Monday, December 24, 2012

A Walk in the Park: California State Parks' Online Museum Collections

As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of federal and state land programs.  I grew up going to many national parks for vacations, and I'm now lucky to live in an area with many beautiful state parks and forests nearby.  In recent years, many of these administered lands have begun to create exhibits and programs to accompany their natural splendor, and some are even creating online museums.  That's exactly what the California State Parks system has done, and while it's a noble endeavor, it's execution leaves much to be desired.

These online collections consist of images arranged by category, and the array of topics is pretty impressive.  You can view nature photographs, images of historic structures, immigration documents, paintings, advertising materials, and landscapes, among many other objects.  The most fascinating are the certificates that Chinese workers presented upon their arrival to California - you can view twelve of these papers in detailed images.  Also interesting - assuming you're into the lives of the American elite - are artifacts from Hearst Castle.

Unfortunately, there's not much to these collections beyond images.  Few of the images contain meaningful descriptions to provide context for the objects or artwork - most simply communicate what the objects look like and what their dimensions are - and a good number have no explanation at all.  The only collection categories that had interesting texts accompanying their objects were Architect Julia Morgan:  A Blueprint for Success and Treasurers from a Pioneer Family.  I suppose that the information provided is sufficient for a researcher, but for a general audience most of the collections fall flat.

It's too bad, because as the land administration system for the most populous state, the California State Parks department could surely provide a lot of fascinating content.  There are some interesting subjects on display here and I believe a greater depth of information could really draw online visitors in.  As it stands now, though, I can't see these virtual collections really adding anything to the park experience.


California State Parks' Online Museum Collections
Website:  www.museumcollections.parks.ca.gov

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