Michael del Vecchio
Innovative Practice and New Models for Arts Nonprofits & the Web (from Arts Watch)
Posted by May 06, 2009 1 comment
Michael del Vecchio
Personally speaking, since beginning my work with Americans for the Arts in 2003 as a then-project-associate-now-project-manager for Animating Democracy, I have maintained that the internet, for all its power and glory, is largely an untapped resource for non-profit organizations. It cannot be denied that organizations everywhere have stepped up to host websites, start blogs, launch listservs and more (in fact, having recently signed on to Twitter myself, I’ve been thrilled to see that the names of some of my colleagues have their own accounts they post to on behalf of their organizations). Still, there is endless untapped potential for engaging communities and getting the message out. So, when a colleague passed on the Museums and the Web 2009 “Best of the Web” awards, I was tickled pink. The awarded sites represent organizations trying new and different programs and partnerships which explore the (known) boundaries of the web, and offer great perspective for anyone looking to ‘boldly go where no site has gone before’.
First, a bit of background, Museums and the Web 2009 “Best of the Web” Awards are hosted by Archives and Museum Informatics, a Canada-based partnership of David Bearman and Jennifer Trant, “respected researchers and theorists in museum informatics specifically, and cultural informatics more broadly”. In addition to the “Best of the Web” awards, Archives and Museum Informatics hosts conferences, consulting, publishing, and training for cultural heritage professionals. The 2009 awards were recently presented at their conference in Indianapolis, April 15-18, and they are designed to ‘recognize achievement in heritage website design’, and selected by a distinguished committee of museum professionals.
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