User:Fossilyzed/Online exhibition

An online exhibition, also referred to as a virtual exhibition, online gallery, cyber-exhibition, is an exhibition whose venue is cyberspace. Exhibitions can come in the form of zoom tours, 3D digital tours, and other web based projects that involve interpretation. Sites that function exclusively as online archives or as augmented reality intended for in person use do not classify as online exhibition. One of the primary goals is to promote interaction and contemplation of exhibits in a more accessible setting.

Museums and other organizations may have many reasons to opt for an online experience. Reasons may include, expanding on material, generating interest, creating a strong online record of a physical artifact, save on costs (insurance, shipping, installation, and solving preservation problems. The strongest of reasons a museum may choose an online exhibition involve the increased reach they have, allowing global audiences to access from anywhere. The online format also allows museums to interact with their audience better through, providing networking opportunities (chatrooms, video calls, direct messaging), integrating social media, and gamifying exhibitions (quizzes, minigames, scavenger hunts).

Additionally, unlike physical exhibits, online exhibits are not restricted by time; they are not forced to open and close but are accessible 24 hours a day.

In the nonprofit world, many museums, libraries, archives, universities, and other cultural organizations create online exhibitions. A database of such exhibitions is Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web.

There are many guidelines regarding online exhibits such as one published by the Yale Library which highlights best practices in creating such works. The best practices include: considering your audience, focusing on the narrative, creating a visually appealing design, making sure it is accessible, sticking to preferred file sizes, and keeping good record of your metadata. Another example of online exhibition guidelines includes this one from History Factory.

The earliest museum with a physical existence to create a program of substantial online exhibitions with high resolution images of artifacts was the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, the first of which, The Measurers: a Flemish Image of Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century and an exhibition of early photographs, were published on 21 August 1995.

Examples of online exhibitions

• International Museum of Women is an online-only museum that does not have a physical building and instead offers online exhibitions about women's issues globally as well as an online community. Online exhibitions include "Imagining Ourselves" (launched 2006) about women's identity, "Women, Power and Politics" (2008), and "Economica: Women and the Global Economy" (2009).
• Tucson LGBTQ Museum is an online-only museum that does not have a physical building and instead offers online exhibitions about LGBTQ history. The online photographic, audio, video, text, and other historical exhibitions include exhibits from the 1700s to the present day. The effort began in the summer of 1967 and spanned almost 50 years.
• International New Media Gallery (INMG) is an online museum specialising in moving image and screen-based art. The INMG is dedicated to exploring current debates and topics in art history: touching on areas such as migration, war, environmental activism and the internet itself. The gallery publishes extensive academic catalogues alongside its exhibitions. It also hosts spaces for discussion and debate, both online and offline.
• Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art – the VMMNA is the first of its kind in Africa. Hosted by the Pan-African University, Lagos, Nigeria this virtual museum offers a good view of the development on Nigerian Art in the past fifty years.