Defining Online Resources Typologies in Art Museums: Online Exhibitions and Publications

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Abstract

As art museums undergo a digital transformation, institutions rethink physical exhibitions and print publications to create online resources which expand or replicate their traditional functions. Collection websites, online exhibitions, online publications, exhibition websites, and online exhibition catalogues coexist with interactive features which cannot be easily categorized in the previous typologies, the exhibition and the publication. Moreover, often these different types of online resources share characteristics and functions. This article intends to define two of the most relevant online resources typologies in art museums, the online exhibition and the online publication. The aim of it is to discuss and understand the importance of rethinking traditional typologies in the digital age. If typologies are necessary is because they help us to advance previous models. Both the definition and discussion are built upon the perspectives of art museums practitioners and a scholarly audience collected through interviews. The viewpoints of the two collectives help us understand existing conventions, preferences, and needs with regards to online exhibitions and publications in art museums.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11588/dah.2019.4.52672

Author

Maribel Hidalgo Urbaneja

has earned a PhD in Information Studies from the University of Glasgow. She received a Fine Arts Bachelor’s degree from the University of Granada and Master’s degree in Publishing, Journalism, and Cultural Management from the University of Rome La Sapienza. Her interests span museum studies, digital art history and digital publishing. She has held positions at The Getty, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, and the Instituto Cervantes in Rome. She is also involved in the University of Málaga ArtCatalog research project.