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Review: Interfacing American Culture: The Perils and Potentials of Virtual Exhibitions
Author(s): David Silver

Review by: David Silver
Source: American Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 1997), pp. 825-850
Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
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InterfacingAmericanCulture:The Perilsand
Potentials of VirtualExhibitions
DAVIDSILVER
Universityof Maryland
Life History Manuscriptsfrom the Folklore Project, WPA Federal

Writers'Project 1936-1940, located at <http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/
ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html>,summer 1995-present. American
Memory Project, Library of Congress, exhibition designers.
RememberingNagasaki, located at <http://netra.exploratorium.edu/
nagasaki/>, summer 1995-present. Sponsored by the Exploratorium
in collaborationwith IDG Films and Rupert Jenkins.Ali Sant, design
and production; Marina McDougall, writing and design; Jim
Spadaccini,technical assistance;Rupert Jenkins, Michael Pearce,and
Susan Schwartzenberg,project advisors.
The Great Chicago Fire and The Webof Memory,located at <http://
www.chicagohs.org/fire>,fall 1996-present.. Chicago Historical Soci-
ety and Academic Technologies Northwestern University, exhibition
designers. Sponsored in part by H-Net: Humanities& Social Sciences
OnLine. Carl Smith, curator and author; Paul Hertz,art director;Joe
Germuska,production supervisor;Eric Whitley,Lou Skriba, and Gia
Sadhwani, assistance.
IN MARCH 1989, ACKNOWLEDGED THE CRITICAL
AMERICANQUARTERLY
importanceof American studies-relatedmuseums and exhibitions by
initiatinga new feature:the exhibitionreview section.Noting the recent
increasein museumsand exhibitionsand theircrucialrole as publicsites
of culture,the originalexhibitionrevieweditors,JosephandWandaCorn,
David Silver is a doctoralcandidatein Americanstudies at the Universityof Maryland

and the founder of the Resource Center for CybercultureStudies, located online at
<http://otal.umd.edu/~rccs>.
AmericanQuarterly,Vol. 49, No. 4 (December 1997) © 1997 AmericanStudiesAssociation

825
826 AMERICANQUARTERLY
soughtto open new dialoguesbetweenacademicandmuseumcommuni-

ties. Moreover,they hoped"to bringto museumpracticethe dignityand
challengeof scholarlydebateanddiscourse."'
Today, this challenge continues. Yet in addition to focusing upon
collections storedwithin the four walls of museums,we can and should
begin to exploreother,less tangiblecollections.Withthe recentintroduc-
tion and widespreadadoptionof the WorldWide Web,museumcurators
across the world are increasingly"going online."Theoreticallyable to
reach tens of millions of Internetusers, virtualexhibitionsmarka new
stage for museums,the processof museumdevelopment,and the act of
museumvisitation.
Beneaththe uncheckedhype accompanyingthe Internetlie interesting
andexcitingpotentialsfor onlineculturalcollections.In particular,
Internet
technologiesallow for dynamicapplicationsof multimediasimultaneity,
user interaction,and multilinearnarration.At the same time, reduced(so
far) to a two-dimensionalinterface,the structurallimitationsof html, and
the often shallow,point-and-clickmentalityfosteredin partby the World
WideWeb,virtualexhibitionsmay amountto littlemorethandisorganized
and decontextualizeddigital collections.2Focusing upon three collec-
tions-the Library of Congress's Life History Manuscripts from the
Folklore Project, the Exploratorium's Remember Nagasaki, and the Chi-
cago Historical Society's The Great Chicago Fire and the Webof Memory-
this (virtual)exhibitionreview addressessuch issues in an attemptto
conceptualizeboththe perilsandpotentialsof virtualexhibitions.
An Introductionto VirtualExhibitions
Since this is the firstreviewof virtualexhibitionsto appearin American

Quarterly,it is helpfulto beginby providingreaderswitha basic,working
definition.Statedsimply,virtualexhibitionsare online, WorldWideWeb-
based, hypertextual, dynamic collections devoted to a specific theme,
topic, concept,or idea. These descriptionsmeritexplanation.
Electronicversions of materialcollections are hardly new. Indeed,
filmedwalk-aboutsthroughexhibitionsfeaturedin suchnotablemuseums
as the Louvre and the Smithsonianhave existed for decades. Likewise,
many museumshave publisheddetailedCD-ROMs,affordingusers "vir-
tual visits" of their collections.Such exhibitionsare examplesof stand-
alone systems;they exist withina limited,predetermined "space"such as
a CD-ROM,a floppydisk, or a harddrive.3Only withinthe last two years
INTERFACINGAMERICANCULTURE 827
have curatorsbegunto mounttheirexhibitionsonline; thatis the exhibi-

tions exist as partof and withina computer-mediated, networkedsystem.
Today,the networkof choice is, of course,the Internet.
The virtuesof being onlineare numerous.Whiletraditionalexhibitions
requirephysical visitations,online exhibitionsare aspatial,and can be
accessedsimultaneouslyby a numberof users,or "virtualvisitors,"from
various networkedlocations across the world. Further,unlike cd-rom-
based exhibitionswhich are pressed,unalterableversionsof a particular
collection,onlineexhibitionsexist as perpetualworksin progress;theycan
be changed,redesigned,subtractedfrom, and addedto within minutes.
Finally,as partof a networkedsystem,online exhibitionscan incorporate
hypertext(a termdiscussedlater)to linkeasily andfreelywith andto other
networkedresourcesand materials.
The secondkey termI am using to describevirtualexhibitionsis World
WideWeb-based, by whichI amreferringto thegraphicalinterfacethrough
whichvirtualexhibitionsaremounted,presented,andviewed.4In the most
simple terms,the Web is a networkedsystem which largely piggybacks
upon both the global networkand smallernetworkswhich comprisethe
Internet.This systemis composedof two parts:browsersoftwarethatcan
view multimediadocumentsand servercomputersthat can supportand
maintainthosedocuments.Today,the most commonlyusedWebbrowsers
are NetscapeNavigatorand MicrosoftInternetExplorer.5
Withthe widespreadintroductionandadoptionof theWebin 1994came
the abilityto publishonline multimediapresentations.While the Internet
allowed(andcontinuesto allow) usersto mountanddistributetext-based
documents,the Web makes possible many forms of media, including
sounds,images,video, andbasic animation,as well as text-all viewable
by simply "pointingand clicking"with a mouse. Thus, using relatively
easy-to-use software such as Netscape Navigator,many curatorsare
findingit increasinglyappealingto reproduce,mirror,and,in some cases,
extend the sights, sounds, and feelings of a materialcollection into the
immaterialdomainof cyberspace.
The thirdtermI am usingto describevirtualexhibitionsis hypertextual.
Simply defined, hypertextis a network of textual elements and their
connections.George Landowdefines hypertextas "a text composedof
blocks of text . . and the electroniclinks thatjoin them."6Similarto the
way a footnoteworks to connectone text to another,hypertextlinks, or
hyperlinks,electronicallyconnect one digital document with another.
Significantly,these documentsmay appearin written,visual, audio, or
animatedform. For example,a user might click on a hyperlinklabeled,

say, "MartinLuther King, Jr.,"to connect to an array of options: a
photographof Dr. King, a text-basedversionof "Birmingham Jail,"or an
audiofile of "I HaveA Dream."
The effects of hypertextareprofound.Traditionalexhibitionsareoften
scriptedwith a linearnarrative,andarein any case experiencedin a linear
fashion,movingthrougha space.7Hypertextualvirtualexhibitionscan be
designed to reflect non-linearityor multi-linearity.Such designs afford
visitorsthe abilityto choose theirown pathwaysand viewing sequences.
By selecting a sequencein which they view an exhibition,users take an
active role in the constructionof the "text"they encounter,a role which
canbe potentiallyliberatingandprovidea set of alternativereadingsof and
pathways through an exhibition. In the process, a certain sense of
decenterednessis produced,an effect whichcan (andoftendoes) challenge
traditionalroles of museumcuratorsand viewers, along with traditional
notionsof curatorialnarration.8
At the same time, it is importantto note that the introductionof
hypertextualmultilinearity canbe a curatorialnightmare.Whena preferred
or suggestedreading/pathway is replacedwith a numberof optional,user-
determinedsequences, what happens to the so-called authorialvoice?
Further,whatguaranteedo curatorshavethatvisitorsexperiencea similar
exhibitionor encountercommonartifacts?
The fourthtermI am using to describevirtualexhibitionsis dynamic.
Unlike manytraditionalmuseumexhibitions,virtualexhibitionsundergo
persistent,ongoing change. On-line collections continually are being
addedto, subtractedfrom,rearranged,redesigned,and reconfigured.The
result is a perpetualwork-in-progress; exhibitions,along with the many
elementswhichcomposethem,are alwayssubjectto changewith respect
to design, activity,and content.
There are many consequencesof this dynamicnature.First, it allows
virtualcuratorsthe opportunityto mounta numberof rough,unfinished
versionsof exhibitionsin orderto test variouslayoutsand presentations.
Subsequently,these versionscan be alteredand enhancedas new materi-
als, resources,themes,and/orcollaboratorsare addedto the project.It is
not uncommonfor entire wings to be introducedor eliminatedwithin
twenty-fourhours,contributing to the fluid (notto mentionschizophrenic)
natureof virtualexhibitions.Yet perhapsthe most exciting aspectof this
dynamicfeatureis that it allows visitors the ability to interactwith the
exhibition.As we will see in oursecondcase study,"RememberNagasaki"
manyvirtualexhibitionsencourageusersnot only to visit the site, butalso

to contributeto it, addingto its dynamicpresentation.
It is importantfor readersto keep in mind that my use of the term
"virtualexhibition" implies four crucial considerations.First, virtual
exhibitionsareonline andexist as a partof andwithinthe globalcomputer
networkcalledthe Internet.Second,theyareWeb-based,whichmeansthat
they are designed, mounted,presented,and viewed on the WorldWide
Web, a networkedsystem whose graphicalinterfacemakes possible the
inclusion of various forms of media. Third, virtual exhibitions are
hypertextual,an aspectwhich collects and connectsvarious,hyperlinked
texts and can produce elements of non-linearity,decenteredness,and
intertextuality.Finally, they are dynamic,a featurewhich rendersthem
moreperpetualworks-in-progress thanstaticcollections.
Justas virtualexhibitionscan be definedin partby the four aforemen-
tionedterms,they can be betterunderstoodby placingthem into various
categoriesaccordingto theirformsandpurposes.Becausetheseformsand
purposesarenumerous,I wish to limitmy discussionto threemajortypes,
whatI call the virtualversion,the missingwing, and the hyperreal-site.
The virtualversionof an exhibitionrepresents,simulates,or mirrorsan
actual,physicalcollection.Forexample,the NationalMuseumof Ameri-
canArtis a materialcollectionwhichphysicallyexists in WashingtonD.C.
Yet much of the collection is featuredin theirvirtualversionlocatedin
cyberspaceat <http://www.nmaa.si.edu/>. Here,visitorsenjoy a digitized
"best of" version of the real thing. While most virtualversionsdo not
featurethe entirecollectionof the exhibittheymirror,they oftenincludea
numberof key, representational artifactsfrom the exhibition,along with
the exhibit'sgenerallayout,floor plan, and catalogue.
Virtualversionsare useful in manyways. Visitorsto the site can attain
a generalidea of the exhibit'scollection, its themes and tropes.In this
manner,virtualversionsserveas helpfulpreparation for archivalvisits and
relatedresearch.Moreover,they may also orientprospectivevisitors so
that they are betterusers of the exhibitionitself. At the same time, such
virtualexhibitionsare useful in and of themselves.By contextualingkey
artifactswith backgroundmaterial,virtualversionsprovidemanyof the
sameresourcesaffordedby traditionalmuseums.Thus,while suchexhibi-
tions cannot (yet) representfully the subtleties of, say, an intricate
sculptureor installation,theycan providevaluableinformationto students
andresearcherswho may be unableto visit the collectionin person.
The secondtype of virtualexhibitionis whatI call the missingwing. In
some ways, the missing wing resemblesthe virtualversion;they both

providevisitors with selected artifactsfrom an original,materialcollec-
tion.Yet unlikethe virtualversion,missingwing virtualexhibitionsmake
availablematerialsand resourcesnot featuredin the originalexhibit.In
otherwords,missingwings servenot only to mirrorthe originalbutalso to
extendit.
Missing wing virtualexhibitionswork well both with and withoutthe
originalexhibit upon which they are based. Like virtualversions,they
complementthe originalby workingoff of or with specificthemesalready
developed.At the same time, they can be quite fulfillingas independent
digital entities. Usually accompaniedby backgroundmaterials,missing
wing virtualexhibitionsexploretopicsthatfor reasonsof space,time,and/
or money were not treatedby the original.
The third type of virtualexhibitionis what I call the hyperreal-site.
Deriving its name from Jean Baudrillard'snotions of simulation,the
hyperreal-siteis a virtualexhibitionfor which thereexists no originalor
representedterritory/space.9 Mirroringnothingbutitself,the hyperreal-site
exists entirelyon and withinthe WorldWideWeb.
In some respects, hyperreal-sitesare the least traditionalof virtual
exhibitions.This shouldnotcome as a surprise;theyareneitherlimitednor
confinedby the needto replicatean alreadyexistingexhibit.At times,this
freedomleads to very creativepresentations,for insteadof attemptingto
mirrorthe original,hyperreal-sitesare designedwith theirmedium-the
WorldWideWeb--in mind.Hyperreal-sitesarethusMcLuhanesque: they
are often as muchaboutthe mediumas they are aboutthe message.
It is importantto keep in mind that most virtualexhibitionsdo not fit
neatly into one of these three categories.Instead,they usually contain
elementsof several.Forexample,we may find a virtualexhibitionwhich
serves primarilyas a virtual version of an already existing, material
collection.At the same time, the virtualexhibitionmay includevarious
materialsand resourcesleft out by the original,qualifyingit as a missing
wing virtualexhibition.
In additionto the terminologyand variouscategoriesof virtualexhibi-
tions, it is importantto considerissues surroundingcuratorship.Virtual
exhibitionsmay be designedby groups,organizations,agencies,compa-
nies, teams, or individuals.For this review,I will limit my discussionto
threecuratorialcategories:individual,commercial,and organizational.
A numberof virtualexhibitionsare written,designed,mounted,and
maintained by individuals.SuchvirtualexhibitionsrangefromZoliNazaari-
Uebele's PlasticPrincessPage,partspoof, partarchive,andparttributeto

Barbie,locatedat <http://deepthought.armory.com/-zenugirl/barbie.html>,
to Eric Noble's The DiggerArchive,a seriousand engagingcollectionof
materialsandresourcesdevotedto the Diggers,a legendary1960s Haight-
Asburyperformancetroupe,locatedat <http://www.webcom.com/enoble/
diggers/diggers.html>. Of specialinterestto AmericanQuarterlyreadersis
Jim Zwick's site, Anti-Imperialismin the United States, 1898-1935,
locatedat <http://web.syr.edu/-fjzwick/ail98-35.html>.
Reflecting either an appealing dedicationto a topic, an obsessive
interest,or some combinationof both,individually-curated virtualexhibi-
tions can, and often do, providethe academiccommunitywith excellent
resourcesfor particulartopics of study.Indeed,sites such as the Digger's
Archiveand Anti-Imperialism in the UnitedStates, 1898-1935 are inter-
disciplinarygems and serve as ideal sites for students,instructors,and
researchers.Moreover,individually-curated virtualexhibitionsfrequently
showcase materialsand topics deemed too politically and/orculturally
radicalfor traditionalinstitutions.Such exhibitionsmay serve as critical
sites for minorityandunderrepresented voices. On the otherhand,as one
might expect, many such virtual exhibitions suffer from a simplified
approachand/or an overly subjectiveperspective.Lacking the balance
sometimes attainedby peer review througha refereedjury or editorial
board,such sites too oftenprovelittle morethanan onlinetestamentto an
individual'sobsession.
The secondtype of virtualexhibitioncuratorshipis commercial.One of
the fastest-growingtrendson the Webtodayis for companiesto construct
flashy,"interactive"virtualexhibitionsin orderto showcasetheirproducts.
Luringin virtualvisitorswith hyper-animated graphicsanddesign-driven
layouts,suchsites leadusersthroughbriefexhibitionsandinto"interactive
zones," online areas where users can sign up for mailing lists, enter
drawings, and purchasea number of productsvia the Net. A prime
example is the World of Coca-Cola Pavilion, located at <http://
www.cocacola.com/museum/>. Here, users browse througha numberof
exhibitions, including a brief historyof commemorativebottlenecks,the
historyof Coca-Cola,andCoke'shistoricinvolvementwith the Olympics.
Inevitably, the exhibitions take visitors to the Netalogue, an online
catalogueof purchasableCoke-relatedproducts.
Although commercially-basedvirtualexhibitionscan be entertaining
and engaging, they are, as a whole, problematicas academictools. Too
oftenthe allegedtopicsof theirexhibitions-the historyof Coca-Cola,for
example-are buriedunder spiffy graphicsand uncheckedhype, not to

mentionunrelentingattemptsto persuadevisitors to buy theirproducts.
Commercially-based virtual exhibitionsare, at best, biased educational
and cultural resources.'0However, they are useful in examining the
formation,representation, and proliferationof corporateidentities.
The thirdcategoryof virtualexhibitions,organizational, includesexhi-
bitionsdesignedand maintainedby entitiessuch as museums,non-profit
organizations,andgovernmentagencies.Whilesuchorganizationsusually
lack the financialresourcesenjoyedby commercialenterprises,they often
makeup for it with humanresources.Indeed,the best organization-based
virtual exhibitionsare designed, constructed,and maintainedby large
teamsof professionalwriters,artists,archivists,graphicdesigners,multi-
media technicians,and curators.Moreover,they often enlist the help of
editorialboardsandjuries, a strategywhich can insurea morebalanced
and developedpresentation.
It is commonfor organization-based virtualexhibitionsto be developed
in conjunctionwith educationalgroups.This may includecollaboration
with a particularschool, university,department,or classroom,or develop-
ing a section or wing specifically tailoredto the needs and interestsof
studentsandinstructors. Thus,while individually-based virtualexhibitions
too often begin and end with the designer and his/her opinions, and
commercially-basedones usually center on a particularproduct,many
organization-based virtualexhibitionsprioritizeinstitutionalcollaboration
andpedagogicalapplications.
Becauseorganizationalvirtualexhibitionsare rich resourcesfor schol-
ars and students of American studies, this review focuses on three
examplesof the genre.
WPALife Histories
In 1936, as partof the New Deal, PresidentFranklinDelanoRoosevelt

establishedthe FederalWriters'Project,a subsidiaryof the WorkProjects
Administration, or WPA.Lastinguntil 1940, the FederalWriters'Project
includedthe FolkloreProject,a collectionof writersand social scientists
employedby the federalgovernmentto gather,document,and archivethe
cultureandhistoryof the UnitedStates.Besidesamassinga richcollection
of ruraland urbanfolklore and detailed studies exploringthe cultural
practicesand traditionsof variousethnicgroups,the staff of the Folklore
Projectaccumulated a few thousandfirst-person or life histories,
narrations,
America.
in an attemptto capturethe feel of everydaylife in Depression-era
Numberingover 2,900 andrangingin lengthfrom 2,000 to 15,000words,
these life historiesarenow housedin the Libraryof Congress.
They also exist on the WorldWide Web. Last year, as part of their
contributionto the NationalDigitalLibrary,the Libraryof Congressbegan
constructingthe AmericanMemoryproject."Designed as a website to
insure easy and fast access to select Libraryof Congress collections,
AmericanMemoryconsistsof literallyhundredsof thousandsof primary
sourcesand archivalmaterialsrelatedto Americancultureandhistory.At
the time of this review, the AmericanMemory site featured sixteen
separatevirtualexhibitions,includingAfrican-American Pamphletsfrom
the Daniel A. P. MurrayCollection, 1818-1907; Documentsfrom the
ContinentalCongress and the ConstitutionalConvention, 1774-1789;
EarlyMotionPictures,1897-1916; and,ourfirstexhibitionunderreview,
LifeHistoryManuscripts from the FolkloreProject,WPAFederalWriters'
Project1936-1940, or, simply,WPALifeHistories.
In many ways, the site's entranceserves as a harbingerof what's to
follow. Located at <http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/ammem/wpaintro/
wpahome.html>,the top of the homepage welcomes visitors with a
dazzling graphic,a montageof black and white photographsof diverse,
Depression-eraAmericanswhich suggests the collection's culturalrich-
ness and hints at the multiple points of view and frames of reference
offeredby the countlesslife histories.Underneaththe graphic,however,
exists digital dishevelment,a seemingly randomjuxtapositionof text,
hypertext,searchtools, andbackgroundmaterials.
The immediateresult for the user is a temporarycase of what I call
virtual vertigo, the inability to choose among an arrayof options. Of
course this is not necessarilya bad thing. Indeed,much of what is now
commonlyreferredto as hypertextfiction is predicatedon virtualvertigo
and seeks to replace a writer-imposednarrativelinearitywith a reader-
based sense of explorationand discovery.12 Yet while some people visit
virtualmuseumsto browseand explore,othersarrivewith a definitegoal
in mind, an artifactto be seen, a manuscriptto be read.
These more directed visitors will most likely begin their quest by
clicking the hyperlinkmarked"Special Presentation:Voices from the
Thirties:An Introductionto the WPALifeHistoriesCollection."Unfortu-
nately, their first stop is a misleadingone. Following two paragraphs
explainingwhat the Folklore Projectwas, coupled with fifteen related
black and white photographs,the sixteen-screen-long"specialpresenta-
tion" tells us very little about the life histories and absolutely nothing about
the virtual collection and how to use it. At one point, visitors encounter a
photograph of Zora Neale Hurston, accompanied by the caption, "Miss
Zora Neale Hurston,African-American novelist and anthropologistof New
York City and Florida. Photographer unknown. Photograph, 1935." What
does this mean? Was Hurston involved with the Folklore Project? If so,
was she an interviewer or interviewee? Besides its lack of documentation,
the exhibit also suffers from typos, run-on sentences, and format errors in
the html code. Obviously, if users are seeking a better understandingof the
site and how it works, they must look elsewhere.
For those virtual visitors patient enough to wade through the disorga-
nized welcome page and uninformative "special presentation,"a true gem
awaits them. By clicking either "Search by Keywords" or "Select a region
and state," users find themselves a few screens away from a cultural
resource treasure chest. At this point, visitors can access the life histories
by browsing the index or searching by keyword. The browse function
allows users to search through the collection according to a hierarchical
index categorized by the geographic region from which individual life
histories were gathered.Visitors first select a particularregion-Northeast,
South, Midwest, or West-followed by a state contained within that
region. For example, upon selecting "West," users can choose from the
following states: Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and
Washington. By selecting "Oregon," for instance, the visitor reaches a
screen full of eighty-two titles arrangedby alphabetical order.
The second search method is by keyword. Using a powerful retrieval
program called Inquery,visitors can perform searches on words exactly as
entered or variants of the keywords, such as plurals. Moreover, the search
provides a list of documents related directly and loosely to the keywords.
For example, by typing in "Women and Work," the search command
produces the following results:
10 Documentscontainingthe exactwordsWomenandWork.
86 Documentscontainingthe wordsWomenandWorkneareachother.
584 Documentscontainingall of the words:WomenandWork,but not
near each other.
242 Documentscontainingone or moreof thewords:WomenandWork.
By clicking on one of the respective categories, users go directly to the

selected life history.
Now that we have finally reached the life histories, what do they offer
us? Plenty.Takentogether,the life historiesconstitutea Depression-era

socioculturalcensusspanningtwenty-fourstates.Consistingof bothdrafts
andrevisionsandvaryingfromnarrativesanddialoguesto reportsandcase
histories,the life histories,as notedby the site, "describethe informant's
family,education,income,occupation,politicalviews, religionandmores,
medical needs, diet and miscellaneousobservations."Many of the life
historiesdig deeply into both individualand collectiveexperiencesfound
within Depression-eraAmerica. Like John Steinbeck's The Grapes of
Wrath,the life historiesprovideaccessto the voices of the survivorsof one
of America'smost difficulttimes.It is preciselythis richnessin voice that
makes WPALifeHistoriesan excellentresearchtool.
In additionto servingas a researchtool, the WPALifeHistoriessite is an
excellentpedagogicalresource.Suddenly,instructorshaveaccessto nearly
three thousandfirst-handaccountsof Depression-eraAmericanlife, ac-
counts which can be integratedinto lectures and lesson plans. Conve-
niently,the site containsa hyperlinkto the AmericanMemoryproject's
"LearningPage."Here,interestedinstructorscan browsethrougha number
of WPALife Histories-relatedlesson plans, group activities,and assign-
ments contributedby students,instructors,librarians,media specialists,
and membersof the general(worldwide)public.
Yet while WPALifeHistoriessucceedsin providingvisitorsimmediate
access to a culturalresourcegold mine, it fails miserablyin takingfull
advantageof theWeb'shypertextual capabilities.Prioritizingcontentat the
expense of an engaging presentation,the site designersgive very little
attentionto design,whichresultsin a scatteredanduneventful,if not ugly
and boring,interface.Moreover,such digitaldisorganizationtranslatesin
manyinstancesto user-unfriendliness, a factorwhichundoubtedlyhas led
away manypotentialvisitors.
In additionto its uninspireddesign,WPALife Historiessuffersfromits
lack of multimedia.Withthe exceptionof the graphicon the frontpageand
the photographsfound in the "specialpresentation," the site fails to take
advantageof the manymediaallowedforon the WorldWideWeb.Imagine
readinga life historyof a Depression-erasharecropperand being able to
click on a photographof the farmer,his/her tools, land, and home,
downloadsoundfiles of the actualtranscript,or watcha video clip of the
regionfrom whichthey came. Such incorporationsof manymediawould
turnwhat seems moreof an archiveinto a trueexhibition.
Another problemwith the site is its use, or ratherlack of use, of
hypertext.Throughoutthe site there are key sections which demand
hypertextas a way to encourageconnection-making. For example,while

readingthe life historyof an AfricanAmericansharecropper, it would be
interestingto includea hyperlinkto life historiesof othersharecroppers,
allowingusers to comparetheirvaryingand/ordifferentexperiencesand
the ways in which race affected such experiences.By including such
hyperlinks,the individualartifacts(in this case, digitized life histories)
could be combinedin a morecollectiveand interactivepresentation.
The final shortcomingof the site is the absenceof any user-response
area.Unlikeothervirtualexhibitionswhich allow visitorsto contributeto
the site, WPALifeHistoriesprovidesno forumfor visitors'feedback.The
resultis a staticcollectionand, I argue,a less engagedaudience.
RememberingNagasaki
In contrast,the second case study,RememberingNagasaki, suggests

ways in whichvirtualexhibitionscan fostervisitorengagement.
In late July of 1995, an exhibition entitled Nagasaki Journey:The
Photographsof YosukeYamahataopenedsimultaneouslyin threeseparate
locations:the Ansel Adams Centerfor Photography,San Francisco,the
InternationalCenterof Photography,New York, and Chitose Pia Hall,
Nagasaki.In observanceof the fiftieth anniversaryof the bombingsof
Hiroshimaand Nagasaki,the exhibit featuredsixty photographsand a
numberof text panels of excerptsfrom the diary of Yamahata,a young
photographerassignedby the JapaneseArmy to documentthe effects of
the atomicbombingon Nagasaki.In additionto the harrowingblack and
white photographsand diaryexcerpts,the exhibitfeatureda twenty-eight
minutefilm documentingthe experiencesof two Nagasakisurvivorsand
one Americanmemberof the occupationalforces.It was also accompanied
by a 128-pagebilingualbookeditedby RupertJenkins,witha forewordby
RobertJay Lifton.
Althoughthe exhibitionsclosed a year later, much of their content
remains "virtuallyavailable"to Internetusers worldwide.During the
summerof 1995, as part of a majorresearchand exhibit development
projecton thethemeof memory,theExploratorium in SanFranciscobegan
designing,constructing,andmountinga virtualexhibitionentitledRemem-
beringNagasaki.At the same time, they establisheda numberof online,
atomic age-relatedpublic forums where virtual visitors could enter,
participatein discussions,andcontributetheirideas, beliefs, and personal
recollectionsto the permanentrecord.By expandingthe originalexhibitto
Fig. 2.1
includethe debatesanddialoguespostedby its visitors,the site constitutes

botha virtualversionandmissingwing of the originalcollection.Today,a
year later, the site is one of cyberspace'sfinest and most innovative
examplesof an online exhibit.
Uponenteringthe site, visitorsareled to the mainmenupage,locatedat
<http://netra.exploratorium.edu/nagasaki/mainn.html>.Using highly styl-
ized imagesto markeach of the site's fourseparate"wings,"the designers
make navigatingthroughthe exhibitioneasy and clear. Visitors simply
click one of the images to enter one of four thematicareas:Nagasaki
Journey,Atomic Memories, Commentary,and Commemorations.Al-
though the four wings are not laid out numerically,the prominent
placementof the image markedNagasakiJourneyencouragesvisitorsto
begin theirsession there(see figure2.1).
Ostensiblythe heartof the online exhibition,NagasakiJourneyshow-
cases manyof the photographsand diaryexcerptsfeaturedin the original
exhibit.Unlikethe overwhelmingand,at times,chaoticamountof material
offeredby the WPALife Historiessite, NagasakiJourneyis sparse,dark,
serene.The site providesimpactnot just by what it includes,but also by
Fig. 2.2
what it leaves out. In all, the exhibitionconsists of twenty-fivescreens:

seventeendevotedto single,highquality,blackandwhitephotographs,six
featuringshortdiaryexcerpts,one sketch,and one introductorypage.
Althoughthereis no purportedtheme behindthe wing's sequence,the
photographsareorganizedloosely to show the destructionof Nagasaki,the
devastationof its people, and the survivalof its scarredspirit.To achieve
thesethemes,photographsanddiaryexcerptsarejuxtaposedto moving,if
not horrifying,effect. Screen five, for example, containsthe following
excerptfrom the diaryof Yamahata:"A warmwind began to blow.Here
and therein the distanceI saw manysmallfires, like elf-fires,smoldering.
Nagasakihad been completelydestroyed."The screens surroundingthis
excerpt-screens three,six, andeight,in particular-illustratethisdestruc-
tion with single photographsof a decimatedNagasaki;virtualvisitors
witness a radioactivewindstorm,a smolderinglandscapeof a city of
rubbleand splinters,and what appearsto have once been a factorynow
reducedto a woodenskeletonmiraculouslyholdingup a single, crumbling
smokestack(figure2.2).
Althoughthe photographsanddiaryexcerptsspeakfor themselves,they

are accompaniedby a set of brief yet useful backgroundmaterials,
accessibleat boththe beginningandend of the exhibit.Witha click of the
mouse, users can access a short essay written by Yamahatain 1952
detailing the reasons and thoughtsbehind the photographs.Additional
backgroundmaterialsincludea briefbiographicalsketchof the photogra-
pher,a descriptionof the originalexhibition,orderinginformationfor the
exhibitionbook and film, and a shorttributeto the JapanPeace Museum.
In some respects, the photographsand diary excerpts found in the
NagasakiJourneywing constitutethe heartof the virtualexhibition.After
all, they are the historical,albeit digitized,artifactsof the exhibit.Yet in
other respects,NagasakiJourneyserves as a mere startingpoint for the
larger,overallvirtualexhibition.ForRemembering Nagasakiis not solely
interestedin presentingYamahata's photographs andobservations of Nagasaki
to viewers.Rather,a secondkey dimensionof the site is its effortto collect
and present virtual visitors' memories, ideas, and opinions about the
bombing.It was towardthis goal thatthe site's designersconstructedthe
exhibition'ssecondandthirdwings,AtomicMemoriesand Commentary.
Enteringthe wing by clicking the image markedAtomic Memories,
visitorsare met with yet anotherblack screen,this time accompaniedby
the followingtext:
As part of our current investigation into the nature of memory, the

Exploratoriuminvited people to share their recollections of learning about
the bombing of Hiroshimaand Nagasaki. We were particularlyinterestedin
how people receive and remake stories of events they did not directly
experience. We received hundreds of replies from all over the world,
representinga wide rangeof age, ethnic background,and perspective.Below
is a representativesamplingof people's reminiscences.13
What follows is an incredibleoutpouringof guilt, horror,and shame,

coupledat times with humorand forgiveness.
The recollections,or "atomicmemories,"are posted in no particular
orderor sequence.They rangefrom angrydiatribesto reasonedstands,
from taunting threats to pleas for historical context. Although some
contributorsoffer their name, age, origin, and occupation,others offer
nothingsave theirrecollections.Significantly,besides providinginsights
into varied responses to the bombings, the public forum offers an
interestingglimpse into the multi-layered,multi-mediatedprocesses of
memory,especially Americanmemory.14While some posters recalled
having directly learnedabout the bombingsfrom teachersin school or

fromparentsat the dinnertable, othersnote thatthey becameawareof it
only years later,via a varietyof media:magazines,the novel Hiroshima,
and the movie TheDay After,for example.
If the Atomic Memorieswing explores visitors' recollectionsof the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima,the Commentarywing
investigatestheirbeliefsandopinionsaboutthe bombingsin particular and
the nuclear age in general. Like the public forum found in Atomic
Memories, the postings are accompaniedby a range of background
informationregardingthe posters'name, age, origin, and occupation.Yet
unlike Atomic Memories where recollections spill forth unedited,the
designersof this publicforumhave selectedandeditedparticularpostings
in an attemptto addressand explore specific issues. Essentiallya single
public forum divided into separatebranches,Commentaryis organized
aroundfour topics:"tellinghistory,""warandpeace,""thedecision,"and
"nuclearscience."
Commemorations, the fourthandfinalwing of Remembering Nagasaki,
appropriately closes the virtualexhibitionby providingvisitorswith a list
of useful resourcesfor furtherresearch.The resourcesincludefilms, cd-
roms, and books related(directlyand loosely) to the topics of Nagasaki,
Hiroshima,and the nuclearage. Moreover,Commemorations featuresan
annotatedand fairly up-to-datelist of World Wide Web sites. These
websites are organizedinto a numberof categories,includingNagasaki,
Hiroshima,World War II, Nuclear Science, Atomic Testing, Nuclear
Weapons,the EnolaGay Controversy,and Exhibits.
Althougheach of RememberingNagasaki'sfour wings is interesting,
useful,andwell-designedin andof itself, the virtualexhibitionworksbest
when approachedas a whole. This is largelybecausethe exhibitiondoes
and offers so much. From one perspective,the exhibitionshowcasesa
curatorialcollectionof Yamahata'sphotographyand diaryexcerpts.From
anotherperspective,the exhibitionallows visitorsto engagein a seriesof
dialogues surroundingsuch importantyet often hidden topics as the
bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima,the constructionof history,and
nuclearscience. Fromyet anotherperspective,the exhibitionserves as a
startingpoint and electronic resource center for students,instructors,
researchers,and Web surfersinterestedin the bombingof Nagasakiand
Hiroshimaand issues of the nuclearage. Thus,the first factorbehindthe
success of RememberingNagasakiis thatthe site successfullyoffers and
integratesa numberof functionsand purposes.
Another major contributionto the site's effectiveness is the digital

translationof its materials.As mentionedearlier,some artifacts(complex
sculpturesand spatialinstallationsimmediatelycome to mind)cannotyet
be adequatelyrepresentedon the WorldWideWeb.Conversely,materials
suchas photographsandtext-baseddiaryexcerptsperfectlyfit the medium
and can be translatedconvenientlyfrom their original medium to an
electronicone. ThroughoutRememberingNagasaki, it is clear that the
designerstook extracareto insuredigitaltranslationof the highestquality.
In consultationwithYamahata'sson, ShogoYamahata,andwiththehelpof
TX Unlimited,San Francisco,the designersdigitallyrestoredthe existing
negatives.At the sametime, they combinedseveralof Yamahata'ssequen-
tial exposuresto formcomposite,panoramicviews of Nagasaki'sdestruc-
tion.Yetphotographsanddiaryexcerptsarenotthe only materialsfoundin
RememberingNagasaki.Indeed,the multi-threaded discussions,debates,
and dialoguesoccurringwithin the online publicforumstranslateeffort-
lessly on the Web.Postedas a whole,thesedialoguesconstitutea seriesof
online oral historiesand documentthe complex processesbeneathindi-
vidual and collective memory,not to mention some of the key issues
surroundingthe nuclearage.
A thirdfactorbehindthe site's successfulimplementationis its design.
Unlike so many websites which attemptto dazzle their visitorswith an
arrayof busy layouts and streakinggraphics,RememberingNagasakiis
simple, allowingYamahata'sphotographsand excerpts(along with visi-
tors'recollectionsand reactions)to speakfor themselves.For example,a
typical screen for Nagasaki Journeyfeatures a single photograph(or
excerpt)mountedupon a black background,anchoredat the bottomwith
the single words:"back"and "next."The effect is quitepowerfulandcan
lead even the most hyperof Web surfersto stop and reflect.
Too manyof today'swebsitesoverwhelmtheirvisitorsby providingtoo
many hyperlinksand become what I call "sites with infinitelinks."As
witnessedin the WPALifeHistoriessite, creatingan environment withtoo
many options can producea feeling of unease and confusion;visitors
become aware of hundredsof links, yet understandvery few of them.
Remembering Nagasakiavoidsthis virtualvertigoby combininga simple
design with a somewhatlinearfashion.Insteadof allowingvisitorsto run
wild,the site'sdesignersstressstrategicsectionsby presentingthemin linear
fashion,a presentationdirectedwiththe helpof "back"and"next"buttons.
In mustbe noted,however,thatthe layoutof Remembering Nagasakiis,
at times, too simple. While a single photographmountedon a black
backgroundencouragesreflection,it also leaves criticalquestionsunan-

swered. Do the photographshave titles? What are their original, pre-
digitizeddimensions?Fromwhichdaysarethe diaryexcerptstaken?If the
site designers were concerned that such informationwould cloud the
presentation,they could haveincludedat the end of the exhibitiona short,
online catalogueto contextualizethe artifacts.
Similarly,the attemptto keep the design simple preventssome poten-
tially interestinghypertextualapplications.Althoughthe linearityfoundin
the NagasakiJourneywing is understandable, it is a bit confiningwhen
used in the Atomic Memories and Commentarywings. Here, visitors'
recollections,opinions,and ideas exist within a vacuum,unconnectedto
relatedmaterialsfeaturedin the other wings. It would be interestingto
makeconnectionsbetween,say, a visitor's"atomicmemory"anda related
photographor to contrasta visitor'sopinionwiththe observationsmadeby
Yamahatain his diary. While the inclusion of such hyperlinkscould
potentiallydisruptthe intendedflow of the individualwings, it would
encouragevisitorsto make importantconnectionsbetweenthem.
RememberingNagasaki could also use what I call an "educational
resourcecenter."For experiencedWeb surfers,the virtualexhibitionis a
perfect platformfrom which to investigatevarious topics and issues
surroundingthe bombingof Nagasakiin particularandthe nuclearage in
general.Similarly,for instructorsexperiencedin teachingwithtechnology,
the site serves as an excellent pedagogicalresource.Yet for those less
experiencedwith using the Web or teachingwith technology,the peda-
gogical applicationsof the site may not be immediatelyapparent.For this
reasonit would be useful to establishan educationalresourcecenter,an
onlinesite featuringlesson plans,strategiesfor integratingthe site into the
classroom,andeven an accompanyinglistservor mailinglist for interested
instructorsand scholars.
The Great Chicago Fire and The Webof Memory
If WPALife Historiesis a rich yet user-unfriendly archiveandRemem-

beringNagasakiis a simple yet powerfuluser-basedexhibition,the third
case study, The Great Chicago Fire and The Web of Memory,is an
excellentexampleof how to take full advantageof the dynamicnatureof
this new medium.Excellentlywrittenand constructed,the site educates
usersaboutthe historicnineteenth-century fire, the city's recovery,andits
survivors'remembrances.Exquisitely designed and presented,the site
Fig.3.1
entertainsuserswitheasy navigation,interestinghypertextuallayouts,and
an arrayof differentmedia.
Users enter the main page, located at <http://www.chicagohs.org/fire/
intro/>,to find a clear menu of options (figure 3.1). The two primary
options, a link to The Great Chicago Fire wing and one to The Webof
Memory,aremarkedby dramaticimages:a lithographof Chicagoburning
and a photographof a doll, respectively. Underneaththe two main
options are a numberof introductorypathwayswhich serve to orient
virtualvisitors. Thus, users can click on "How To Navigate"to better
understandthe site's layout,visit "TechnicalSupport"to reviewinforma-
tion aboutrequiredsoftwareand optionalplug-ins,or follow the "Intro-
duction"link for a briefdescriptionof the exhibitionandthe fire.'6Finally,
the mainpage providesuserswitha linkto the "GuestBook" a pagewhere
they can send commentsand suggestionsdirectlyto the curatorialstaff,
and to "Credits& Copyrights,"a page whichprovidesinformationabout
the construction,support,and fair use of the site.
By exploring these introductorypathways, users are more than prepared
to visit the two main wings of the exhibition.The layoutof the wings is
clearandunderstandable. Eachwing is dividedintochapters;thefirstwing
containsfive chapters,the secondhas six. In turn,each chapterconsistsof
three integratedsections:an essay, a gallery,and a library.The essays,
based loosely upon curatorCarl Smith's book UrbanDisorderand the
Shape of Belief, introduceand contextualizethe materialsfound in the
accompanyinggalleries and libraries.17The galleries contain thematic
collections of visual resources and historic artifacts.These materials
includephotographs,lithographs,posters,broadsides,anda diversevariety
of objects. The third sections, the libraries, contain primarysource
materialssuch as newspaperclippings, magazinearticles, and personal
letters,memoirs,and narrativesappropriateto each chapter.
Becausethis virtualexhibitionis enormous,it is difficultto reviewin its
entirety.Instead,I haveselectedone chapterfromeach wing to explorein
depth. We begin with the first wing, The Great Chicago Fire, which
consistsof five chapters:"A Bird's-EyeView of Pre-FireChicago,""The
GreatConflagration," "TheRuinedCity""RescueandRelief,"and"Queen
of the West Once More."My discussion focuses on chaptertwo, "The
GreatConflagration."
Althoughusers are free to explore this chapterthrougha numberof
viewing sequences,the layoutsuggests thatvisitorsbegin with the essay,
follow with the gallery,andend with the library.Unlike the life histories
foundin ourfirstcase study,these essays arerichin design;a tidycolumn
of text is accompaniedby small graphicsthatuserscan click on to view a
larger,more detailed version of the photograph,lithograph,newspaper
clipping, or other visual artifact(figure 3.2). The benefit of the small,
clickablegraphicsis that they enhanceratherthandetractfrom the text,
which in three short screens describes briefly the fire's out-of-control
developmentanddestruction,Chicagoans'shift frominterestandfascina-
tion to fearandpanic,andthe subsequentrioting,looting,anddebauchery.
Virtualvisitorscan betterunderstandthe eventsin the essay by viewing
relatedmaterialsin the gallery.By clickingon the icon marked"galleries,"
usersenter"TheGreatConflagrationGalleries,"a site whichfeaturesthree
thematiccollections:"TheEve of Disaster,""Insidethe BurningCity,"and
"The Refugees."One of these collections, "Inside the BurningCity,"
consistsof nine small imagesof maps,prints,andlithographsillustrating
the horrorsdepictedin the chapteressay.Whenvisitorsclick on the image,
they receive an enlargedversion of the image accompaniedby detailed
captions. Thus, one such image, a lithographentitled "Orgiesin the
Fig. 3.2
DoomedCity, 1871,"revealsdrunkenChicagoanssmashingwoodenkegs
of liquoranddancingunderthe fire's smokestorm.The captionlends the
image some context:
While some accounts praised the calmness of the populace, others

luxuriatedin stories of Chicagoans,crazed by the fire, breakinginto saloons
and sating themselves. ... In some versions of the stories of drinking,those
maddened with liquor prey on the weak and innocent. In more moralistic
versions in this period of ardenttemperancereform,they lose consciousness
and rightly perish in the flames.
The chapter's third section, the "ConflagrationLibrary,"provides
interestedvisitorswith primarysourcesdirectlyrelatedto the fire. Thus,

users can click on a newspaperclipping from the Chicago Tribune,11
October1871 to readfirst-handaccountsof the fire andits destructionand
see digital versions of the newspaper'sscreamingheadlines.The other
primaryresourcefound in the libraryis a letter writtenby William H.
Carteron 15 October1871 to his brother.As presidentand one of three
commissionerson the city's Boardof PublicWorks,Carter'sobservations
regardingthe fire and the city's watersupplyare especiallyinteresting.
Similarto TheGreatChicagoFirein layoutyet differentin contentand
approach,the virtual exhibition'ssecond wing, The Web of Memory,
exploresthe ways in whichthe fire has been rememberedover time, from
eyewitness accounts and popularillustrationsto legends and creative
works of art. Like its accompanyingwing, The Web of Memory is
composed of chapters,six in all: "The Eyewitnesses,""MediaEvent,"
"Fanningthe Flames,""The O'LearyLegend,""Souvenirs,"and "Com-
memoratingCatastrophe."
My discussionfocuses on a single chapter,"The Eyewitnesses."The
chapter"begins"'8with an essay whichcontextualizesfirsthandaccounts
of the fire andprovidesa possibleexplanationof theirpower:
They appeal,first of all, to an insatiableinterestin the spectacleand drama

of urbancatastrophe,especially a stupendousfire that struckdown a city that
many took to be the emblem of America's great age of urbanization.At the
same time, however, the eyewitness narrativesput this titanic cataclysm in
human terms, offering a way to understandits enormity on a personallevel
and a comprehensiblescale throughthe voices of individualswho struggled
against it.
Further,the essay suggeststhatdifferencesin age, gender,and neighbor-

hood can explainthe almostuniforminconsistenciesapparentwithinthe
manynarratives.Finally,while acknowledgingthe discrepancies,the essay
highlightssomeof the similaritiesfoundin manyof the narratives: shifting
moods from interestto fear, franticgatheringof family and possessions,
and, above all, the indescribabilityof the fiery spectacle.
Users can get a taste of this "indescribability" by visitingeitherone of
the chapter'stwo galleries."TheWaudDrawings"featuressix sketchesin
pencil, chalk, and white paintby AlfredR. Waud,a prolificartistwhose
work appearedin many periodicals.While each sketch is taken from a
differentsection of the city--both safely away from the fire and danger-
ously close to it-they all sharea commontheme:an out-of-controlfire

and an understandably horrifiedpopulation.The othergallery,"A Visual
Record,"includesa child's drawingof his familyescaping,a hand-made
map of the burntdistrict,and an oil paintingof civic chaos. Interestingly,
all threeworks,includingthe child'ssketchentitled"JustinLeadshis Goat
to Safety,"were createdby artistsfeaturedin the chapter'sthirdsection,
the library.
The librarycontainstwenty-onenarratives,rangingfromyoungJustin's
brief letterto a frienddescribinghow he, his family,and his goat safely
fled the fire to Julia Lemos' dramaticand detailedaccountof her own
escape. Drawndirectlyfromthe ChicagoHistoricalSociety'scollections,
these narrativesoffer a broad varietyof experiences,perspectives,and
voices. Althoughmanyof the narrativeswere writtenyears afterthe fire,
most of the accountscome fromthose who experiencedit as children.
Like WPALifeHistories,the thirdcase studyis richin textualmaterials,
evidentespecially in the contextualizingessays and the detailedannota-
tions foundin the galleriesandthe libraries.LikeRemembering Nagasaki,
the site is full of excellently rendered,powerful visual images, from
sketchesand lithographsto postersand photographs.Yet unlike the first
two case studies, The Great Chicago Fire and The Web of Memory
incorporates simultaneouslymanymedia,allowingusersthe optionto both
view andreadaboutthe fiery spectacle.Further,with a properlyequipped
computer,users can downloada newsreelclip from the Motion Picture
Divisionof the NationalArchivesandlisten to songs composedaboutthe
fire. The resultis a rich and dynamicmultimediapresentation.
Thisuse of multiplemediaandartifactslendsitselfto aninterdisciplinary,
interartifactualtreatment,a familiarapproachto Americanstudies and
materialculturestudiesscholars.The essays introducethe visualresources
whichinformtheprimarysourceswhichcontextualizetheessays... andon
and on. Interestingly, this act of integrationsucceedsin sheddinglight on
two distinctentities:the fire in Chicagoin 1871 and the interdisciplinary
methodswhichin partdefinethe field of Americanstudies.
The successfulinterdisciplinarity of the exhibitionmustbe creditedin
part to the interinstitutionality of the project'scollaborators.While the
ChicagoHistoricalSociety providedthe artifactualresourcesandcontent,
AcademicTechnologiesat NorthwesternUniversityprovidedthe technical
resources.The result, as noted earlier,is a virtualexhibitionwhich both
educatesandentertains.Further,it is importantto notethatthe projectwas
partiallyfunded by H-NET:Humanities& Social Sciences OnLine,an

interdisciplinaryorganizationof volunteersdedicatedto developingthe
educationalpotentialof the Internetand the WorldWideWeb.19
The only shortcomingof the virtual exhibition is its lack of user
contributions.Althoughthe site presentsvirtualvisitorswith the optionto
email commentsand suggestionsto the curatorialstaff, such feedbackis
notincorporated intothe site itself.Perhapsin thefuturethesite'sdesigners
can includea publicforumfor usersto expresstheirideas,comments,and
critiques of the exhibition. It would also be helpful to constructan
educationalresourcecenterwhereinstructorscould post lesson plansand
pedagogicalapproachesto be used in conjunctionwith the site.
Conclusion
Like the Internetand the WorldWide Web,the very notionof a virtual

exhibitionis in a perpetualstateof flux. Whetherit be clickablebit maps,
animatedgraphics,or interactivechat rooms,new technologicaldevelop-
ments are constantlybeing invented,implemented,altered,and super-
seded. These developments,along with innovativeapplicationsof such
developments,continuallyredefinewhatvirtualexhibitionscanandshould
do. For this reason,today's hip and dynamicvirtualexhibitionsmay be
stale anduninspiredtomorrow.
Yet well-designedvirtualexhibitionsdo morethanmerelyincorporate
the latest digitalbells and whistles.Indeed,they providetheirusers with
information,experiences,and/oropportunitiesnot normallyavailableto
those within the four walls of the traditionalmuseum.In Remembering
Nagasaki, for example, virtualvisitors have the opportunityto become
virtualcontributorsby postingtheirown recollectionsand beliefs regard-
ing a numberof issues. This processdramaticallyaltersthe act of museum
visitation.Further,unlike traditionalmuseums which are restrictedby
physicalparameters,virtualexhibitionscan be as largeas the serverthey
reside on, allowing for a numberof innovativeand enriching"missing
wing"exhibitions.
This is not to suggest that virtualexhibitionscan or should replace
museums. One of the key tenets of material culture studies is the
importanceof engagingthe artifactat first hand.Althoughnew computer
technologiescontinueto produceincreasinglyrealisticrepresentations and
simulations,the resultremainsvirtual.Thus,the role of virtualexhibitions
is not to replacetraditionalexhibitions,but ratherto extendthem.
NOTES
I wish to thank Randall Bass at Georgetown University, Mary Corbin Sies at the
University of Maryland, and Sandra Silver for their many helpful comments on an
earlierversion of this review. I also wish to thank Kasey Grierat American Quarterly
for her continued supportand useful suggestions throughoutthis project.
1. Joseph and Wanda Corn, "Editor's Statement,"American Quarterly 41 (Mar.
1989): 142.
2. HTML,or hypertextmarkuplanguage,is the computerlanguageused to construct
websites on the World Wide Web.
3. See, for example, With Open Eyes: Images from the Art Institute of Chicago
(Chicago, 1995) and A Passion for Art: Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse and Dr. Barnes
(Bellevue, Wash., 1995).
4. A word about words:throughoutthis review "theWeb" will be used as shorthand
for the World Wide Web.
5. While Netscape and Microsoft continueto capturethe overwhelmingmajorityof
the market,other Web browsers do exist, including America On-Line's custom Web
browserandthe original,yet rapidlydisappearing,NCSA Mosaic. In additionto a Web
browser, specific hardwareis requiredin order to access the Web. This includes an
ethernetcard for hardwiredmachinesor a modem with communicationssoftwareand
a slip account either from a universityor commercial service for personal computers.
6. George P. Landow, Hypertext: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical
Theoryand Technology(Baltimore,Md., 1992): 4. For additionalreadingon the topic
of hypertext,see J. David Bolter, WritingSpace: The Computer,Hypertext,and the
History of Writing (Hillsdale, N.J., 1991) and Richard A. Lanham, The Electronic
Word:Democracy, Technology,and the Arts (Chicago, 1993).
7. This is not to suggest that all visitors to traditionalmuseumspassively follow the
linear script. Indeed, visitor pathways vary considerablyand are often the result of
intricatenegotiations between multiple contexts, including the visitor's interests and
agenda, a curator's design, and the exhibition's physical layout. For a detailed
discussion of these multiple contexts, see John H. Falk and Lynn D. Dierking, The
MuseumExperience(Washington,D.C., 1992). It is importantto note, however, thata
crucial difference between traditionaland virtual exhibitions is that while traditional
curatorsoften allow for alternatepathways,virtualcuratorsusually encourage them.
8. The topic of user constructionof virtualexhibitionsis exploredin greaterdetail in
MarieRedmondand Niall Sweeney, "MultimediaProduction:Non-LinearStorytelling
Using Digital Technologies," in ContextualMedia: Multimediaand Interpretation,
eds. EdwardBarrettand Marie Redmond(Cambridge,Mass., 1995).
9. As Baudrillardnotes: "Simulationis no longer that of a territory,a referential
being or a substance.It is the generationby models of a real without origin or reality:
a hyperreal"(Jean Baudrillard,Simulations[New York, 1983], 2).
10. This is not to suggest that we, as academics, should dismiss altogether
commercialexhibitions. For an excellent critical review of commercialfood displays,
see Mark Weiner, "We Are What We Eat: Or, Democracy, Community, and the
Politics of CorporateFood Displays,"AmericanQuarterly46 (June 1994): 227-50.
11. Establishedin 1995, the NationalDigital Libraryis an open, distributivedigital
library accessible worldwide via the Internet. Administered under the electronic
collections division of the Library of Congress, the National Digital Library has
undertakenthe task of digitizing one million special collections items a year for the
next five years.
12. For an excellent example of hypertextfiction, see Michael Joyce, Afternoon:a

story (Cambridge,Mass., 1990). For a critique of hypertext fiction in general and
Afternoonin particular,see J. Yellowlees Douglas, "'How Do I Stop This Thing?':
Closure and Interdeterminacyin Interactive Narratives,"in Hyper/Text/Theory,ed.
George P. Landow (Baltimore,Md., 1994).
13. The site's designers accepted visitors' "atomic memories" for about three
months, roughly between July and September, 1995. Author's interview with writer
and designer MarinaMcDougall and project advisor Susan Schwartzenberg,26 July
1996, San Francisco,Calif.
14. It is importantto note thatwhile the site invitedcommentsfromusers worldwide,
the overwhelmingmajorityof postings were from Americans.
15. The doll, named Bessie, was saved from the flames by six-year-old Harriet
Peabody and is currentlypartof the Chicago Historical Society's collection.
16. Web browsers such as Netscape and Microsoft InternetExplorercan be altered
or enhanced by adding complementarysoftware applications.These applications,or
"plug-ins,"are usually free (thus, the name "freeware")or sold for a nominal and
voluntaryfee (thus, "shareware")and can be downloaded directly from the Web to
one's computer.In order to take full advantageof The Great Chicago Fire and The
Web of Memory site, users should download the following plug-ins: QuickTime (to
view newsreel footage), Shockwave (to view an interactive version of Alexander
Hesler's Chicago Panorama),and Crescendo (to hear some of the songs composed
about the fire). Further,users will want to secure a pair of 3D movie glasses to view
some of the modernizedversions of the stereographs.
17. Carl Smith, Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief: The Great Chicago Fire,
The HaymarketBomb, and the Model Town of Pullman (Chicago, 1995).
18. I place the word begins within quotationmarksto reinforcean idea I mentioned
earlier: the exhibition's wings, chapters, and sections can be navigated throughany
numberof differentviewing sequences.
19. For more informationregardingH-NET, visit their Web site, located at: <http:/
/h-net2.msu.edu/>.

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Review: Interfacing American Culture: The Perils and Potentials of Virtual Exhibitions

Author(s): David Silver

Life History Manuscriptsfrom the Folklore Project, WPA Federal

David Silver is a doctoralcandidatein Americanstudies at the Universityof Maryland

AmericanQuarterly,Vol. 49, No. 4 (December 1997) © 1997 AmericanStudiesAssociation

soughtto open new dialoguesbetweenacademicandmuseumcommuni-

Since this is the firstreviewof virtualexhibitionsto appearin American

have curatorsbegunto mounttheirexhibitionsonline; thatis the exhibi-

animatedform. For example,a user might click on a hyperlinklabeled,

manyvirtualexhibitionsencourageusersnot only to visit the site, butalso

some ways, the missing wing resemblesthe virtualversion;they both

Uebele's PlasticPrincessPage,partspoof, partarchive,andparttributeto

example-are buriedunder spiffy graphicsand uncheckedhype, not to

In 1936, as partof the New Deal, PresidentFranklinDelanoRoosevelt

By clicking on one of the respective categories, users go directly to the

us? Plenty.Takentogether,the life historiesconstitutea Depression-era

hypertextas a way to encourageconnection-making. For example,while

In contrast,the second case study,RememberingNagasaki, suggests

includethe debatesanddialoguespostedby its visitors,the site constitutes

what it leaves out. In all, the exhibitionconsists of twenty-fivescreens:

Althoughthe photographsanddiaryexcerptsspeakfor themselves,they

As part of our current investigation into the nature of memory, the

What follows is an incredibleoutpouringof guilt, horror,and shame,

having directly learnedabout the bombingsfrom teachersin school or

Another major contributionto the site's effectiveness is the digital

backgroundencouragesreflection,it also leaves criticalquestionsunan-

The Great Chicago Fire and The Webof Memory

If WPALife Historiesis a rich yet user-unfriendly archiveandRemem-

While some accounts praised the calmness of the populace, others

The chapter's third section, the "ConflagrationLibrary,"provides

interestedvisitorswith primarysourcesdirectlyrelatedto the fire. Thus,

They appeal,first of all, to an insatiableinterestin the spectacleand drama

Further,the essay suggeststhatdifferencesin age, gender,and neighbor-

ously close to it-they all sharea commontheme:an out-of-controlfire

partiallyfunded by H-NET:Humanities& Social Sciences OnLine,an

Like the Internetand the WorldWide Web,the very notionof a virtual

12. For an excellent example of hypertextfiction, see Michael Joyce, Afternoon:a

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