Brave New World - Museums and the Market

The past year has seen a significant transformation in the character of the Web and museums have been participating in, or are about to be caught up in that change. Simply stated, the Internet is now an economic engine of note and the Web is emering as its major fronteir. Museums find themselves confronted by a plethora of opportunities to engage in commercial activity and to promote their traditional offerings, online. They do it alone or they can do it with a vast array of commercial partners offering them a bewildering variety of terms and promsing breathtaking benefits. How can museum staff make sense out of this rapidly changing landscape and what strategies for participation will serve their institutions best?