Museums, libraries and communities · For museum directors, educators and communications staff
An online museum exhibit built from the stories on your touchscreen
Descendants who moved away, teachers planning a visit, residents who can’t manage the trip: they all ask what’s in the exhibit. Give them the same exhibit at its own web address, built from the stories already on your touchscreen.
No account needed to start. Free to use. No payment details required.
What is an online museum exhibit?
An online museum exhibit is a version of an exhibit people can browse in a web browser, so those who can’t visit still see the objects, photos and stories. With HistoryShowcase, the touchscreen in the gallery and the online exhibit are the same live site, at its own web address, so an edit made once appears in both places.
Updated
- Made for
- Museum directors, educators and communications staff
- Where it goes
- Your website’s exhibits page, Member and donor newsletters, Teachers and local schools
- Layouts
- Photo gallery, Profiles, Timeline
- Visitors can filter by
- Family, Year
- Cost
- Free to use. No payment details required.
Not everyone who cares can come in
The people most interested in a local exhibit are often the furthest from it. Descendants live three states away. A teacher wants to prepare a class visit. An older resident who donated half the case can no longer make the trip. Museums usually answer with a PDF catalog or a run of social media posts, and both are hard to find a month later.
An online museum exhibit gives them one place to go. In HistoryShowcase the exhibit on the gallery touchscreen is a live site with its own web address, so the same address opens in any browser at home. Link it from your website, add it to your newsletter, and when you fix a caption it changes in the gallery and online together.
How does an online museum exhibit compare with a PDF or social media posts?
| What matters | PDF catalog or social media posts | HistoryShowcase |
|---|---|---|
| Finding it later | Posts scroll away; a PDF sits in a downloads folder | One web address for the whole exhibit |
| Reaching people now | Posts reach followers where they already are | People need the link to find it |
| Browsing | Read the PDF front to back | Tap a collection, search by name, filter by year |
| Fixing an error | Export the PDF again or edit each post | Edit the story once and the live site changes |
| Matching the gallery | A separate thing to make and keep current | The same stories as the touchscreen |
| Printing a copy | A PDF prints neatly | Made for screens, not for printing |
What to include in an online exhibit
The exhibit’s main stories
The same object and people stories as the gallery screen, so online visitors see what was chosen for the room.
Documents too fragile to display
Letters and records scanned page by page, readable online without anyone handling them.
Captioned photos
Photos from your media library with captions naming the people, places and years.
Family stories for descendants
Profiles of the families in the exhibit, so relatives searching a surname can find them.
Context a classroom can use
A timeline of the period so a teacher can prepare students before a visit.
Stories from past exhibits
Earlier exhibits kept in their own collection after the gallery changes.
How to structure an exhibit people browse at home
People at home read longer than people standing at a kiosk, so the longer write-ups matter more here. Keep the same collections as the gallery screen.
Your siteOnline Exhibit
- The homesteadsPhoto gallery
One story per claim, with land records and photos.
- FamiliesProfiles
Each family’s story, letters and portraits.
- Prairie timelineTimeline
Settlement, drought and harvest years in date order.
- Past exhibitsPhoto gallery
Earlier exhibits kept online after the gallery changes.
Visitors can narrow it by
- Family
- Year
How do you put an online museum exhibit together?
Write each story for both audiences
Give every story a short summary for the gallery screen and a longer write-up for people reading at home.
Check it on a home computer
Open the live site’s web address in an ordinary browser on a laptop to see what people at home will see.
Share the address
Link it from your website’s exhibits page, and print the address in newsletters and on the exhibit’s wall panel.
Where should you share an online museum exhibit?
- Your website’s exhibits pageThe first place people look to see what’s on view.
- Member and donor newslettersSupporters who can’t visit often still want to see the result.
- Teachers and local schoolsSend the address ahead of a class visit.
Online museum exhibit questions
Do we have to build the online exhibit separately?
No. The gallery touchscreen opens the same live site, so there is one set of stories. Edits save automatically and appear in both places.
Can we keep some stories off the web?
Mark a story Private and it stays off the live site while you work on it, both on the touchscreen and at the web address.
Should we keep posting on social media?
Yes. Posts are good at reaching people where they already are. Link to the online exhibit from them so people have somewhere to see the whole thing.
Why does setup ask for a school name?
HistoryShowcase was built for schools, so setup asks for a school name and colors. Enter your museum’s instead; the online exhibit and touchscreen work the same way.
Related ideas
Open your exhibit to people who can’t visit
Free to use. No payment details required.
