Director's Message

May 2010 marked the first anniversary of our website's redesign. Since we launched the "new" site, we have continued to develop and enhance it, improving its functionality and usability — in many cases at the suggestion of visitors to the site like you. Sometimes an outside perspective makes us think of all the things we have yet to do, and sometimes it helps us appreciate what we have already accomplished.

At a recent meeting of our Visiting Committee, an advisory group of collectors and supporters of the museum, we presented a panel discussion on the various ways in which the museum is using technology. Panelists gave an overview of the website and demonstrated how the collection search tool works. The digital access it provides has already had an effect in stimulating and supplementing curricular use of the collection in schools and universities. Website visitors now have access to detailed information on over 99% of the 250,000 objects in our collection, and more than 82% of those object records include an image. The collection search tool offers countless ways to delve into the collection and download, email, and share information. The Visiting Committee's enthusiastic response to the panel's presentation helped remind us of the evolving value of our website development.

One of the principal goals of our building renovation project is to provide greater access to the collection. While teaching and learning through direct contact with original works of art is central to our mission, the importance of this wider reach offered by technology cannot be overestimated. We are inspired that someone in a far corner of the world — whether student, researcher, or just a person with a passion for art — can have such a wealth of visual resources and documentation at their fingertips.

Thomas W. Lentz
Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director