SmartWeb Exhibit: Delivering Enhanced Library and Museum Collections Online, On Target, and On Time

In 1999 Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon received funding from IMLS to develop, document and disseminate prototypes for a new form of collaboration between libraries, museums, and other collection holders. The goal of the project was to produce more effective educational outreach to the public in the form of SmartWeb exhibits designed to deliver information online to a diverse user community. This presentation will provide an overview of project goals and discuss the importance of the project in making quality information available to users. In addition, the session will describe difficulties, challenges and lessons learned from the project, including some of the steps that were necessary in working with the various departments e.g., computer science, museum, computer engineer, researcher, archivist, scanners, etc.