URL: http://www.exploratorium.edu/ City / Country: San Francisco, California / USA Theme: Science & Technology Languages: English Platforms: Web Web accessibility: Not specified Mission: "...The Exploratorium is a collage of hundreds of science, art, and human perception exhibits. The Exploratorium is a leader in the movement to promote museums as informal education centers." (http://www.exploratorium.edu/about/index.html) Outstanding features: Winner of several awards, this is a rich website with a great amount of online activities and features that approach users (especially kids) to the museum. Maps http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/floor.htmlStatic Static map of the museum, with exhibit locations indicated on it. No interactive features. Exhibitions Online exhibitionsThis website contains a great amount of information on exhibitions, and a lot of complementary activities. WEAK POINT Exhibition websites and activities don't display a unified look-and-feel. Museum identity can get lost. http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/exhibits.html Exploratorium website contains a great amount of links to online exhibitions. These websites don't display a unified design. They are rich in multimedia resources. Resources Explo.tvGOOD PRACTICE http://www.exploratorium.edu/webcasts/index.php Exploratorium Webcasts are live video or audio programs broadcast over the Internet. http://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/index.html This section gathers documents and links useful for teachers. It contains: - Links to online exhibits
- Links to hands-on activities
- Documents for teachers to be used at classroom
- Link to digital library
- Subscription to educator newsletter
- Filed trip pathways (collections of support materials
for teachers who bring their students to the Exploratorium) - External links
Internet 2GOOD PRACTICE http://www.exploratorium.edu/i2/index.html Tools for teaching section contains a link to Internet 2, a university-led effort to develop advanced network applications for research and education. Most Internet2 applications make use of Abilene network. Among others, it contains: - DVD Quality video
- Video stream
- High-fidelity audio
- 3-D imagery
- Webcasts
Online activities Online activities / Hands-on activities http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/online.html http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/handson.html Explore section offers a lot of online activities. These activities don't seem to be developed by a unique team, because they are based on a heterogeneous diversity of file formats (html, shockwave, flash,...). Graphic style is also diverse. Visit planning Users -especially teachers- can prepare their visit by using online resources. They can also use the Events Calendar (see Outstanding best practices section below). Visit follow-up No special features to follow-up the visit. Online communitieshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/about/community.html Exploratorium website links to the main online communities:
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Flickr
- Youtube
- Twitter
- Yelp
- SecondLife
Blogshttp://apps.exploratorium.edu/blogs/ This URL contains access to all Exploratorium blogs. Exhibition websitesSome exhibit websites contain also their own online communities. Mobile features No features for mobile devices. Searching & browsing Conventional browsing behavior based on a main top menu, and a secondary menu on the right side of the page. Search Simple search powered by Google. Not advanced search. Search tool located at the bottom of the secondary menu (right side of the page)
Site maphttp://www.exploratorium.edu/map.html Site index (clickable hierarchical tree)
Subscription E-newshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/enews.html Latest issue: http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/issue.html User can submit his name and email to receive the newsletter. No registration required.
Educator newsletterhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/newsletter.html Teachers and educators can subscribe to receive the free educator e-mail newsletter.
Events CalendarGOOD PRACTICE http://calendar.exploratorium.edu/index.html User can subscribe to the museum events calendar. See outstanding best practices > Events calendar for more details. Online transactions Membershiphttps://qt.exploratorium.edu/support/membership/memb_form_new.html Form to become a membership. VeriSign secured. Donatehttps://qt.exploratorium.edu/support/donate-form_challenge2009.html Form to submit donations. VeriSign secured. Volunteerhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/programs/volunteer/form_individual.php Extensive form to become a museum volunteer. Contains a CAPTCHA. E-newshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/enews.html Form to submit name and email to receive the newsletter. No registration required.
Educator newsletterhttp://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/newsletter.html Teachers and educators can subscribe to receive the free educator e-mail newsletter. Shophttp://store.exploratorium.edu/ Museum online store. Contains user's cart. Requires users to login before checking out.
Outstanding best practices Roof Camhttp://cams.exploratorium.edu:8010/1/control.htmlThis camera view captures live images of the San Francisco Bay from the roof of the Exploratorium. User is allowed to control the camera's zoom and view (there are also some presets for user to look at). Worldwide users can contextualize camera's views thanks to the local San Francisco time that appears next to the view. Java controlled. Events Calendarhttp://calendar.exploratorium.edu/index.html Interactive calendar that shows all museum events, with the next options: - Select/unselect type of events displayed
- Print the calendar
- Subscribe to the calendar (daily mail, RSS)
- Send it to friends
- Remind by mail
- Download iCal
- Add to Calendar. User sends the selected event to his own calendar (Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Outlook,...)
http://www.exploratorium.edu Website home contains a button tagged "Don't push this button". When user pushes it, he is randomly directed to an online exhibition or activity website. A good idea to push users to discover museum's resources. http://www.exploratorium.edu Website header design changes randomly although it keeps the same look-and-feel to invite users to discover new contents. A good idea to push users to discover museum's resources. |