Sunday, May 9, 2010

Cleveland Museum of Art Launches New Website

The CMA has launched their new website and I cannot stop visiting it. There are so many features, including an ability to personalize your profile. Presumably, this feature allows you to customize the website to your specific art interests. Because I've chosen all areas of interest (periods in art and the complete listing of programs), the website presents me a full spectrum of information. As an art lover, I'll never comprehend customizing one's profile for less information, so cannot see how this as a celebrated feature.

But there are a number of features on the new website that will keep me engaged for hours. Besides the ease with which to peruse the website, the online collection is easily a favorite. I recently learned the museum's goal to make every item in the museum collection available online. Cincinnati-based LUCRUM is currently working on the development of the online catalog. This will take some time yet, but right now you can already see the wonderful accessibility of the online collection. One exciting feature of the developing database is the inclusion of multiple views and details of many of the art works. This is especially noted with the sculptural works in the collection, but some of the paintings as well.

A second feature of the online collection includes the ability to make comments on any of the items in the collection. I've not yet seen more than a single comment, usually a description of the artwork, but similar to a blog feature, adding a comment to the collection is an exciting feature. I do see a potential for the online collection to continuously evolve through an online discussion of works from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

So please, take a look at it, create a profile and share your thoughts about art.

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