The electronic age of the museum is emerging. As "virtual" galleries and museums are available on the Internet, "real" museums are also adding electronic components and enhancements to their inventory. Some of the same problems museums have always faced - need for clarification, isolation of art pieces, displacement from culture and time, and the loss of meaning as a result - are more evident in the new media. Despite these challenges and limitations, museums add value to their collections and their information delivery by reaching out to new audiences in new ways. As technological possibilities expand, so will the effective electronic distribution of art and art education. This essay attempts to address some of the central dilemmas being faced by museums in their move toward electronic delivery of art.
Traditionally, museums have been buildings that hold collections of artifacts, along the lines temple. These artifacts, often from faraway lands or donated by wealthy collectors, become silent messages that are brought to life by art historians and museum visitors. Here the term "museum" will refer not only to the structure, but also to the many people who comprise the governing and functioning bodies of the museum's social construction. A traditional museum exhibit is usually made according to one of two models: either a vehicle for the display of objects or a space for telling a story. Many museums attempt to do both. Museums play a number of interesting roles in society, some intended and some not. The intentional functions museums perform for art and the public are to preserve, teach, restore, exhibit, guard, evaluate, research, and provide access. Some of the unfortunate other functions museums perform are to isolate art from its place in the environment, and to create artificial divisions in societies: the buyers vs. the creators. .
Since the advent of electricity, museums have become increasingly enhanced by technology.