Dear Perry

We have come up against this issue a number of times. Have you tried to
maintain your museum domain name but have it link directly to the relevant
page on the Local Authority website? This was successfully achieved at the
World of James Herriot - www.worldofjamesherriot.org

There is  a definite case to be made that absorbing the info could lose
some autonomy. Middlesbrough Council have recently re-branded and have a
similar desire to absorb all sites under one website. The Dorman Museum
however was able to maintain its own site and have a webpresence with link
from the council site so that information can be accessed using whichever
site (www.dormanmuseum.co.uk or www.middlesbrough.gov.uk).

Things to consider are - how will the site be set our? The main problem is
that in dealing with such diverse service areas council websites cannot
really be all things to all services. Our site is hard to navigate to find
our museum service (www.middlesbrough.gov.uk)- please try it out to see.
Who will be responsible for updating the site? We have had to lobby to get
access to be site administrators due to problems in updating information.
Due to the numbers of people throughout the Council updating details we
regularly receive requests not to update pages that day.

A significant point will be how will you be able to monitor statistics for
BVPIs. Currently our usage of museum services per 1,000 of population (170
A) is significantly helped by the inclusion of webpage visits for research.
If you are limited to one page of general information on your council site
this would not count as a valid statistic for usage.

I think we have struck a fine balance here as we recognise the importance
of acknowledging our principal funder, by cleary referencing our council
logo alongside our own identity. By demonstrating that we are proud to
highlight our Local Authority status we have been able to successfully
negotiate exceptions to the rule i.e. maintaining our own website.

I hope that this is useful. If you need any more information please get in
touch.

Best wishes

Anne Keville






Perry Bonewell <[log in to unmask]>@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on 02/16/2005
11:55:24 AM

Please respond to Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]>

Sent by:    Museums Computer Group <[log in to unmask]>


To:    [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject:    Museum domains


Hello there,
Does anyone have experience of having to change their museum domain name or
URL for any reason?
The reason I ask is that the local authority I work for plans to absorb all
public sites under one corporate web service, which could potentially mean
losing autonomy. I am also concerned about the possibility of losing a URL
that has been established for nearly ten years now.
Apart from the practical issues of such a change is there any argument to
be made from the Museums perspective about preserving an on line identity
and if so where can I find further guidance on this matter?

Many Thanks
 Perry Bonewell


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