Exploratorium

Owned by Tona Monjo
Last updated: May 06, 2009Version comment
5 min read

General information

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 exhibitions

This 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.tv

GOOD PRACTICE
http://www.exploratorium.edu/webcasts/index.php
Exploratorium Webcasts are live video or audio programs
broadcast over the Internet.

Tools for teaching

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 2

GOOD 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 community

Online communities

http://www.exploratorium.edu/about/community.html
Exploratorium website links to the main online communities:

  • Facebook
  • MySpace
  • Flickr
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Yelp
  • SecondLife

Blogs

http://apps.exploratorium.edu/blogs/
This URL contains access to all Exploratorium blogs.

Exhibition websites

Some 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.

Simple search powered by Google.
Not advanced search.
Search tool located at the bottom of the secondary menu (right side of the page)

Site map

http://www.exploratorium.edu/map.html
Site index (clickable hierarchical tree)

Subscription

E-news

http://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 newsletter

http://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/newsletter.html
Teachers and educators can subscribe to receive the free educator e-mail newsletter.

Events Calendar

GOOD 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

Membership

https://qt.exploratorium.edu/support/membership/memb_form_new.html
Form to become a membership.
VeriSign secured.

Donate

https://qt.exploratorium.edu/support/donate-form_challenge2009.html
Form to submit donations.
VeriSign secured.

Volunteer

http://www.exploratorium.edu/programs/volunteer/form_individual.php
Extensive form to become a museum volunteer.
Contains a CAPTCHA.

E-news

http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/enews.html
Form to submit name and email to receive the newsletter.
No registration required.

Educator newsletter

http://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/newsletter.html
Teachers and educators can subscribe to receive the free educator e-mail newsletter.

Shop

http://store.exploratorium.edu/
Museum online store.
Contains user's cart.
Requires users to login before checking out.

Outstanding best practices

Roof Cam

http://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 Calendar

http://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,...)

Don't push this button

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.

Home header design

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. 

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