Many
discussions debate over the desacralisation of the objects. Turning an authentic
item into a commodity. 90 While some debate that turning authentic objects into
commodities is necessary to reach audiences, other say that presenting models of
objects in virtual museums and exhibitions will be the end of the specific aura
that both the authentic object and the physical museums possesses. 91
If decisions have been made to invest in new public information sources such
as the virtual museum, there are concerns about how this information is to be pre-
sented. Museums are considered as institutions of education as well as institutions
of authenticity. Several museums that have established themselves online in the
shape of virtual museums have suffered great criticism for how information has
been presented in an edutainment-like fashion.92 The balance between information
and the usage of applications suitable for the Internet, such as multimedia, have
posed problematic for museums. The difficulty lies in combining information and
multimedia into virtual museums that still holds that essence of information
authenticity. In the creation of virtual museums, professionals therefore shy away
from elaborate interfaces in the quest to not have their virtual exhibition regarded
as a fun-park. 93

89
Addison, Alonzo, C., 2007, ”The vanishing virtual: safeguarding heritage’s endangered digital record”, p.
33.
90
Malpas, Jeff, 2007, ”Cultural heritage in the age of new media”, p. 22.
91
Rousssou, Maria, 2007, “The components of engagement in virtual heritage environments”, p. 232.
92
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 24.
93
Lewi, Hannah, 2007, “Designing a virtual museum of architectural heritage”, p. 271.

26
8. The possibilities of the virtual museum

Even thought the virtual museums available today can be very different, there are
certain techniques in production that has been used for some time now and is con-
sidered an integral part of virtual museum production. These techniques include
for example 3D renderings, web layout, and usage of multimedia content.94 These
techniques will therefore not be presented further in this thesis. This chapter will
concern methods that are still experimental in the virtual museum context, and
only picked up by a small number of virtual museums. It will also concern meth-
ods that today are still not in use in a virtual museum context, even though the
techniques exist in other VE.
As discussed by Suzanne Keene, in the case of both physical and virtual mu-
seums, people are central to the role of the museum, 95 what is then important is to
present the museum in a shape useful for the audience. As virtual museums are
available online it should be of interest to adapt them to the VE the Internet holds.
There is no point in trying to implement things that are not functional in an envi-
ronment such as the Internet, but rather take advantage of the strengths of the
VE.96 It is also of interest to study where the development of the Internet is at, and
where it is heading, to be able to develop a virtual museum that is up to date and
that Internet users can feel accustomed with.
As mentioned, multimedia, VR and interfaces have been integrated with the
Internet for some time,97 and have also become incorporated into the virtual muse-
ums. If one look at the current development of the Internet, communication has
been taken to another level through the introduction of Web 2.0 services. There
are a multitude of communicative services available, which can easily be imple-
mented into the virtual museum context. This will be studied further in the chapter
The virtual museum as a meeting place.

94
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environments.”,
p. 5.
Tsichritzis, Dennis; Gibbs, Simon, 1991, “Virtual museums and virtual realities”, p. 19.
Silberman, Niel, 2007, “Chasing the unicorn? The quest for “essence” in digital heritage”, p. 84.
95
Keene, Suzanne, 2004, “The future of the museum in the digital age”, p. 4.
96
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 274.
97
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 273.

27
 Another way in which the virtual museum can develop is in the strengthening
their online pedagogic work. As this is an essential part of the physical museum, it
should not be overseen in the virtual museum context. As will be presented in
Virtual education, there are various ways for the virtual museum to embed peda-
gogic tools to enhance the virtual museum visit, aimed at as well children as the
research community.
The virtual meeting place, as well as the virtual education are both principles
that have an equivalent in the physical museum. The third principle that will be
discussed in this chapter, however, does not. The case of personalized museums is
something that could rather uniquely be implemented in the VE, and is perhaps
one of the major strengths of the technology. The personalized museum could
offer the audience something that could not be offered at a physical museum.
Through applications that enhance the sides of the virtual museum that cannot be
applied to the physical counterpart, the two could function as complements to one
another.

8.1. The virtual museum as a meeting place

As discussed in What is a museum?, Meeting place, it has become increasingly
popular to incorporate social aspects into the museum, both as part of activities,
but even into the physical architecture of the museum through for instance restau-
rants. The reason behind museums wishing to become a meeting place for the
public is usually for enhancing the museum visit and to promote interaction and
discussion.
For the very same reasons, the meeting place could also become a part of the
virtual museum. In the case of the virtual museum, it would not only be a local
meeting place such as the physical museum, it could turn into a global meeting
place. Connectivity and communication are some of the strengths of the Internet,
and various applications could be incorporated into the VE to promote the virtual
museum as a meeting place. Some specifically interesting to the virtual museum
will be presented in the chapter Web 2.0, and discussed on how they could be im-
plemented into a virtual museum environment in the chapter Museum 2.0.

8.1.1. Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term that stands for a range of Internet services such as chats, discus-
sion-forums, blogs, wikis, web feeds, and other social software.98 The main func-
tion of these Web 2.0 services is that of connectivity and communication, though
other qualities they generally have in common are functions such as:

98
Warr, Wendy, A., 2008, “Social software: fun and games, or business tools?”, p. 591.

28
 • Search (information must be searchable
• Linking (links must connect and cross-reference blog posts, wikis etc. into an interactive
and interdependent community)
• Authoring (simple tools must be provided to allow everyone to contribute and edit con-
tent)
• Tagging (users must be able to assign their own terms and descriptions, which allows
content to be structured in a way that is meaningful to users)
• Extensions (applications should include a suggestion and recommendation system such as
that found on Amazon or StubleUpon – ‘if you liked X, you’ll like Y’)
• Signals (technology, such as RSS, that tells users when new content of interest appears)99

The concept of a social Web is nothing new. Discussion forums have been around
since the early networks, and services we find current such as the blog, were in
use already in the mid 1990s.100 Today there are a great number of these various
social services. To mention a few: Chats for direct text, voice or video communi-
cation, either through web applications or through social software clients; Blogs as
online diaries that are generally connected to other blogs in a web; Wikis that are
sources of information, where the users can add, change or delete any entry, users
build content together; Feeds provide a summary of content from a specific site,
usually to a specialized web feed reader, where the user can collect the informa-
tion summaries of all the sites he is interested in, in the same application; Forums
provides a space online where users can create and take part in discussions. Usu-
ally forums are specialized in various subjects, and is a place where users that
hold that interest log in to take part in the discussions; Virtual communities where
users can join, for instance to network such as the case of sites like Facebook or
My Space, or to consume and contribute content, such as in the case of Youtube;
Bookmarking allow users to bookmark (or tag) websites, assign keywords, and
share these, bookmarks can for instance be shared through feeds.101 These are the
most common services available as part of the concept of the social web, or as it is
more known: Web 2.0.102

8.1.2. Museum 2.0

As mentioned in previous chapter, there are a lot of different ways of using the
Internet in a social and communicative manner. Though all of these services have
their place on the Internet, it is a different matter of how they could become in-
corporated into a virtual museum setting.
Considering how concerned the physical museums are about becoming meet-
ing places for the public, it is interesting to see how little of that that is currently
implemented in the virtual counterpart. This especially considering how well

99
Warr, Wendy, A., 2008, “Social software: fun and games, or business tools?”, p. 592.
100
Tepper, Michele, 2003, “The rise of social software”, p. 20.
101
Warr, Wendy, A., 2008, “Social software: fun and games, or business tools?”, pp. 593-595.
102
Strömberg, Håkan, 2008, Islamisk konst ruskar liv i det virtuella museet.

29
suited the Internet is for these types of services.103 The virtual museums could
benefit greatly by taking the step from simply being a delivery medium, to becom-
ing a tool of communication.104
So how could one implement the various services described in previous chap-
ter into the virtual museum environment? Some tools such a chats could be em-
bedded into the museum or exhibition for the audience to use, either through chat-
ting with one another or by organizing events such as curator on call, where users
could ask a curator or other museum professional whatever questions they may
have and get them answered.105 Discussion groups could rather easily become im-
plemented into a virtual museum or exhibition, where users could discuss the ex-
hibition, learn from each other and contribute information to each other by linking
to external information resources.106 This could even be combined with the curator
on call service in, for instance, guided tours, where a physical museum docent
could guide a group of people through the museum or exhibition online, in real
time.107 Discussion groups in a virtual museum or exhibition could also be used for
more professional situations, where museum professionals could have discussions
in connection to the virtual museum or exhibition, and if public, the users could
take part and turning it into a direct museum professional – audience interaction.108
In some cases even blogs are implemented into virtual museums and exhibi-
tions. Pushing the limits has incorporated a blog into their virtual exhibition on
how it is to live in a conflict region.109 The direct connection with a human and her
words could add to the experience of visiting a virtual museum or exhibition.
Web 2.0 and social software can rather easily be incorporated into a virtual
museum environment. The examples mentioned above is just some ideas on how
Web 2.0 can be used and shaped to fit the museum context. Just as social aspects
in the physical museum engage people and enhance the museum visit, so could
well-developed Web 2.0 services also do to the virtual museum.110

103
Strömberg, Håkan, 2008, Islamisk konst ruskar liv i det virtuella museet.
104
Parry, Ross; Arbach, Nadia, 2007, “Localized, personalized, and constructivist: a space for online museum
learning”, p. 287.
105
Bernier, Roxanne; Bowen, Jonathan, P., 2004, “Web-based discussion groups at stake: the profile of mu-
seum professionals online”, p. 130.
106
Hermann, Guy, 1997, “Shortcuts to Oz: strategies and tactics for getting museums t the emerald city”, p.
79
107
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 43.
108
Hermann, Guy, 1997, “Shortcuts to Oz: strategies and tactics for getting museums t the emerald city”, p.
79
109
Pushing the limits, URL: [Link]
110
Museum 2.0, URL: [Link]

30
8.2. Virtual education
As previously mentioned in the chapter What is a museum?, Institution of educa-
tion the educative work of museums have increased rapidly over the last couple of
decades. When applying museum pedagogies to a virtual museum or exhibition,
the experience accumulated by museum professionals through educational work
in the physical museum, is generally used on the virtual counterpart. Though
much educational experience and work is being applied to virtual museums and
exhibitions, little work has been done on developing a specific virtual museum
pedagogy. In this section, possibilities of educational services specifically applied
to virtual museums and the VE will be discussed. Services that not only adapt
well into the VE but also use the strengths of it.
The virtual museum pedagogy is based on the ideas of the physical museum
pedagogy but considering the special environment of the virtual world, adapta-
tions need to be made. For once, the virtual museum audience is placed in con-
texts outside of the physical museum, such as other countries, in a different sort of
facility or even in the comfort of their own home.111 As the physical room aids and
enhances the museum experience and learning, virtual museums need to consider
options on how to present their virtual museum or exhibition in a manner where
the physical room is replaced with a well developed interface.
This accessibility of the virtual museum is one of its strengths, however, in a
VE such as the virtual museum, the environment is largely constructed for single
users. A great part of the educative work museums do is based on interaction be-
tween docent and audience or between audience members. 112 The same sort of
interaction is hard to reproduce in a virtual setting, however, the introduction of a
cyberdocent can aid in type of virtual, educative situations. Much like a museum
docent guides the audience in the physical museum, a cyberdocent would guide
the user through he interface of the virtual museum or exhibition.113
As children and young adults have generally been seen as a prioritized group
when it comes to museum pedagogies, virtual museums and exhibitions could aid
the museums in their quest of being an important part in the educational system.
Virtual museums and exhibitions can prove a good tool to reach out to young
audiences, as have been established in the article Educational tool or expensive
toy? Evaluating VR evaluation and its relevance for virtual heritage where

111
Parry, Ross; Arbach, Nadia, 2007, “Localized, personalized, and constructivist: a space for online museum
learning”, p. 290.
112
Economou, Maria, Pujol Tost, Laia, 2007, “Educational tool or expensive toy? Evaluating VR evaluation
and its relevance for virtual heritage”, p. 244.
113
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 265.

31
Economou and Pujol Tost conclude: “VR’s power of attraction seems to appeal to
several age groups. From primary education through to university students”.114
As virtual museums in Internet shape are dynamic, they are easy to develop
and change if needed. This is in turn could pose useful in keeping up with the
educational curricula of the aimed school audience. This could turn the virtual
museum or exhibition into a resource not only in itself but also for visitors such as
a school class that is planning a visit to the physical museum. Virtual museums
could function as a resource of information for teacher as well as student, and the
museum could be discussed in a local environment such as the classroom.115
Where it is important to interpret, tell stories and contextualize in the museum
pedagogy aimed at a general audience, there is also the field of the virtual mu-
seum functioning as a source of information for researchers, locally as well as
globally. In this case, however, it is of greater importance to provide realistic visu-
alizing and details, as well as more comprehensive information. 116
Much is possible with the virtual museum and exhibition, but on top of the
regular museum pedagogies that have its base in the work executed in the physical
museum, the development of virtual museum pedagogy would support the trans-
ference into the VE.

8.2.1. Teacher’s Centre

As previously mentioned, museums collaborate closely with schools, this to en-
gage teachers as well as students in the museum and to aid their preparations be-
fore a museum visit. When it comes to physical museum visits, a lot of this infor-
mation is sent out to teachers or they are invited to go through material with the
help of a museum pedagogue. This approach, however, would differ in the case of
virtual museums and exhibitions, as they are generally only available on the Inter-
net, not in the physical museum.
One example of a virtual museum that has developed their service towards
teachers is the VMC. A specific website have been developed to function as a
teacher’s center, and where you can find information about the various virtual
exhibitions at the virtual museum, as well as in-depth information adapted to the
various age groups and class levels. 117
A lot of inspiration on how to best refine the pedagogy of the teacher’s cen-
ters connected to virtual museums, can be taken from the on-line and distance

114
Economou, Maria, Pujol Tost, Laia, 2007, “Educational tool or expensive toy? Evaluating VR evaluation
and its relevance for virtual heritage”, p. 250.
115
MacDonald, George, F.; Alsford, Stephen, 1997, “Conclusion: toward the meta-museum”, p. 272.
116
Economou, Maria, Pujol Tost, Laia, 2007, “Educational tool or expensive toy? Evaluating VR evaluation
and its relevance for virtual heritage”, p. 254.
117
Virtual museum of Canada Teacher’s Centre, URL:
[Link]

32
learning type of pedagogy, 118 as Parry and Arbach states in their article Localized,
personalized, and constructivist: a space for online museum learning:

museums recognizing these kinds of online learning spaces as opportunities for situated learn-
ing will become empowered with an array of pedagogical tools and rationales that may help
strengthen and expand their institution’s educational provision.119

There is, however, also a different role that the virtual museum can play. Not all
virtual museums or exhibitions are solely available on-line. Many virtual exhibi-
tions have been created as a virtual model of an existing physical exhibition, such
as Pushing the limits120 and Trafficking.121 In the case of virtual exhibitions that
have a physical original, the virtual exhibition can function as a teacher’s material,
used for preparation before the visit to the physical museum. 122

8.2.2. Research
Digitalizing cultural heritage and putting it on the web make it in theory accessi-
ble to anyone, anywhere. Local cultural heritage become global. Not only is there
an advantage in this for the general population but perhaps even so for various
education and research institutions.123 Virtual museums and exhibitions do not
always have to be aimed at the public. Having cultural heritage content available
on the Internet also make it interesting to various research institutions, or for users
with greater interest and knowledge in the subject beforehand.
As the virtual museum and exhibition are global, they create an interesting
source of information, not only to the public, but also to students, professionals
and specialists. 124 The virtual museum could function as a forum for research on
the collections in question, connecting professionals of different levels of exper-
tise to discuss and learn from each other. 125
Aiming a virtual museum and exhibition to a professional audience, however,
requires a different approach. While context is important in a public virtual exhi-
bition, the legitimacy of the information and the quality of the media is of greater
concern to its professional counterpart. Connection to collection databases and

118
Parry, Ross; Arbach, Nadia, 2007, “Localized, personalized, and constructivist: a space for online museum
learning”, p. 283.
119
Parry, Ross; Arbach, Nadia, 2007, “Localized, personalized, and constructivist: a space for online museum
learning”, p. 284.
120
Pushing the limits, URL: [Link]
121
Trafficking, URL: [Link]
122
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environ-
ments.”, p. 9.
123
Schweibenz, Werner, 1998, ”The ”virtual museum”: new perspectives for museums to present objects and
information using the internet as a knowledge base and communication system”, p. 193.
124
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environ-
ments.”, p. 9.
125
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environ-
ments.”, p. 9.

33
library sources for references is also of great importance to the professional virtual
museum. 126 Also imaging has to be of better quality then what is generally pre-
sented in public virtual museums and exhibitions. Large files with zoom capabili-
ties for detail studies would also aid scientists in their work. 127 This without hav-
ing to leave their offices, which may be on the other side of the world in relation
to where the physical museum is set. 128
In some cases as with the Museum of the terra-cotta warriors and horses of
Qin Shihuang, the creators have decided on making one version for the public and
another learning version that is mainly aimed at the scholarly audience. 129 Where
in the public virtual exhibition the information is presented through interface and
context, the learning version is more constructed like a regular information page,
however, there is still a navigation and connection between various sources of
information. 130
Even though a lot of information that would be crucial for research can only
be acquired through hands-on experience with the objects, virtual museums func-
tioning as information resources for professionals can be helpful in the selection
of what artifacts to pick out for further hands-on research. This would not only
make research more efficient when it comes to deciding the need to travel to study
an item. It would also make the selection-process more efficient and spare objects
that, thanks to the initial virtual selection, do not have to be packed, processed and
studied, and in turn put into risk of being damaged. 131
As presented, professional, virtual museums could function as a first source of
legitimate information for researchers. It could also function as an on-line forum
for discussion amongst students, specialist and other professionals,132 however, the
professional virtual museum could never compare to hands-on research of objects.

8.2.3. The Cyberdocent

As described in the chapter What is a museum?, Institution of education, museum
docents are the core of the pedagogic work of the physical museum. Arranging
and holding tours of the museum’s exhibitions and collections take up a large part

126
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference?”, p. 149.
127
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 42.
128
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 38.
129
Museum of the terra-cotta warriors and horses of Qin Shihuang, URL: [Link]
130
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 273.
131
Fahy, Anne, 1995, ”New technologies for museum communication”, p 88.
132
Bernier, Roxanne; Bowen, Jonathan, P., 2004, “Web-based discussion groups at stake: the profile of mu-
seum professionals online”, p. 120.

34
of their daily work.133 Even though museum docents preferably take part in the
work with creating a virtual museum or exhibition, it would not be realistic to
consider having museum docents carry out tours in a virtual exhibition, as the
Internet is open for business all day and night, every day.
The audience of the virtual museum and exhibition are, however, in as much
need of pedagogic aid as any audience and therefore the implementation of a cy-
berdocent could bridge the gap, and take over some of the tasks usually executed
by museum docents in a physical environment.
The cyberdocent was first introduced in the shape of an audio guide.134 The
audio guide is an automated museum docent that both increases and decreases the
flexibility of the museum docent. While it is flexible in the way that it is available
any time, and the tour can be taken in an order selected by the user, and usually in
a varied selection of languages. 135 The audio guide is at the same time less flexible
in the way that the tour cannot be adapted to the audience on spot. It cannot an-
swer questions or create discussion in the same way a museum docent can ei-
ther.136 Though the cyberdocent could never replace a museum docent, it can ful-
fill tasks equal to that of the audio guide, and in Internet shape even more ad-
vanced functions then that. 137
The cyberdocent for the Internet could carry out similar tasks as the audio
guide, holding tours through the virtual museum or exhibition as well as being
flexible in language and tour route. But as Internet is a dynamic medium, tasks
that would have been impossible to incorporate into an audio guide, could some-
what be part of the tasks of an online cyberdocent. 138 Where the audio guide is
limited to the exhibition it is designed for, the online cyberdocent can connect
information widely outside of the virtual museum or exhibition in question. A
cyberdocent could connect to library information as well as databases and other
information available on the Internet. 139 Considering the speed of the automation,
the information could be provided in a click, which is more effective then the in-
formation a museum docent could provide. 140 An automated database of the most
133
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 31.
134
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 30.
135
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 30.
136
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 34.
137
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 39
138
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 23.
139
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 25.
140
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 40.

35
frequently asked questions could also be set up, where users could ask the cyber-
docent for help.
Even though the cyberdocent still have weaknesses in comparison to the mu-
seum docent, the cyberdocent would be developed for virtual museum use, and be
available to the audience all day, every day. To incorporate the human touch into
a virtual museum or exhibition one could also consider the idea of combined do-
cents, with a cyberdocent holding tours but with a museum docent logging in on
set hours to be available for questions and directions for users, as mentioned in the
chapter The virtual museum as a meeting place.

8.3. The personalized museum

Personalization in a museum environment is a rare occurrence. With the help of
technology and AI it would, however, be possible to incorporate personalization
in a dynamic environment such as the Internet. The virtual, personalized museum
is a virtual museum or exhibition that is personalized based the needs and interests
of the user. This personalization can, for instance, take the form of personalized
text, user interface and tours.141
At a physical museum the creation of an exhibition is limited by a range of
factors, the room of the museum being one of them, space another. In the virtual
world, however, there are no limits and restrictions in the same sense as room or
space. I will in following chapters present the possibilities of dynamic hypertext
and dynamic architecture, but I would like to begin with explaining how this per-
sonalization can be accomplished.
There are two main types of personalization. The first is of categories. In this
case the virtual museum or exhibition is created in various versions.142 It can be
based on language, where the exhibitions would be offered in various languages.
It can be based on age group, where the exhibition would be offered in various
forms for different age groups. It can be based on knowledge level, where there
may be an intermediate version as well as specialist version of the exhibition.
These are just a few examples, but the creators of the virtual museum or exhibi-
tion could themselves work out what categories would fit their exhibition the
best.143
The second type of personalization is customization, where the exhibition is
customized for the specific user, and not a category of users. This can be executed

141
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 41.
142
Fantoni, Silvia Filippini, 2003, “Cultural institutions and digital technology”, p. 6.
143
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 273.

36
on various levels. A virtual exhibition can be customized on limited functions
such as searches, where a result is presented based on the information the user
acquired. It can also be taken to extremes where the entire virtual exhibition
would be customized for the specific user. In this sort of personalization, the AI
embedded into the system requires information from the user to develop the per-
sonalized environment. This can take place in various ways, one way being that
the user can contribute with information through filling in a profile, with ques-
tions regarding language, age, previous knowledge etc. 144 The AI then construct a
customized experience based on the information given by the user.
Another way in which the AI can require user information is through web
logs. The web log would work in the background, monitoring the user’s naviga-
tion of the website, specific searches etc., to create an idea of what would be of
interest to the user.145 This alternative would not require anything of the user,
however, it is not an immediate system. The web log would have to monitor the
user before being able to provide customized content, though, the more the user
would use the system, the more specialized the customization would become. 146

8.3.1. Dynamic hypertext

In the article Virtual museums on the information superhighway: prospects and
potholes Milosavljevic, Dale, Green, Paris and Williams discuss the possibilities
of the dynamic hypertext.147 What they refer to as dynamic hypertext is texts that
are adapted for the user. The text can be adapted depending on the level of knowl-
edge the user has on the subject in question. It can also be adapted depending on
age or special interest to give a few examples. Text can either come fixed in a few
different options, or be completely customized for the user.
The use of dynamic hypertext is especially well suited for virtual museums
and exhibitions available on the Internet, as they are placed in a dynamic envi-
ronment that can constantly be adapted and changed. With virtual museums and
exhibitions you can also easily connect data sources to the virtual museum or ex-
hibition, and retrieve information from these as well as external information
sources. With the help of embedded AI structures the customization of the text
would take place in an instant and with a wide range of information, which would
have been impossible to deliver in a PE. 148

144
Fantoni, Silvia Filippini, 2003, “Cultural institutions and digital technology”, p. 3.
145
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 271.
146
Fantoni, Silvia Filippini, 2003, “Cultural institutions and digital technology”, p. 4.
147
Milosavljevic, Maria; Dale, Robert; Green, Stephen, J.; Paris, Cécile; Williams, Sandra, 1998, ”Virtual
museums on the information superhighway: prospects and potholes”
148
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environ-
ments.”, p. 5.

37
 In the case of the virtual museum and exhibition, the dynamic hypertext could
be used as part of the pedagogic work. It could partly be used for museum texts
and partly for creating personalized tours of the collections of the virtual museum
or exhibition. In the case of functioning as a museum text, the text could be
adapted to the user based on for instance age, previous knowledge, or large letter
text.149 Both the informative as well as the layout qualities of the text can be
adapted. In difference to physical museum text, where space for text is limited, by
using dynamic hypertext one can use the same sort of museum text as an introduc-
tion, but if the user is interested, additional and more informative text would just
be a click away.150
Previously mentioned example would be a matter of personalization through
categories. All text would be written and developed in a pedagogic fashion, how-
ever, what the dynamic hypertext does is that it makes choices available, much
like the choice of language with a audio guide. What the AI would do in this case
of dynamic hypertext based of categories, is to establish what sort of user it is, and
how to best adapt the exhibition for him. This can either be done by simply setting
some fixed choices such as “student”, “professional” or “child” and have the vari-
ous version of the exhibitions set up depending on category, however, it have
been shown in studies that people do not like being categorized, even if the mate-
rial seem to be well adapted for them.151 Another way of establishing user is for
the website to track the user through his use of the exhibit, and along the way, as
the AI collect more information based on choices and searches the user make, the
AI can then adapt the exhibition depending on what seem to be in the interest of
the user.152
The other way in which dynamic hypertext can be used is in the case of de-
veloping customized tours of the virtual museum or exhibit. Similarly to how the
dynamic hypertext operate in the example above, where it’s a matter of museums
texts, the same functions are here applied to the virtual museum tour. Again, de-
pending on the interests of the user, the AI of the virtual museum or exhibition
would combine a tour for the user, with the items and themes that would be of
special interest to that specific user. As with the case above, depending on the
system, tours can range from specialized tours depending on category or com-
pletely customized. In the completely customized version the movement in the

149
Rayward, Boyd, W.; Twidale, Michael, B., 1999, ”From docent to cyberdocent: education and guidance in
the virtual museum”, p. 34.
150
Garibotto, Giovanni; Oneto, M.V.; Coelho, C.; Marson, M.; Tartaglione, G.; Maccabruni, L., 1999, “Vir-
tual exhibitions as a collection environment of cultural events”, p. 762.
151
Fantoni, Silvia Filippini, 2003, “Cultural institutions and digital technology”, pp. 6, 11.
152
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 266.

38
virtual museum or exhibition as well as the texts would be combined depending
on possible interest. 153
There are different ways of accomplishing dynamic hypertext, depending on
what sort of result one is looking for. For the most advanced type of tour, where
any piece of text can be combined with any other piece of text, one would have to
create a database specifically for the cause. Where the items, multimedia and
themes are added, along with special information on how they are connected.
When that is done it is up to the AI to learn about the user, along with information
he could be interested in and combine the texts and the objects, media or themes
into a completely customized tour.154
As creating an entirely new database is consuming in both time and funding,
one can also use a regular database. As most museums have digitalized large parts
of their collections, they could use this sort of database as a basis for the dynamic
hypertext. Though this is a more cost and time effective way to work, the dynamic
capabilities will suffer. One could link the various parts of the database together
through keywords, however, as it would not initially be constructed for dynamic
hypertext, it would not contain any type of pedagogically developed text where
any piece of text could be combined with any other piece of text. Therefore the
completely customized texts and tours would not be recommended with a regular
database as base, however, it could function in a customized-by-category sce-
nario.
The idea of dynamic hypertext is highly interesting, though the technology is
available, and used in other VE; it has yet to be introduced in to the virtual muse-
ums. Steps have been taken towards making several versions of a virtual museum
or exhibitions, for example offering them in various languages and on public and
professional levels. There is, however, a problem in categorization of groups of
people. As mentioned above, in cases where it has been used in a virtual museum
environment, the audience has been negative to the fact that they are to categorize
themselves. The option is to let an embedded AI do the job by tracking the user
and his choices. The problem in this case is that it is not an immediate service, the
AI need to learn the users interest and behavior, and cannot provide customized
content to the user until searches and usage of the virtual museum have taken
place. If a user enter the museum, have a short look and then leaves, the AI would
not have had enough material to built upon to be able to provide the user with
customized content.

153
Barton, Jane, 2005, ”Digital libraries, virtual museums: same difference”, p. 152.
154
Milosavljevic, Maria; Dale, Robert; Green, Stephen, J.; Paris, Cécile; Williams, Sandra, 1998, ”Virtual
museums on the information superhighway: prospects and potholes”, p. 3.

39
8.3.2. Dynamic architecture
As discussed in the introduction The personalized museum, the architecture of a
museum often pose limiting in the creation of an exhibition, however, in the vir-
tual room there are no such restrains. The architecture of a virtual museum or ex-
hibition is dynamic and fluid,155 and one could in theory do whatever one would
want to do with the virtual room. Space is not a matter, neither is room size or the
height of the walls. A virtual space could be completely adapted for the virtual
museum or exhibition.
Early ideas regarding the virtual museum imagined it a virtual copy of the
physical museum it was part of. A virtual reflection where the virtual museums
sought to be as similar as possible to the physical original. Though these virtual
museums are still interesting examples, there are sides of the virtual world that
have strengths not applicable in the physical world, dynamic environment being
one of them.156
The base of the dynamic architecture is to personalize the VE to the user. 157 In
a VE one does not have to move from room to room. Through hyperlinks in the
virtual museum or exhibition one can move freely in the museum, visiting the
various rooms in whatever order one would please.158 This in itself is a dynamic
architecture, 159 however, with the technologies of today it can be taken to another
level. While links to various parts of the virtual museum or exhibition is good, it
still would not necessarily contribute to constructive navigation of the VE.
To aid the user in constructive navigation, dynamic architecture could be used
similarly to the dynamic hypertext, but instead of personalizing information, it
would personalize navigation.160 Also similarly to the dynamic hypertext, this
could be accomplished with the help of an embedded AI that would collect infor-
mation about the user, process it, and apply it by providing the user with custom-
ized content. In this case by generating a customized tour through the rooms of
the virtual museum or exhibition. 161
There is another way in which dynamic architecture can develop, and that is
in the shape of dynamic virtual exhibitions. These exhibitions would disregard the
possibilities of the physical world and completely customize an experience for the
155
Deshpande, Suhas: Geber, Kati; Timpson, Corey, 2007, “Engaged dialogism in virtual space: an explora-
tion of research strategies for virtual museums”, p. 268.
156
Charitos, Dimitrios; Lepouras, George; Vassilakis, Costas; Katifori, Vivi; Charissi, Anna; Halatsi, Leda,
2001, “Designing a virtual museum within a museum”, p. 2.
157
Santini, Simone; Jain, Ramesh; Corvi, Marco, 1998, ”The virtual museum: an integrated text and image
database”
158
Charitos, Dimitrios; Lepouras, George; Vassilakis, Costas; Katifori, Vivi; Charissi, Anna; Halatsi, Leda,
2001, “Designing a virtual museum within a museum”, p. 4.
159
Teather, Lynne; Wilhelm, Kelly, 1999, “Web musing’: evaluating museums on the web from learning
theory to methodology”
160
Roussou, Maria, 2007, “The components of engagement in virtual heritage environments”, p. 234.
161
Jones, Greg; Christal, Mark, 2002, ”The future of virtual museums: on-line, immersive, 3D environ-
ments.”, p. 5.

40
user.162 In dynamic virtual exhibitions there would not be a fixed virtual exhibi-
tion, but much like dynamic hypertext, the virtual exhibition would be generated
for the user. Rooms could be added and taken away and combined in any order.
Similarly to the advanced version of the dynamic hypertext, these sort of virtual
exhibitions would have to be based on the creation of a new type of database,
connecting everything together, and adapting the information so that every piece
of text, every object description or piece of virtual media could be combined with
one another. The job of the AI would be to combine them all together. Though
this is a complex piece of work, it could generate highly interesting results.
As with dynamic hypertext, the technology is currently available, but is for
the time being very sparsely applied to virtual museums and exhibitions. The part
of dynamic architecture that is in use in virtual museums and exhibitions today is
of simple hyperlink navigation. A few cases can also be found that base their per-
sonalization on categories of audiences such as a virtual exhibition created for
Carrara Marble Museum. 163 Though it is a step forward in the quest of personaliz-
ing the virtual museum and exhibition, there is no customization of content for the
unique user. Some virtual museums have begun to implement library resources
into their virtual museums and exhibitions. Through searches the user can find
information he is looking for, however, there seem to be little implementation of
AI into virtual museums and exhibitions as of today.

8.4. Conclusion
The prospects of the virtual museum is partly tied to the physical museums, as
they contribute content and framework, but also to the development on the Inter-
net, as that is the environment of the virtual museum and virtual exhibition. The
virtual museum and exhibition are part of both. The technologies today make it
possible to incorporate every principle of the physical museum in to the virtual
counterpart. Since the introduction of Web 2.0 services, the Internet has devel-
oped in its tools for communication. These communication services cannot only
be used in enhancing the virtual museum in to a global meeting place online, but
can also aid in developing educational programs for the virtual museum. The most
advanced of the prospects presented is, however, the personalization of content.
Though this is something that has no equivalent in the physical world, it is a way
of using the strengths of a dynamic, interactive environment such as the Internet,
and implementing it into a traditionally static environment as the museum.

162
Kvan, Thomas, 2007, “Conclusion: a future for the past”, p. 307.
163
Fantoni, Silvia, Filippini, 2003, “Personalization through it in museums. Does it really work? The case of
the marble museum website”, pp. 1-16.

41
9. Conclusions

I began this thesis by stating the question What defines a virtual museum? and:
What are the prospects of the virtual museum?. The research of the definition of
the virtual museum was conducted through literature on the subject as well as
looking at various websites defined as virtual museums by their creators. Though
there are definitions presented in the literature regarding the virtual museum, I
consider them in general out of date. Internet is under constant change and new
functions appear on a daily basis. As new functions appear, old are discontinued.
As Internet is constantly renewing itself, so should the virtual museum and the
definition of it.
The virtual museum can be defined as a source of information, mainly avail-
able on the Internet. The authenticity of the virtual museum is centered on infor-
mation rather than objects, which is the case of the physical museum. The archi-
tecture of the virtual museum contains rooms rather then pages, and is navigated
with the help of a dynamic interface. This dynamic interface make it possible to
go from one room to another without having to follow a restricted path, as in the
case of the physical museum where the architecture make it impossible to navi-
gate freely.
Where there has been some confusion in the literature on the differences of
virtual museums and virtual exhibitions, the definition above can be applied to
both of them. As I researched throughout the chapter The virtual exhibition, the
difference between them is similar to that of the difference between the physical
museum and exhibition. The virtual museum is a place of greater complexity, for
example, a place that contains several virtual exhibitions, or that incorporates mu-
seum principles to a greater extent. The virtual exhibition however is largely
based on displaying information and material, much like its physical counterpart.
The definition of the virtual museum presented above is fully capable, I
wanted to take it a step further and study if it would be possible for a virtual mu-
seum to be regarded as a museum in its traditional definition e.g. a place where
material is collected, preserved and displayed, and also offers educative as well as
social services as discussed in the chapter What is a museum?.
As discussed in What is a virtual museum? and exemplified in The virtual ex-
hibition, the three main principles of the definition of the museum can be applied
to the virtual museum. Collecting can be accomplished either by tagging Internet

42
data or by creating a collection of born digital material that for instance could be
contributed by the museum’s users. As the born digital data would instantly be
implemented into databases and stored there, the preservations issues would rather
consider that of data longlivity. As file formats are coming and going, the preser-
vation of born digital material would be aimed at keeping the databases up to
date, so that they could be used and accessed even in the future. The display fea-
tures of virtual museums are implemented into all virtual museums, and the acces-
sibility of the virtual museums in comparison to the physical museum, give the
virtual museum a democratic quality. As the information of the virtual museum in
theory is accessible to all, they can reach audiences never possible to the physical
counterpart.
In the current stage of the virtual museum, however, other sides of the mu-
seum such as the educative and social aspects, is currently not being translated to
its full extent in the virtual museum context. For this reason I stated the second
question of the Prospects of the virtual museum, to try to answer if it would be
possible to develop these sides within the virtual museum environment, and how.
Though some implementation is currently being done, these are sides of the vir-
tual museum that can and should be developed if the virtual museum wants to be
considered a museum in its own right.
In the case of applying social aspects to the virtual museum, Web 2.0 services
could be used. Discussion-forums, chats, comments and direct dialog with con-
nected museum staff would enhance not only the communication between mu-
seum professionals and their audience but also the communication between mem-
bers of the audience. Just as in the case of the physical museum, the virtual coun-
terpart should strive to become a meeting place. This would not just engage the
audience but also make the virtual museum more independent.
In the case of museum education, pedagogies are currently implemented into
the virtual museum when it is produced, in interface creation as well as in the pro-
duction of texts and tours. Virtual museum education could, however, take a step
further, adding features that are currently applied in the physical environment but
rarely in the virtual environment. Where a museum docent is daily executing edu-
cational work in the physical museum such as tours and information distribution,
a cyberdocent could present these services in the virtual world. Tours can either
be conducted by the cyberdocent or by a connected museum docent. Teacher’s
centers can be incorporated to aid teachers in how they are to present and prepare
their students for the virtual museum visit.
The cyberdocent can even take a step further and provide more or less cus-
tomized tours for the users of the virtual museum. This customization could be
applied on as well text as navigation of the virtual space. Personalization is a field
that is exclusive for the virtual museum and not applicable to the physical coun-
terpart.

43
 Through my studies of the virtual museum I set a definition of the term, how-
ever, as noticed by looking at old literature on the subject, the definition as well as
the Internet is under constant change, and it is very well possible that the defini-
tion may look different ten years from now. While defining the virtual museum I
also took the question a step further to see if it would be possible to consider a
virtual museum a museum in the full definition of the word. I found that there are
current virtual museums that are constructed in a sense where they live up to the
three principles of what a museum is, e.g. those of collect, preserve and display.
I did, however, find that there are still limitations when it comes to more
modern additions to the museum concept, such as institution of education and
meeting place. Though applications are being used at various virtual museums
that enhance the educative as well as the social experience, there is a lot more that
could be done. Communication is one of the main strengths of the Internet, and I
find it a loss for the virtual museums not using that to its advantage. When it
comes to the educative part, I find it as important to contribute well-developed
pedagogic material and applications to the virtual museum as it is to the physical
museum. Though pedagogic work is implemented in the creation of the virtual
museum, there is no continuous pedagogic work being executed. The general in-
tent with virtual museums seems to be to create them but not maintain them.
There are of course concerns regarding the virtual museum. One the one hand
concerning the frailty of Internet standards and on the other hand concerning the
risk of the virtual museum turning into a source of edutainment rather then infor-
mation. When it comes to concerns regarding standards, they are hard to address
at this point in time. One cannot know how the Internet develops; however, there
are generally standards that pose less frail then others. JPEG is an example when
it comes to images. Though the longlivity of standards is hard to predict, most
museums have already taken the step to digitizing their collections, and therefore
enforcing their material into information technology standards.
In the case of edutainment, one cannot say that this could never become im-
plemented into the virtual museum. Edutainment is already emerging into many
physical museums, and surely one can find examples of edutainment in virtual
museums too. A virtual museum is, however, designed and developed by some-
one, and it is simply up to that institution to decide how it wish to construct their
VE and implement information into it. As with physical museums, some decide to
present their material in a more edutainment like fashion, where other museums
prefer a more traditional approach.

44
10. Summary

Virtual museums are becoming increasingly frequent online, however, the defini-
tion of the virtual museum does not seem to be properly set. In this thesis, the
definition of the virtual museum is researched through literature studies and by
examining the current state of virtual museums online. Even though the quality of
the virtual museums is generally very varied, the definition that can be applied to
most virtual museums is that of the virtual museum being a source of information,
generally on the Internet. The virtual museum can be distributed on various stor-
age media, however, the form in this case would be fixed and restrained in dy-
namic capabilities. Through its position on the Internet, the virtual museum is
theoretically accessible to all. A virtual museum presents information through
multimedia, and with the help of an interface that is based on a concept of having
rooms that the user navigate to experience the virtual museum. Information is as
essential to the virtual museum as objects are for a physical museum. The lack of
object authenticity in the virtual museum is instead replaced with the authenticity
of information. There is, however, a difference between the virtual museum and
the virtual exhibition. Even though they both fit into the virtual museum defini-
tion, the virtual museum is, as in the physical world, a more complex phenome-
non, whereas the virtual exhibition is largely a case of display and presentation.
The virtual museum is generally considered as a virtual complement to the
physical museum, however, considering the advanced technology offered today, I
wanted to study whether it is possible for the virtual museum to function as a mu-
seum in its own right. Museums are defined as places that collect, preserve and
display cultural heritage. They are also considered being institutions of education
as well as meeting places. In examples of virtual museums given in the thesis, it is
apparent that the virtual museum can live up to the main principles of the museum
e.g. those of collect, preserve and display. There is, however, still problems trans-
lating the educative as well as social aspects of the museum into the virtual con-
text. To improve these aspects, Web 2.0 services can become implemented to im-
prove the social aspects, and to improve the educative sides of the virtual muse-
ums, cyberdocents, teacher’s centers and personalization would enhance the user
experience.

45
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50
Appendices

Museum of terra-cotta warriors and horses of Qin Shihuang

Figure 1. Frontpage of Museum of terra-cotta warriors and horses of Qin Shihuang. It presents
the selection of public and learning edition of the museum.

51
Figure 2. Introductionpage of the public edition.

Figure 3. Virtual exhibition example from the public edition.

52
Figure 4. Example of the lerning edition.

”Pushing the limits” virtual exhibition

Figure 5. Frontpage of the virtual exhibition Pushing the limits.

53
Figure 6. Example of the interface.

Figure 7 Example of text that appears when clicking on assigned areas of the exhibition.

54
Figure 8. Example of usage of multimedia.

Figure 9. Blog as part of the Pushing the limits virtual exhibition.

55
”The Augsburg art cabinet” virtual exhibition

Figure 10. Frontpage of the virtual exhibition The Augsburg art cabinet.

Figure 11. Example of the interface.

56
Figure 12. Example of the interface when studying the cabinet in-depth.

Figure 13. Connection to the database within the virtual museum.

57
 “Trafficking” virtual exhibition

Figure 14. Frontpage of the virtual exhibition Trafficking.

Figure 15. Example of the interface.

58
Figure 16. Example of a “room” in the virtual exhibition.

Figure 17. Example of a “room” in the virtual exhibition.

59
Figure 18. Photography from the physical exhibition.

Figure 19. Clipboard “room”.

60
Figure 20. Discussionboard for users.

Figure 21. References and links for further research.

61