The First Museums and the Web Conference Occurs

In March 1997 the first Museums and the Web Conference took place in Los Angeles. "... approximately 400 people, from all sectors of the museum profession and many corners of the world gathered in Los Angeles for the first Museums and the Web Conference.  Three full days of sessions explored topics as divergent as “Standards for Museum Data into the Future” and “The Concept of the Museum in a World of Internetworking”. Speakers probed the nature of the networked audience in “Users: Interface and Design Issues” and “Getting and Keeping Audience Attention”, or explored the changing nature of museum in “Accessing Museum Collections over the Web” and “Visions of Culture in Digital Communities”.  New opportunities for learning, teaching and scholarship were the topic of “Museums, Schools and the Web,” and “The Immense Potential of Museum Web Sites for Research”. These new visions were supported by sessions that focused on the enabling technologies, including “Managing Mature Web Sites” and “Architectures for On-line Museums of the Future.” Together, over fifty speakers offered their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that museums face as they adopt the World Wide Web as a prime means of communication with their audiences."