February 11, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
On-line exhibits that showcase the collections of three museums have been added to the Web site of the Museum Loan Network, which offers grants and other services to help museums nationwide enhance their holdings.
Administered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the network seeks to promote the exchange of art and artifacts among museums. To that end, it maintains a computer data base of 3,400 artworks and other objects available for long-term loan. The new on-line exhibits are from three museums that borrowed items through the network — the Joslyn Art Museum, in Omaha; the Mobile (Ala.) Museum of Art; and Williams College Museum of Art.
The virtual exhibitions allow on-line visitors to navigate through the galleries as if they were actually walking through them. Visitors can also obtain information about each piece in the show.
The network, created in 1995 with money from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, eventually plans to include up to 100 different virtual exhibits on its Web site. It will give participating museums up to $1,000 apiece to offset the cost of photographing the galleries and objects so that they can appear on-line.
To get there: http://loanet.mit.edu/web.
