18.761 MW2005 Best of the Web winners

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 18, No. 761.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                   www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

         Date: Wed, 04 May 2005 08:15:25 +0100
         From: "J. Trant" <jtrant_at_archimuse.com>
         Subject: Announcing the MW2005 Best of the Web winners

** Museums and the Web 2005 **
** Best of the Web Awards **
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/best/

Winners announced in Vancouver, April 15, 2005.

Recognizing achievement in cultural and heritage Web site design, a
committee of museum professionals selects the Best of the Web each year.
See the conference web site at http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/best/ for
full details about the competition, the judges, and the judging criteria.

Congratulations to the following sites:

_Best Educational Use_

          Making the Modern World Online - Stories about the lives we've made

  http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/maths/06.TU.02/
          Institution: The Science Museum, (London, UK)

     Judges' Comments

Learning Modules are an exemplary illustration of what a museum can do
with its collections to support specific educational usages for the K-12
educational system. Two of the most compelling aspects of education
are the notion of relationships and theory/application. This site
addresses both in an elegant manner.

_Best On-line Exhibition_

          Cycles: African Life Through Art
          http://www.ima-art.org/cycles/
          Institution: Indianapolis Museum of Art

     Judges' Comments:

The design of this online exhibit is a piece of art itself. Beautiful
and fun to explore. ... A highly visually appealing and thought
provoking site which provides a rich user experience through
interactivity, text and images. A particular highlight is the 'context'
link that a user can click on when viewing an object. The graphic
elements also nicely enhance the content and navigational options
available to the user.

     Honorable Mention

      Raid on Deerfield
      http://www.1704.deerfield.history.museum
      Institution: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) /
          Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield

     Judges' Comments:

...raises the bar for historical interpretation online. The site models
the value of the whole that derives from a consideration of multiple
perspectives. The designers have cast a magical spell that draws the
user into another place, another time, another world where one finds
truth painted in many shades of grey.

_Best E-Services Site_

          Seminars on Science
          http://learn.amnh.org
          Institution: American Museum of Natural History

     Judges' Comments

The human touch in the interface gives nice feeling that the seminar is
tutored ... by real humans and that the learner is interacting with real
people.

_Best Innovative or Experimental Application_

          Eternal Egypt
          http://www.eternalegypt.org
          Institutions: Egyptian Government: The Supreme Council of
Antiquities and Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural
Heritage, and IBM Corporation

     Judges' Comments

An arresting site. Visually appealing and quite innovative. Good
execution of multiple pathways towards making discoveries about Egypt,
including multiple languages and collaboration with like-minded
institutions. Text -to-speech feature lends itself nicely to those with
visual restrictions, and for ESL candidates, but computerized voice
effect can become monotonous ...

_Best Museum Professional's Site_

          ASTC (Association of Science - Technology Centers)
          http://www.astc.org
          Institution: Association of Science - Technology Centers

     Judges' Comments

... covers the gamut of basics -- references, publications, articles,
and such. With the addition of the online workshops, ASTC shows itself
to be responsive to the field and willing to be innovative.

_Best Research Site_

          Timeline of Art History
          http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
          Institution: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

     Judges' Comments

... an excellent site for a range of audiences, including
researchers.... considerably expanded and geographical and time coverage
is much more comprehensive than a year ago. Good content depth (in a
variety of formats, e.g. multimedia) and opportunities for drilling
down, as well as relevant interactive features to enrich user
experience.... a great balance of content and visuals and alternative
exploratory routes for both the serendipitous and more serious
researcher. beautifully done, easy to use, visually engaging, and
intuitive. I didn't even need to read any directions -- the user
interface was easy to grasp and use ...

_Best Overall Museum Web Site_

          Making the Modern World Online - Stories about the lives we've made
          http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/
          Institution: The Science Museum, (London, UK)

     Judges' Comments

"Making the Modern World" is a robust demonstration of how museum
artifacts can be offered online to engage audiences in an innovative
learning experience.

... a highly interactive site that gives the user many options for
shaping their experience and makes good use of new technologies (I
especially liked the use of rich media). It is deep and provides
interdisciplinary learning. I was fascinated and could have stayed for
hours just poking around and exploring.

Great site. Funducational and very informative. Something for everyone!
The whole family will be fighting for computer time!

Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you to all who
participated. A full list of sites nominated, is available at
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/best/list.html

A call for nominations for the Best of the Web 2006 will appear in the fall
of 2005.

Best wishes,

jennifer

--
__________
J. Trant                                jtrant_at_archimuse.com
Partner & Principal Consultant          phone: +1 416 691 2516
Archives & Museum Informatics   fax: +1 416 352 6025
158 Lee Ave, Toronto
Ontario M4E 2P3 Canada          http://www.archimuse.com
__________